Saturday 23 December 2006

Mount Hawthorn

Arriving late at this site the home owners were keen to see the dish in action. So with a little assistance, the Van was reversed into the driveway and the contraption bolted together.

The tripod didn't quite assemble as simply as usual because I'd left the feet attached in an attempt to simplify the install further. I'll likely need to revisit that.

The electronics boxes were getting quite hot in Kalgoorlie, so I've been investigating some means to keep the boxes cool. Currently the boxes are stored in the shade and I've been investigating umbrellas, a safari roof, peltier devices, white and chrome paint, fans, attachment to the mount, but none of those ideas actually capture what I really think would get the thing done.

Monday 4 December 2006

Kalgoorlie

The installation here is pretty straightforward. The dish is a one-person job, the tripod started the process, the 1.2m dish, which was installed onto the tri-pod for the second time - first time in Perth last month, is now looking normal - albeit small.

I've hung the electronics off the mount, putting them into the shade of the dish, because the angle of the dish is much lower, the shade is smaller.

I experimented with a wireless direct connection between my computer and the dish, but for some reason I cannot make the connection stay up for more than 15 seconds at a time, it then disconnects and reconnects, making for a painful experience.

I'm getting conflicting reports on my Mbit connection, so I'll be following that up. I've got the hardware, have had that since about April, but the account behind the scenes is taking some doing.

VoIP will have to wait just a little longer, because my current Gilat SkyBlaster 360e is not supported and I've not yet upgraded my account to a Gilat SkyEdge.