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The Wireless Backpack Repeater
Andy Laurence writes "So, you've decided to do a webcast around the streets of Bristol, but your puny wireless NIC isn't up to it? You need the ultimate wireless repeater! Built from an old backpack, a lead acid battery, a Linksys wireless device, and a rather scary antenna, this wireless repeater will get you webcasting from over a mile away." You'd definitely burn extra calories hiking with that thing.
I was wondering how we could do remotes with our new 80s radio station!
Thanks.
-nfo
Broadcasting LIVE from a Bonus Room Over the Gara
... you won't have to worry about being mugged for it. The police will be watching far too closely.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
I wonder if here in Florida we could rig up a solar panel that makes enough power for this rig. That would make it lighter... but it might not work in places with less sun. Maybe a smaller battery and the solar panel?
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
Some more details about the power connection (12v DC to the Linksys) would be nice. Anyone have any ideas? I'm not an EE, so please don't flame me crisp for asking...
>>You need [...] a Linksys wireless device
so now users can hack your rotuer as well with this article!
Joy!
NeoThermic
Use my link above, or to view my server, NeoThermic.com
Actually I think its about Bristol in England
8 Bannerman Buildings,
Bannerman Road,
Easton
Bristol
BS5 0RR
Telephone
0117 9025247
Hmmm.
I thought of Bristol, Connecticut, the home of ESPN. Had to look it up, and apparently it's in England.
what else would burn, when someone DoS's you, the router overloads the battery, and the acid leaks all over your back.
"You'd definitely burn extra calories hiking with that thing."
you'd definately be urning something. cancer/lightning stick on your back? i hope you were you lead hat as opposed to your tin foil to add more shielding
People were concerned about holding cell phones close to their brains due to the risk of tumors. Isn't this thing going to fry your brain?
I don't know about them, but I'd be worried about the interest of the authorities if I was walking around wearing this. You might get mistaken for a terrorist or some such. Its definately a cool idea, but it would be even cooler if it could be done in an inconspicuous manner, though that might be tough with the antenna.
Just a tip, in case you were thinking of trying.
I built something I called "loud backpack" once. It consisted of a 1/4" mic jack, 2 12" speakers, an amp, and a car battery.
On a particularly warm day, my back started to itch, and it took a while before I realized that it was battery acid leaking through the padding, my shirt, and onto my back.
Ran to the shower, falling once to scrape my knees, and immediately doused myself with water. Well, don't forget what they said about adding water to acid in high school chemistry class like I did... it burns!
Anyways, amusing anecdote.. do not try at home!
...in the possibilities of a dynamic WiFi network built out of electronic devices in close proximity. It would present a great number of engineering difficulties, but the payoff would be complete internet coverage anywhere in the world. ... Well, at least anywhere there's other people present to relay the packets.
Hmm... I think there'd need to be a way of identifying open Internet points. Phones, laptops, etc. near these points would then need to broadcast their access. When a device receives a packet, it should know enough to accept or reject the route based on its current network uplinks. Bandwidth could present a problem, especially since a ton of small packet messages would be necessary to identify the current status of a given device.
Anyone know of research that's currently being done in this area?
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I sure hope he has ports 80 & 443 forwarded.
nuff said
I found that my Linksys WAP11 had major problems when I had a router stacked on top of it, I wonder if these guys have had any problems with heating?
||:|::
The Linksys box probably gets 12VDC from its AC power adapter... So I doubt there's a whole lot in the way of electronics involved except for something to limit the current flow and thus not fry the thing.. And all you need for that is the right resistor.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
The first thing that popped into my mind when i saw that backpack:
DON'T CROSS THE STREAMS
-S
Another step in building my gargoyle suit!!
Mikey
I've always been the kinda guy to fall for the girl dressed like an eskimo.
They should see my car with the 3 ham radio antennas on it. Looks like an old Soviet "fishing" trawler. That's scary. Or a stack of single-band multi-element yagi beams for all the HF bands.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
It's times like these that I wish we had a "-1 Dumbass" moderation choice.
Some guy hooks an antenna to an access point, and uses a battery instead of an AC adapter?
Come on guys...
I browse at +5 Flamebait- moderation for all or moderation for none.
Way back when, it used to be a sign that said "kick me".
Now even that went digital.
Why not go Sealed Lead Acid or, if you want to save some weight nicads/nimh?
I disagree with what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it to the death - Voltaire
Good God, what a wimpy battery. It looks like something from a motorcycle, and a small one at that.
When I was in high school during the height of the CB craze, a kid I knew wired up a full-size truck battery to a CB, mounted it all on a gigantic aluminum backpack frame, and topped it off with a 12-foot whip antenna. The whole contraption probably weighed fifty pounds and brought him all the attention he presumably wanted as he wandered around baseball games wearing the thing, talking on the radio.
The funniest thing? That skinny little kid was about 5 foot nothin' and weighed maybe 90 pounds. The whole rig looked like it was wearing him.
One day, the battery started leaking and getting extremely hot. He stripped off the outfit just in time to avoid any heat or chemical burns, but about half the suit was reduced to a molten pile of plastic.
If you ever need a laugh, check out a toasted 6 foot sub outfit (and no, this wasn't Quizno's *baddum-ching*)
You know what?
Well, that's our ultimate intention.
qntm.org
This is a myth. From the The Straight Dope:
'SBEMAIL!' is better than a goat!!
It's not unsafe, it's a gel cell. They can run upside down or any other position for years and will not leak. The only potential problem is that if you short it out it'll get damn hot, but any decent battery will do that.
Try it with Lithium Ion (from a safe distance) - they will explode when shorted. By comparison, lead-acid gel cells are tame.
Unfortunately, pissing off the right person can land you with a very large fine. In the US, the FCC has rules on this stuff, because WiFi devices fall under Part 15.
Omnidirectional antennae (if built to the letter of the law) can only have a limited amount of gain (dependant upon the power output of the radio itself, as it's measured using dBi), where directionals can have more gain because of the limited directional scope.
At any rate, doing the math when building an antenna is essential, because the government doesn't find ignorance of the law to be a sufficient excuse. Want more info? Here's a link.
No, you can't build a 50' collinear array legally.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Yes, it will pump maybe a tenth of its power (perhaps 100mW, tops, so 10mW) into you, which will be converted to heat, cooking you.
Some other things that you should avoid would be flashlights, which can pump upwards of a watt of very concentrated RF into you, or even worse, the sun, which is capable of directing over 500 watts your way, burning you and contributing to your cancer risk!
To prevent this, you should stay away from all electronic devices, especially communication devices, as even an LED or computer monitor may exceed 10mW of radiated power. After all, we want you to live as long as possible. Without hearing from you ever again.