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Community Wifi Feeds Community Cable in NYC
akb writes "Manhattan Neighborhood Network has embarked on a project to combine two community networking communities in NYC, the nascent community wifi network on that isle with public access cable TV. The project has successfully conducted a test which involved cablecasting an mpeg4 video stream being transported by the nycwireless.net wireless node in Bryant Park."
This is just a netcam broadcasted over CATV, the quality is 1/2 as good as a standard CATV feed too. I can see the advantages of this from a cost perspective, but personally I think the quality of community access is bad to begin with, not to mention the shows actually broadcasted.
Oh, come on. Even Ku band transponders can handle multiple streams of 720p, or a few 1080i mpeg HD streams, and they only operate at a typical bandwith of 27Mhz. 1080i only requires 6Mhz of that bandwith per channel, for a whopping 13.6 Megabits/s. Of course, HDTV boradcasts can use a multitude of sound formats, so it's a bit harder to guestimate how much it's going to typically take.
2. You don't need QoS if you're ethernet multicasting. That's the whole freakin' point.
3. You're not operating your reciever inside or neraby your microwave, hopefully. 802.11a operates at 5Ghz. Pretty far out of the frequency range of microwave ovens (about 2.5Ghz) Even if your antannea was close to the microwave, interference would not be a concern. Watch out for mil radar, though.
Pull your head out of your arse, before you throw around numbers you have absolutely no idea about. It can work, and these people probably will get it to work. All the better for New York.
If you cared so much about this phonemonon happening outside of NYC, perhaps you could put your money where your mouth is, and provide some internet bandwith to get these transmissions to other areas? It's easy to talk the talk, buddy.
Most cities that I have lived in do. I am not sure if the cities force them to when signing a contract allowing the monopoly, or what, but like I said, most cities I have lived in do.
Now, with that said: The quality of programming on public access TV is almost scary. The majority I have seen is either borderline racist (usually against whites), REALLY bad Karioki (swear to god), drunk 21 year olds with a video camera showing others how drunk they are (in the guise of some form of entertainment)or religion based programming by pastors who have 12 people in their "flock".
Im not exaggering (God, I wish I were). I would have to be more medicated that I care for in order to find it amusing. Here in central NC (metro area of near 1 million) they advertise for people to use it, because there isn't enough garbage to fill all 24 hours.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
I think ALL cable systems should be REQUIRED to have a local access channel. It could be a source of revenue for the cable stations, you actually have to buy air time. (Like Wayne's World) - New York and California shouldn't get all the fun. I bet that cooking shows, computer shows, and craft shows would flourish in local markets and help with our cable bills at the same time.
Most of them do. One type is called public access- no ads or commercial programming, and most of the time it's of a generally poor quality (though has anyone seen Jerkbeast in the Seattle area? That was pretty funny the first couple times I saw it).
The other kind is leased access, and it's indistuingishable from QVC and other channels filled with constant paid advertisements. The whole concept of leased access was promoted with a fantasy where local small-time video producers would be able to make shows and have ads just like on the networks, spawning a creative video renaissance etc. similar to what you describe.