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Archive for 2. September 2009

dB Myth - How do Marine WiFi and Cellular antennas have Gain?

2. September 2009 by admin.

http://www.wifiyacht.net/Yacht-Cellular-WiFi-Antennas.html

Yacht Cellular WiFi Antennas - dB gain and dB Myth/Marketing

Yacht Cellular WiFi Antennas - dB gain and dB Myth/MarketingWhen a yacht Internet Connection system of the WiFi or Cellular type is installed on a yacht, usually there is an amplifier a coaxial cable and a marine type omni-directional antenna. That will be one of those 2 to 4 foot (approx.) white vertical antennas. They have to be made specifically for the application, which means the purpose and frequency band or band(s) that it will be used for. Often these antennas have a specification as to Gain. Antennas don’t really amplify a signal, they cannot. They are not an active electronic component, meaning there is no powered electronic components in them that could amplify a signal. They are basically just a radiator of radio frequency (r.f.) energy. Now, grant it they are a very special kind of radiator. The intention being to put as much of the energy in the best possible area, and to try and concentrate also on receiving from the best possible area. This area has to be 360 degrees around because a yacht can and does move. And you never know which way you are going to dock or anchor the vessel. So the antenna has to be able to cover “all around.”

Vertical Omni-Directional antennas have “Gain” by pulling in the vertical rf beam width. They gain by concentrating more energy where it is needed rather than wasting it more up and down where it is not needed. The gain works in both directions, transmit and receive. Such antennas are usually compared to a non-gain antenna (either theoretical “isotropic” or a common “dipole” antennas). In this case comparison is “dBi” so comparison is to Isotropic. There’s a funny PUN on the dB-whatever used in marketing. The call it “dbM” for db-Marketing. 8 to 9 dB gain in marine wifi or cellular is pretty much standard stuff. They’ve got to be careful not to pull the vertical beam width pattern in Too Much or you could miss the access point (or cell tower as the case may be) altogether either by under or over shooting it. Antenna should be placed as high as possible on a yacht… hopefully with nothing close by on the same height level. Sometimes there are tradeoffs to get it up there somewhere. But generally you don’t want anything like a large radar or satellite antenna to be in its path.

[That’s all for now. If you have any questions on this please contact me.]

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net

+1 954 683 3426

communications (at) marinetelecom.net

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You couldn’t “script” this stuff… Yacht Captain Saves Owner Thousands of Dollars a Year

2. September 2009 by admin.

You couldn’t script this stuff. But when it comes right out of the horses mouth, errr… I mean the captains mouth?

“In these economic times, you’re looking for any cost savings you can. Instead of paying $10,000 a year, I’m using the $59.95-a-month AT&T 3G plan that we already have. My owner is happy that I’m saving him thousands of dollars a year.”

The full PDF of this article (courtesy of Cradlepoint.com) I have available at:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Cradlepoint-MBR1000_files/Yacht_Captain_Shows_How_to_Save_Money_.pdf

Yacht Captain Uses CradlePoint CTR500 to Share 3G Broadband Connection

Reducing Cost and Increasing Internet Access

SITUATION

Don King is the captain of a privately-owned, 103-foot yacht that is manned by a crew of two and accommodates up to 9 guests. During the winter months, the boat operates out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and in the summer, it travels up to New England. “People think being a captain of a boat is all fun and games,” says Don. “But in reality, I’m in charge of a multi-million dollar corporation. I have to budget for fuel, provisions, maintenance, repairs, and any other situations that arise. I keep an eye on costs, just like any manager would.”
CHALLENGE

On other vessels, Don was seeing well over $1,000 a month for Internet service from a satellite provider. “Satellite can be really expensive. For example, I was reading about one boat owner who was a high-tech company founder. He had 4 ISDN [satellite] lines serving his ship. To keep those running 24/7 adds up to something $250,000 to 300,000 a month!”

Besides satellite, other options for Internet access include subscribing to dockside Wi-Fi offered by harbor service providers. “However, once you leave the harbor,” Don explains, “you don’t have service. If you travel to another city, you’re stuck paying upwards of 49-a-night fee to use their service.”
SOLUTION

Recently, Don got together at a Florida Panthers hockey game with a college friend who was visiting the area. His friend happens to work for CradlePoint. “He told me how I could use a CradlePoint router to create a Wi-Fi hot spot on the boat that would connect to the Internet using my AT&T 3G broadband service,” Don explains. “So I went to Best Buy and the rep there knew exactly what I wanted. He walked me right over to the CradlePoint display. There were a number of options and he helped me choose one that
was best for my situation: the [CradlePoint] CTR500 [Mobile Broadband Travel Router].
Installation was quick and easy. “It took all of about 5 minutes,” Don says. He placed the CTR500 at the highest point on the boat then took his laptop to all the nooks and crannies on board. “The signal was good and strong every where I went on the ship,” he says.
Now, guests and crew members use the CTR500’s hot spot to connect to the Internet at broadband speeds, even when offshore. “For day excursions, we rarely go more than 3 miles from shore and AT&T’s 3G service is still available that far out. And if we go to another city or harbor along the Florida coast or even in the US Virgin Islands, we can connect using the AT&T 3G service there. Even when we travel up the coast to New York—a four day trip—we rarely lose sight of shore, so we almost always have web access.”

The CTR500 provides fast connections for up to 16 simultaneous users. That’s perfect for the ship, which accommodates a maximum of 12 crew and passengers. The crew uses the web for email communications, checking weather websites and getting schematics of wiring or generators from websites if we’re making repairs or doing maintenance. I also do the ship’s accounting online.”
Don continues: “The other day, the grandkids were on board, downloading music while the owner was using the web for his work and I was checking email. That’s a lot of load—music files are especially big—but the CradlePoint worked great.”

BENEFITS
“The CradlePoint delivers virtually the same level of Internet service for pennies on the dollar,” boasts Don. “I’ve been telling all the other captains along the dock and they’re
looking into it.”

Simple. “I plugged in my AT&T 3G Broadband USB card into the CTR 500, turned [the CTR500] on, then followed the instructions on the Quick Start Guide. It was very
easy,” Don says.
Affordable. “Marine electronics are notorious for being expensive,” Don explains. “For example, Direct TV/Internet radomes cost $20-30K each for a ship like ours. So to get the CradlePoint for around $200 is amazing.”
Reliable. “The signal is excellent throughout the ship and we’ve had no hiccups. [The CT500] has worked fawlessly since we got it,” Don says. Fast. “[The CTR500] is fast,” Don declares.” It handles the big fles my boss needs to access with no delays.”
Any last words? “In these economic times, you’re looking for any cost savings you can. Instead of paying $10,000 a year, ’m using the $59.95-a-month AT&T 3G plan that we already have. My owner is happy that I’m saving him thousands of dollars a year.”
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The CradlePoint CTR500 Mobile Broadband Travel Router instantly creates a Wi-Fi hotspot that any Wi-Fi enabled device can connect to—laptop, camera, PDA, etc. The CTR500 then connects those devices to the Internet via 3G mobile broadband, providing high-speed web access virtually anywhere. In addition, it can also connect to the internet via a DSL or Cable broadband modem.

* Alan Spicer Telecom, a.k.a. Alan Spicer Marine Telecom has just become an Authorized Cradlepoint Partner and now sells the Cradlepoint Products. So if you just want to get a CTR500 and throw it on the wheelhouse dash and share it out-of-the-box like this captain describes, we’d be glad to help you out. If you’d like the more powerful MBR1000 series instead - we can help you as well. We also do installations onboard yachts including installing outside Marine Fiberglas Cellular Omni “Gain” antennas to extend your cellular range. We can figure out the plumbing from the Cellular Card (shared by a Cradlepoint Router) to the “hard line” low-loss coax cable - and on to the outside antenna. Not only that but integration onboard (coordination with existing Internet Systems) for wired and wireless laptop and desktop (PDA, Smart Phone, iPhone, iPod Touch) use by all onboard.

Just give a call … and a quote can be made. For lower cost than anyone else. And the savings will be recouped in a very short time (Return on Investment.)

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