Antenna Conversion

Hi Guys (and Gals) Can a Cushcraft Pc2415 Antenna be converted from COAX to Cat5? I have purchased a used one and have no documentation at all. If it can be, how? Thanks in advance A real dummy

Reply to
Regent
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Sure, hook it up to a wireless router or access point. Why did you purchase this antenna? What did you think you could use it for? Data sheet available here;

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Reply to
Pen

Thanks for the post - why did I purchase this particular antenna? I found a used one and wish to use it for WiFi between my home and my outbuilding. The reason I need Cat5 is that there are trees between and I have to get away from the router at least 100' to receive. Both ends have routers (Linksys 2.

4g). Am I doing something wrong? Thanks for your input. Dave
Reply to
Regent

"Regent" hath wroth:

No. The RF loss at 2.4GHz for CAT5 is horrible compares to coax (which is only awful instead of horrible). If you want to run CAT5 instead of coax, you'll need to mount your wireless radio near the antenna, and run CAT5 with POE (power over ethernet) to the radio. A short piece of coax cable goes between the radio and the antenna to keep the RF losses reasonable.

The reason you can't find it is that Cushcraft no longer sells that mode. It's currently re-sold by MaxTech. No clue who originally made the antenna.

All that's available are the tech specifications.

Nope. Learn...

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Jeff Liebermann hath wroth:

Oops. That's wrong. See:

Sorry.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Only in explaining what you are trying to do.

Without knowing what you are trying to do, I'll take a stab at this.

CAT5 or ANY twisted pair cable is NOT the same as coaxial cable. So you need coax cable to connect to your antenna.

Depending how dense the trees are and if its only a 100 ft. hop, you might get by with two simple wireless devices. But a pair of Linksys (assuming the WRT54G) won't work as you need a client side capable unit. I'm not even going to suggest reflashing any firmware to you at this point

Linksys WRT54G wireless Router/Access Point (as the actual access point) at one end and and Linksys WAP54G Access Point (configured as the client) would work 1,000 ft with just a few trees.

If its only 100 ft (or at least under 330 ft TOTAL ethernet CAT5 run), just run some regular CAT5 cable inside the outdoor rated *GRAY* PVC conduit and not even use wireless.

Reply to
decaturtxcowboy

Wow, you guys are good, but the views differ - I wish to thank you all, but to clarify, the tree issue (100' to clear for line of sight - takes it to within approximately 1500 feet of the outbuilding. Any insights there? I should have put that in originally. Thanks again, Dave

Reply to
Regent

Ok, the 1,500 ft rules out a traditional ethernet connection, unless you want to use some loop extenders.

"100' to clear for line of sight". Does that mean you have to shoot over

100' tall trees or is one of the locations 100' higher or lower?
Reply to
decaturtxcowboy

Hey, Cowboy, thanks for the answer. Situation is: I have 100' of trees to go through to get to a clearing. Then it is a strait line of sight from there to the out building. My thought is to use Cat5 or LMR400 cable to get to the open spot - not over the trees, but through them. The elevation between the point outside of the trees and the outbuilding is pretty flat. Thanks, Cowboy.

Reply to
Regent via HWKB.com

"Regent" hath wroth:

Nope. We're great.

Sure. However, first my usual rant on how to properly ask a question. All we really need is:

  1. What are you trying to accomplish? A brief description is all that's required.
  2. What do you have to work with? Maker, manufactory, hardware version, firmware version, operating system, topography, topology, address layout, etc.
  3. What have you tried and what happened? Error messages and symptoms. Number 3 does not apply in this case.
1500ft is too far for just CAT5 and coax cable. I've done both out to about 900ft, but I don't think it will work at 1500ft. It might work with power line (HomePlug) and phone line (HomePNA) networking, both of which will work to "over 1000ft", whatever that means. It's well within the limits of powered ethernet copper or fiber extenders such as:

There are other vendors. Search Google for "ethernet extender". You will not like the prices, but they're faster and generally better than wireless.

You can use PoE (power over ethernet) via CAT5 to extend the wired part of your network to a remote wireless bridge sufficient to extend your network the remaining 1400ft. If necessary, you can go 300ft. However, all I know is that you have a "Linksys 24 g" which is rather vague. I won't propose any solutions until you disclose some hardware details which include what it going to be at the other end of the link.

There's also a question of feasability which can be calculated. For an example calculation, see:

Note that you have to have line of sight for this to work. That means more than just optical line of sight. It means Fresnel Zone clearance. See:

At 1400ft range (0.27 miles), you'll need at midpoint about 10ft radius clearance about the line of sight. This includes not hitting the ground thus requiring the antenna height be 10ft or higher.

Hint: Numbers, not prose.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Thanks, Jeff - try my initial thread - I am attaching to an eantenna 100' from base to then reach the 1500'.

Reply to
Regent via HWKB.com

Bad idea. The radio in the router will not get enough signal to work with cable lengths that long. You want the cable from the radio to the antennas to be as short as possible (like a few feet). It would be better to put the router out in the clearing and run CAT5 back for ethernet network and power. You could run two wires or you could use a power-over-ethernet setup (PoE).

Then use a highly directional antenna, very carefully aimed, at EACH end of connection.

Otherwise if you want to connect them physically you could use fibre. Fibre to ethernet converters are pretty inexpensive. You'd just have to install the direct burial type of fibre. And any time you're putting something in ground always make sure to pull spare pairs. Don't pull just what's required, double it. There's always the chance something will go wrong with the pair that's in use. It's best to have a spare already in the ground.

What're you planning on doing at the receiving end in the outbuilding? What sort of devices or network use are you anticipating?

-Bill Kearney

Reply to
Bill Kearney

Thanks, Bill - I will be using a PC, off the Linksys router.

Reply to
Regent via HWKB.com

sure - it's about the same as using a garden hose as an AC extension cord.

Reply to
P.Schuman

how do you have power at the main site ? then power avail at the outbuilding site ? any temp issues - used at very cold or very hot ?

RF (wireless) is more complex than plain copper telephone wire along with the LOS issue - more complex than shining a flashlight.

SO - to arrive at a "solution" - all the variables need to be shared, else you are asking for which pair of pliers is best to hit the nail :)

RF is absorbed by trees (water in leaf) and will get worse the more leaves you have. Just like a sat dish pointing up to the sky.... same probs.

Anyway - you are looking for a rural connection "solution", vs which pliers should you use to hit the nail.... RF - line of sight - must have clear shot RF - absorbed by transmission cable - longer cable leaves little energy to xmit AC mode - powerline transmission IF the main + remote on same power box PoE - CAT5 strung out to clear point and then potentially use RF - logistics, cold/hot, critters, etc

lots of issues beyond initial question - that's why this stuff is all magic -

Reply to
P.Schuman

I believe I now have enough info to proceed. D

Reply to
Regent via HWKB.com

Reply to
decaturtxcowboy

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