Site Testing -- K5QHD

[Paul -- KA5TYW]

NTX AREDN team,

The Garland Amateur Radio Club has installed a node, a NanoStation M2, on the 40 foot tower at their Emergency Communications Center located in downtown Garland.  The node is pointed northwest toward K5UTD.  I conducted a test of the node from the playground at Freeman Elementary School, approximately 0.25 miles to the northwest of the node.  My testing setup was a NTX AREDN SIG version 1.1 deployment kit; the Part 15 wireless access point Loco was pointed toward my car for use with my iPad.  The K5QHD node's link to K5UTD is useable but, barely so; the signal strength varied over time from -72 to -75 dB.  The Garland club plans to relocate the NanoStation to near the top of the ECC’s 75 foot pole (visible in the picture of the tower), which should dramatically improve the link quality to K5QHD.

Thank you and 73,

Paul -- KA5TYW