![]() ![]() ![]() Network telephone communications was established with Check Point 7 shortly thereafter. Lower Fossil (manned by Tristan) came up at about 6:02 am and the rest of the network was operational by 6:30 am. At 6:00 am I turned on the mesh node and waited for the rest of the network to come up. Therefore, the computer was used to display race video. The TV didn’t stay out long, because the strong winds kept knocking it over. The rain had stopped, so I setup all the equipment for the race VoIP telephone, computer and a TV for displaying race video. Overnight, we had wind and rain at the NORC Finish/Start line and by 5:30 am, when I woke, it was getting colder. Clouds started moving in and the sun disappeared, so we called an end to testing at about 7:00 pm and agreed to light up the network the next morning at 6:00 am. As feared, I was not able to connect with Steve at South Narrows and receive video. After a short while, I setup a better node and was able to do an end to end test of the NORC Mesh Network along with the VoIP telephone and PTZ camera at 6:15 pm. To that end, I went back and explained the situation to Jim, who was very supportive of my efforts. The fallback plan was to use the Finish/Start line to display race video. Unfortunately, all the sites I tested in the South Pitts area were no goes it seems the location of the Lower Fossil relay node was not line-of-sight. I moved on to the South Pitts area, set up a node and tested the link at 5:10 pm. He was receptive to the idea, so one was quickly setup and tested. I arrived at the NORC Finish/Start line at 4:40 pm and met with Jim Gollahon, KG7OUI about setting up a node and VoIP telephone for communications with our node sites. Therefore, I took off for those locations post haste. It was now after 4:00 pm and I had not setup my nodes at the Finish/Start line and South Pitts area. I expressed concern about the location being able to connect to the Lower Fossil relay node but all things considered, it was the best choice and we would address any problems later. The location we had originally picked was challenging, so Steve found a location a bit lower and closer to South Narrows. When I arrived, Steve was in the process of setting up his PTZ camera and node. After a short discussion about the pointing of the node toward Thomas at North Narrows High, I moved on toward Steve’s location. Wayne at Check Point 7 had everything set up and was in the process of testing the mesh node and Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) camera. After about half an hour we determined a couple of POE cables were bad, replaced them and all was working as expected disaster averted.Īt 3:30 pm I headed toward the locations of camera 1 and camera 2 to talk with Wayne and Steve. I arrived at 2:25 pm and we began looking into the problem. After a short discussion, I decided to go to his location and help troubleshoot the problem. I received another call from Thomas about a node not working. We discussed the location a bit and he was on his way. On the way down the hill, I received a call on FRS channel 7, our communication channel, about Steve having difficulty finding his station location at South Narrows. I headed down the hill to check-in with the rest of the team. ![]() Tristan proceeded to secure the relay node with polyethylene rope tie downs and rocks. The sun was out and the power box began taking a charge from the solar panel. The node was set up, connected to power and tested quickly at 1:40 pm. The remaining two-thirds of the climb to the top was strenuous with all of the gear, but relatively easy to walk. The initial climb was a little bit of a challenge as we had to work our way around some boulders to find the best way up. We collected all of the necessary equipment and made our way up to the relay site. Tristan Davis and I (Tom Davis, KB7HTA) parked his truck as close as we could to a possible path leading up to Lower Fossil. Steve Forinella, N6SFX Thomas Turner, KI6CCW and Wayne McGartlin, N7HWM proceeded to their stations at South Narrows, North Narrows High and Check Point 7 respectively. The Nevada Open Road Challenge (NORC), LVMesh team arrived at Lower Fossil at 12:30 after a great cheeseburger and fries at the Alamo Diner in Alamo, Nevada. ![]()
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