[PLUG] Long range wireless networking...

[plug_0 at robinson-west.com]

Quoting Maodhog <techmage at aracnet.com>:

> 
> How much power is legal then?
> 
> FCC regulations say milliwatts. I don't have the exact at hand.
> Also, they must not interfere with any other service in the area.

What's wrong with amplifying a signal just enough so that 
the loss over your coax run plus the initial pre amplified 
power equals the output power out of the amplifier?
If your card puts out 16dbm and the loss over your cable
run is 16dbm, what's wrong with amplifying your signal
to 32 dbm?  Let's say your card uses 30 milliwatts of
power, why not hook the card into an amplifier that 
outputs the signal into this coax run at 60 milliwatts?
Is is better to let the signal weaken over the coax
run and amplify it just before the antenna instead?
If I amplify after a loss to the power level I started
with, is this legal?

If I can get where I'm going with the stock amount of 
power, I'm all for that.

I asked the manufacturer what LMR-400 can take, he said 
it can take 100's of watts.  He also said that the limit
on 802.11b is 1 watt, but I doubt that I need to use 
anywhere near that much power.  Going from 30 milliwatts 
to 60 milliwatts sounds closer to what I need to do short
of switching out the antenna.

Say there's a legal card that uses 100 milliwatts of power.
My cards do 16-18dbm, I think that's around 40 milliwatts.
Can I boost my signal via a circuit between the pigtail
and the antenna back up to 40 milliwatts or at least 
something under 100 milliwatts?  Are boosters illegal 
without an amatuer license, or do you simply have to stay 
within the power limits?  Cable loss reduces transmit 
power, is that correct?  Are transmit power and gain the 
same thing?

     --  Michael C. Robinson

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