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etpm@whidbey.com: Oct 11 05:37PM -0700 I am just getting into tube, AKA valve, stuff. At this point I am learning about them, how they work, how they are used, etc. I surprised myself a little when I identified an audio amp just by looking at it. This amp was a component for a larger radio and did not have any type controls on it. And no labels or anything either. It was just a chassis with screw terminals. Anyway, time to get to the point. How valuable is a tube tester for someone who is only, or mainly, going to be messing with audio gear and the gear for testing audio gear. Maybe what I really need is a gear tester? Ahem. So, this would just be for hobby use, at least for now, and I am not gonna spend a lot of money on it. Can a simple tube tester be of much use? I say simple because I imagine a not so simple tester will have a not so low price. I suppose I could always get a more sophisticated tester that needs repair but then I would need to learn how to repair it and calibrate it. Are they hard to calibrate? What sorts of test equipment would be needed to calibrate one? I'm a machinist and I know how I would approach this type of problem if it was a mechanical assembly. I have built pretty sophisticated and accurate inspection equipment using less sophisticated machines and tools. But I would be lost trying to repair a tube tester without help. Thanks, Eric

John Robertson <spam@flippers.com>: Oct 11 06:10PM -0700 > a tube tester without help. > Thanks, > Eric   Well, having easily half a dozen tube testers in my shop may suggest that I am biased, but really, how can you NOT have a tube tester if you are using tube equipment? Short of having only a few tube devices, and knowing what the parameters should be for each tube in those circuits if working properly (resistors good too!) so that you could use a volt meter only, a tube tester can take a lot of the guesswork out.   Mutual conductance testing is ideal (and most expensive type of tester) and the drug-store go/no go testers are at the bottom. The decision is driven by your budget and how often you are likely to need the thing.   If you are frustrated when trying to fix an amp or radio because you don't' know if the tube(s) are the cause, then you need to spend the money.   Tube testers are quite robust, so they rarely need service. Usually just a switch or tube test socket goes bad so pretty easy to deal with.   Get schematics for whatever tester you choose!   Oh, and get a scope at the same time. And a signal generator. And a cap tester...   John :-#)# -- (Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup) John's Jukes Ltd. MOVED to #7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3 (604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games) www.flippers.com "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Oct 11 06:28PM -0700 et...@whidbey.com wrote:   --------------------------     > Anyway, time to get to the point. How valuable is a tube tester for > someone who is only, or mainly, going to be messing with audio gear > and the gear for testing audio gear.     ** IME - no use at all.   In 50+ years of working with valve gear, I have never used one and know no-ne here in Sydney who does.   What you NEED is a supply of known good valves to use as substitutes.   The item itself is your "tube tester" and a far better one that anything you can buy - cos it operates the valves under *actual service conditions*.   Others here will say differently, cos they own one of more of the stupid things and *love* them irrationally, like pets.   FYI:   Not long ago, I designed a special power valve tester that, along with a few common bench items, allows operation of audio power valves under realistic and even more severe conditions with *everything* adjustable.   It can both sort out tubes with ANY kind of fault and match sets under conditions as found in commercial amplifiers as well.   Nothing on the market like it exists, anywhere.   Cos me SFA to make too.   https://sound-au.com/project165.htm     .... Phil           ..... Phil

Fox's Mercantile <jdangus@att.net>: Oct 11 09:05PM -0500 On 10/11/19 8:28 PM, Phil Allison wrote: > In 50+ years of working with valve gear, I have never > used one and know no-ne here in Sydney who does.   I have a few, but usually just to satisfy my curiosity.   > Not long ago, I designed a special power valve tester   An excellent bit of kit sir.   -- "I am a river to my people." Jeff-1.0 WA6FWi http:foxsmercantile.com

Fred McKenzie <fmmck@aol.com>: Oct 11 10:12PM -0400 In article <8r62qe113udhaoakjcriock80njlbm94vj@4ax.com>,   > How valuable is a tube tester for > someone who is only, or mainly, going to be messing with audio gear > and the gear for testing audio gear.   If you will be repairing anything with vacuum tubes, then you need a tube tester. I suggest a mutual conductance tester. Mine is a Jackson model 648. It has a built-in scroll of setting information for many older tubes.   You will occasionally find these on E-Bay or at a Hamfest.   > I suppose I could always get a more sophisticated tester that needs > repair but then I would need to learn how to repair it and calibrate > it.   I don't think they are that complicated. Just a simple circuit with a BUNCH of switches and tube sockets wired together. The meter is marked in percent, so you can see how relatively good your tube is.   At some Hamfests, I've seen "calibration tubes" that you could use to check your 100 percent adjustment. I never worried about mine, since I just want to know if a tube is relatively good. Suppose it is only reading 75 percent. That is still a useable tube if you don't have a replacement.   Fred

Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Oct 11 08:08PM -0700 Fox's Mercantile wrote:   ------------------------- Phil Allison wrote:   > I have a few, but usually just to satisfy my curiosity.   > > Not long ago, I designed a special power valve tester   > An excellent bit of kit sir.   ** Nice of you to say so. FYI:   My colleague Rod took a few liberties when he edited my submitted article.   He added extra circuits of his own, that he had merely simulated and did not build - he has never seen the prototype shown in the pic that I use here.   Mine is very simple, it uses only external PSUs - the 6.3V comes from a variable 5A DC bench supply and negative bias from another 2A one.   There is no "test" button as there is an on/off switch on the front of my 240/240 isolation tranny.   The only known trap is if you hastily hot switch from from pentode back to triode mode - as the latter requires way more negative grid bias. Normally just pops the fuse.   I soon found that most 6BQ5s could be pushed way more than usually seen in pentode mode - with plate and screen voltages of up to 640V and 320V respectively.   So I built a simple output stage that employed a push-pull pair that way and got a remarkable 60W rms of clean power with no sign of red plating !!   Having long ago gone through all my junk box valves, the tester is mainly used for brand new ones, soon as I get them, in case I find a dud or one well out of match. I have even had one or two with the glass broken !!   If I need to return a bad valve, there is way less hassle if I do so the same or next day.   I also added a banana socket to the rear of the box allowing a short top cap lead to be fitted for types like the 6CM5 and 6DQ6B. A few Aussie made guitar amps from the 1960s used them.       .... Phil

tubeguy@myshop.com: Oct 11 05:40PM -0500 Cobra 29 cb. The meter never moves on receive, transmit, or ever. An external SWR meter confirms its transmitting and I can hear my test signal on receive. Sort of tells me the meter is blown. I have never tested a meter. What kind of resistance should it have across the terminals? Can I apply a 1.5v AA battery to it to see if it moves?   I also want to know if I can see the receive and transmit on a multimeter? If so, do I use the AC or DC setting?   Thanks

Fox's Mercantile <jdangus@att.net>: Oct 11 06:14PM -0500 > signal on receive. Sort of tells me the meter is blown. I have never > tested a meter. What kind of resistance should it have across the > terminals? Can I apply a 1.5v AA battery to it to see if it moves?   A battery itself is a good way to make sure the meter is blown.   > I also want to know if I can see the receive and transmit on a > multimeter? If so, do I use the AC or DC setting?   Use a DVM set on the DC 1 mA range across the meter. If you read nothing, then something else is dead/broken inside the radio.       -- "I am a river to my people." Jeff-1.0 WA6FWi http:foxsmercantile.com

Ralph Mowery <rmowery28146@earthlink.net>: Oct 11 07:41PM -0400 In article <ur02qe1f2em67526mkvjvq3r94jsq0bjvb@4ax.com>, tubeguy@myshop.com says... > signal on receive. Sort of tells me the meter is blown. I have never > tested a meter. What kind of resistance should it have across the > terminals? Can I apply a 1.5v AA battery to it to see if it moves?   You can use the battery only once. It will probably slam the pointer over to the end and ruin the meter. Most likely the meter will only have a full scale of 1 miliamp or even less.   Try hooking a digital meter in the voltage or miliamp range across the meter to see if it shows anything. YOu may be able to disconnect one wire going to the meter and measuring it with the digital meter set to ohms. Just tap the leads to see if the meter moves and it may move the wrong way.

tabbypurr@gmail.com: Oct 11 12:57PM -0700 > Note 5: (Heresy Warning!) The step between a decent emissions-only tester and one that will actually convey enough additional information to be useful is considerable in complexity and in cost. A Heath TC3 for 99-44% of general hobby purposes is as good as any but the very top-of-the-line GM testers. That includes the TV-7 military tester and all its clones. The next step up are those capable of matching - or the modern computerized testers that will plot curves and so forth. So, from roughly $80 - $200 for a good, clean TC3 or-equal, to the $900 - $2,500-and-up for a properly calibrated Hickok 539 series, AVO or Card-Matic, don't bother with the in-between.   > Peter Wieck > Melrose Park, PA   Good advice when being thorough, but time consuming. Just checking Ia or Ik is correct is the quick 'is the stage working' check that gets the job done quickly in most cases. If not obviously you then need to check electrode voltages, Rs Cs etc to determine valve or component failure.   Valves declared fauly by a tester sometimes still work. Grid shorts can make little difference when Rfault is higher than Rin, eg when the valve is transformer fed. And valves sometimes pass on a tester but won't work in the circuit. A tester is very useful but not the ultimate decider.     NT

Fox's Mercantile <jdangus@att.net>: Oct 11 04:17PM -0500 > Good advice when being thorough, but time consuming. Just checking Ia or Ik is correct is the quick 'is the stage working' check that gets the job done quickly in most cases. If not obviously you then need to check electrode voltages, Rs Cs etc to determine valve or component failure.   > Valves declared fauly by a tester sometimes still work. Grid shorts can make little difference when Rfault is higher than Rin, eg when the valve is transformer fed. And valves sometimes pass on a tester but won't work in the circuit. A tester is very useful but not the ultimate decider.   > NT   You persist in posting wrong or misleading information to defend what you original posted that was wrong and/or misleading. So typical of you.   Service information usually provides voltages that should be present at various places. With the exception of RF amplifier stages, I have never seen "Current through this device should be..."   Almost all low lever signal stages operate well below the published Ip in tube manuals.   Again the best way to test tubes is "does it work?" Replacing capacitors to eliminate shorts and high leakage will solve a majority of problems. Then any "way out of tolerance" resistors can be replaced. Then you can check for defective tubes. Except the obvious ones, cold (open filament) or red plates. (Obviously something is seriously wrong.)       -- "I am a river to my people." Jeff-1.0 WA6FWi http:foxsmercantile.com

Ralph Mowery <rmowery28146@earthlink.net>: Oct 11 05:46PM -0400 In article <HOCdnQa9L-bgbD3AnZ2dnUU7-R_NnZ2d@giganews.com>, jdangus@att.net says... > for defective tubes. > Except the obvious ones, cold (open filament) or red plates. > (Obviously something is seriously wrong.)   From what I have seen, tubes are seldom a problem if the filament lights up and the inside of the glass is silver color and not white. There are a few exceptions where the tube is ran hard and will get weak. Seems that the old color TV sets had a bad habit of a couple of tubes in the horizontal output section getting weak.

Fox's Mercantile <jdangus@att.net>: Oct 11 05:33PM -0500 On 10/11/19 4:46 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote: > From what I have seen, tubes are seldom a problem if the filament lights > up and the inside of the glass is silver color and not white.   Indicating a loss of vacuum, i.e. airleak. The getter is what initially makes the silver deposit on the inside of the tube envelope.   > a few exceptions where the tube is ran hard and will get weak. Seems > that the old color TV sets had a bad habit of a couple of tubes in the > horizontal output section getting weak.   TV sets were designed to a price point. "Run hard and put away wet" was a cost savings. And the reason almost every always says "It's just a bad tube." When in reality, it's almost always capacitors.     -- "I am a river to my people." Jeff-1.0 WA6FWi http:foxsmercantile.com

tubeguy@myshop.com: Oct 11 05:33PM -0500 On Thu, 10 Oct 2019 07:56:39 -0000 (UTC), gregz <zekor@comcast.net> wrote:     >I have one may have been replaced, bright blue, really bright on high. >Overdriving can diminish life.   >Greg   Looking on youtube, it seems this is a very common problem with these radios. Cobra made great cb radios, but must have used crappy readout chips.I only have one digit out so im just gonna leave it. Its the low vertical segment on the number 2.

Fox's Mercantile <jdangus@att.net>: Oct 11 04:05PM -0500 On 10/11/19 3:04 PM, KenW wrote:   >>> Do a search and you will find out.   >> Tubeguy seems to be incapable of using google.   > His problem. tough !!   Yeah, but he makes it our problem.     -- "I am a river to my people." Jeff-1.0 WA6FWi http:foxsmercantile.com

Arlen _G_ Holder <_arlen.george@halder.edu>: Oct 11 06:04PM On Wed, 9 Oct 2019 08:17:43 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton wrote:   > I think the real answer is "WiFi access is relatively rare among AHR users".   > We sure don't have it where I live.   > Cindy Hamilton   Hi Cindy Hamilton,   Yes you do. o Everyone has it.   Let's say, for example, you can "see" your friend, who is, oh, say, a dozen kilometers away from you line of sight, similar to what Ammammata posted:   On Thu, 10 Oct 2019 09:32:21 +0200, Ammammata wrote: >>at home, the ISP antenna is about 12 km away from home >>max current speed in download is about 30Mb   Guess what?   If you and your friend buy two "antennas" (as explained) o You can connect to each others' access points (a dozen miles away)   Since there is always another access point you might want to connec to o All you need is the equipment (which is inexensive) & the know how   It's the know how which is expensive ... where this post to JP Gilliver explains some of the advantages you can obtain with that know how...   On Thu, 10 Oct 2019 14:15:04 +0100, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: > (although we seem of course to be talking about two different sorts, the > in-home and the ISP [is the latter even referred to as "wi-fi", or just > "wireless"?]).   Hi Ammammata & J.P. Gilliver,   I post a lot of tutorials & helpful posts that benefit the Usenet potluck o Where I strive to add details which verify the facts   Like you, I agree that all desktop users benefit from better WiFi options o Particularly when they, like Ammammata, can access APs 12 km's away   At 30Mb/sec, no less!   To that end, it was also useful that pjp shared that his AP is 1km away o Where the point is that anyone you can "see", you can share with   That's useful in a pinch - when good old American ingenuity is required o Like when a neighborhood needs to set up WISP as we did ourselves   To that end, I just now added a few more 5GHz frequencies to my "antenna" <https://www.ui.com/fcclabelrequest/>   Where I also had to physically add a sticker (believe it or not) to the antenna, as per FCC rules since the revised UNII rules legally modified the previously approved FCC ID, and, more to the point, it modified the previously set up available frequencies (and, more importantly, it changes the legally allowed EIRP, particularly at the fringes of the band, in order to reduce emissions).   This apparently had multiple instant benefits, not the least of which were additional bands in the 5GHz spectrum and lower emissions in those bands.   With that change, I'm apparently attaining instantly better speeds! <http://speedtest.net>   I recommend users who want to connect to access points miles away, to keep in mind the distances people like pjp, Ammammata, and I can attain with reasonable speeds (with APs literally easily a dozen kilometers away).   -- Sharing information on the Usenet potluck to benefit all who attend.

Arlen _G_ Holder <_arlen.george@halder.edu>: Oct 11 06:59PM On Wed, 9 Oct 2019 21:40:16 -0000 (UTC), Dan Purgert wrote:   > his ISP. I can't recall if you've used them before, so forgive me if > you know this already. One "side" of the device is a long range 2.4 GHz > radio, the other is a standard copper ethernet port.   Hi Dan Purgert,   This is about power - changing feet to miles - at the same cost as before.   Take a look at this photo I just snapped for you, showing this setup works when directly connected to any PC to amplify the power from feet to miles: <https://i.postimg.cc/DfQJq437/mikrotikrouter.jpg>   The cost on the Microtik web site is about fifty dollars: <https://mikrotik.com/product/RB411>   You were mostly correct in your assessment, where the main take away is that one end is a standard female RJ45 which means any male-to-male Cat5 cable plugs it into anything you normally plug a RJ45 connector into.   For example, I'm sending you this from a powerful and yet inexpensive Mikrotik antenna plugged directly into the back of my desktop at this very moment, where a quick search on Amazon shows costs similar to normal routers that everyone already has (but which only travel a few hundred feet, which is infinitesimally puny compared to what this stuff does): <https://www.amazon.com/MikroTik-RB911G-5HPacD-RouterBoard-911G-5HPacD/dp/B00UH8VWVQ>   I wish to clarify that the Wi-Fi equipment is the same (essentially) as what EVERYONE already has in their home already - only better.   Bear in mind this Wi-Fi equipment is no different, fundamentally, from everyone's SOHO router in almost everyone's home & office, and, more to the point, the equipment is no different fundamentally from _any_ Wi-Fi "amplifier", "repeater", or even "dongle" that people habitually attach to their desktops and laptops to increase Wi-Fi connection distances.   The main difference isn't even price - as these radios which can connect to APs miles away cost no more, in general, than any decent router does at Frys here in the Silicon Valley.   The main difference is essentially POWER (which transmits to "distances"). o Those Wi-Fi access point distances are what this thread is all about.   And, of course, size (the antenna on these things adds 30 decibels alone!)   We have heard reports from users whose APs are as little as 1 km to as many as a dozen times that distance - which _any_ desktop can attain, if the user has the know how and the equipment discussed in this very thread.   Each of my desktops, in fact, has one such antenna attached to it, where the desktop I'm on right is plugged into a Mikrotik router & antenna: <https://i.postimg.cc/DfQJq437/mikrotikrouter.jpg>   -- The point is that it's not just for WISPs - it works for desktops also.

"pfjw@aol.com" <peterwieck33@gmail.com>: Oct 11 12:05PM -0700 If you know all the answers already, WTF did you ask in the first place? Just to see your own blather? Then cross post it everywhere?

Fox's Mercantile <jdangus@att.net>: Oct 11 02:09PM -0500 > If you know all the answers already, WTF did you ask in > the first place? Just to see your own blather? Then cross > post it everywhere?   Pretty much.   Arlen's the kind of person that would stop up a toilet before shitting in it, then flush it just to watch it overflow all over the floor.       -- "I am a river to my people." Jeff-1.0 WA6FWi http:foxsmercantile.com

Arlen _G_ Holder <_arlen.george@halder.edu>: Oct 11 07:13PM On Fri, 11 Oct 2019 11:50:52 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton wrote:   > Let's say I have a coax cable coming in my house to my cable modem and my > desktop PC has no WiFi receiver installed.   Hi Cindy,   That works perfectly, Cindy. o Remember, this is "standard" Ethernet stuff (Cat5/RJ45 & all that).   That's the elegant beauty of having the knowledge described in this thread! o It plugs directly into your computer - as long as you have an RJ45 port.   Please take a quick look at this photo I just snapped which shows the connection from my DESKTOP RJ45 port to the "router & antenna". <https://i.postimg.cc/DfQJq437/mikrotikrouter.jpg>   The cost of that setup is about what you pay for a SOHO router. o And yet, the POWER is infinitely greater   As an example, you'd be hard pressed to get even 20 decibels EIRP out of your SOHO router, whereas the antenna alone on this setup could easily be 30 decibels or more - and that doesn't even count the transmit power.   So, for the same amount of money as people spend to have repeaters in their house, they can set up something like this, if they have the space and knowledge, instead.   And, for the same amount of money that people spend to send wires to the deepest darkest most inaccessible parts of their house, they can simply set up an antenna like this to beam the signal.   In fact, I have multiple antennas like this set up OUTSIDE my house, which face the house in order to beam the signal back INTO the house (and to the pool and to the barn and to the shop, and to the driveway gate, etc.).   Notice all this can easily be done with a cable modem setup. o All you need is an RJ45 port in your desktop or laptop computer.   -- The point is this power is available to ALL desktops (with an RJ45 port).

Arlen _G_ Holder <_arlen.george@halder.edu>: Oct 11 07:32PM On 10 Oct 2019 12:10:40 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:   > In my case, normally about 2 metre (80 inches), but sometimes as > little as about 5 cm (2 inches).   Hi Frank,   I agree that a normal SOHO router works just fine for many people o I literally have plenty of normal SOHO routers myself   But I _also_ have far better equipment (in terms of power & distances): <https://i.postimg.cc/YqTk0q1T/ap.jpg>   My key point being to educate folks here that huge DISTANCES are possible o At about the same cost that they're paying now   For example, as you're likely aware, you'd be hard pressed to get even 20 "real" decibels out of a typical SOHO router, right?   Well, this desktop I'm on at this very moment has a router attached to its RJ45 port with 23 decibels of transmit power, which itself is attached to a cheap antenna of, oh, I think this one is about another 18 decibels. <https://i.postimg.cc/DfQJq437/mikrotikrouter.jpg>   Bearing in mind not only that decibels add up, but every 3 decibels is twice the power, which allows any desktop to connect to a suitable access point which can be miles away (or only hundreds of feet through a building or other penetratable structure).   All for the same cost as what everyone is paying now.   All they need is the technical knowhow in this thread (and a bit more room on their shelves) where, armed with this knowledge (which is what I'm all about, Frank ... dissemination of knowledge) ... they too can transmit/receive strong signal for MILES to/from their desktop, instead of mere feet.   -- Using American ingenuity to help people have more power at less cost.

Arlen _G_ Holder <_arlen.george@halder.edu>: Oct 11 07:48PM On Fri, 11 Oct 2019 12:23:49 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton wrote:   > I have a single WiFi router that reaches all over my house and a little > bit outside. It really is all I need to access the Internet from my > tablet while I'm sitting on the sofa or out on the deck.   Hi Cindy Hamilton,   If you already get good signal to and from anywhere you need to, with a typical cable modem and SOHO router, then you have absolutely no need for the technical acumen and powerful tools that this thread espouses.   Out here, where I live, above the Silicon Valley, just to give you an idea of the distances involved, we have 40 acre zoning, which means you can't even build a second house if you have only 79 acres of land.   Yet, we can 'see' millions of access points (literally and figuratively), which means, if we wanted to, we can have a friend many miles away connect his desktop to our cable modem (if we had a cable modem - which is essentially what our "radio" is so it's the same thing in effect).   More to the point, if I want to beam my signal from my desktop to the pool, which is only a few hundred feet away, I can, and if I want to reach the driveway gate, which is also hundreds of feet from the house, I can.   Likewise with the barn, shed, shop, and parking area. o All I need is an RJ45 port (on any router, modem, laptop, or desktop).   What's even better, is our houses are rather large, where we can easily beam to all corners of the house from OUTSIDE the house.   All we do is connect a Cat5 cable to what you'd call a "cable modem", and then we can beam the cable modem Internet signal back into the house.   Since the signal is penetrating a structure, it won't go for miles in that case, but it's certainly powerful enough to penetrate to all floors and all corners of the house.   I can't be the only person on this newsgroup who would like that kind of power at about the same costs as what people are paying today for "repeaters" and "wifi dongles" for their laptops and desktops.   In summary, you don't need anything whatsoever by way of power & distance o And that's fine - as it's a very useful datapoint which we appreciate   Hopefully other people enjoy having this kind of power at the same cost.   -- Admittedly, the wifi dongles are tiny compared to this setup!

Arlen _G_ Holder <_arlen.george@halder.edu>: Oct 11 07:51PM On Fri, 11 Oct 2019 12:25:16 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton wrote:   >> it possible. I'm with you, there are various wifi hotspots in the >> area around here, but none that I can pick up at my home.   > I don't use WiFi hotspots. You never know where they've been.   While it's normal for Trader to misunderstand even the most basic of things o In general, most users on this newsgroup comprehend what Ethernet is   With this setup, at about the same cost as any normal SOHO router o You can feed your entire house with signal many times more powerful   If you don't _need_ WiFi transmit power ... these tools aren't for you. o But some on this ng need to transmit to the edge of their property line.   And to all corners and all floors of their house. o At about the same cost as they're paying today (needing more shelf space)   -- In addition, you "can" connect to APs miles away (if you want to).

Arlen _G_ Holder <_arlen.george@halder.edu>: Oct 11 08:28PM On Fri, 11 Oct 2019 19:44:07 -0000 (UTC), William Unruh wrote:   >> The cost on the Microtik web site is about fifty dollars: >> <https://mikrotik.com/product/RB411>   > Unfortunately all the products on that web site are discontinued.   Thanks for pointing that out, where almost all my equipment is free, since people replace their routers and antennas all the time, with new ones. as specs changed from g, to n, to ac, etc. over the years.   A quick search shows the 23dBm routerboard FCC-ID is TV7R52N, dated to 2009 <https://fccid.io/TV7R52N>   So it's likely nearly ten years old, which was before ac routers existed. o Where everyone should be familiar that WiFi standards changed over time.   I think I already posted the $90 ac equivalent on Amazon, where I'm sure far better prices can be found if we look a little further on the net. <https://www.amazon.com/MikroTik-RB911G-5HPacD-RouterBoard-911G-5HPacD/dp/B00UH8VWVQ>   Notice that, for about the same cost as any typical 15-20 decibel router, you get a 5GHz 802.11ac router with a 720MHz CPU with 128MB DDR2 onboard memory & Ethernet One Gigabit port with Auto-MDI/X Wireless QCA9882, 2x MMCX connectors, Dual chains, which works anywhere in the world (Mikrotik is renown for allowing settings for ANY country, where last I checked on mine, there were literally about 200 different country choices in the firmware).   The good news from your post is that I am aware you are rather well educated in Physics, so I'm sure you're appreciative of the phenomenal power of decibels, where, a quick look just now on one of my routers shows the EIRP to be around 27 dBM plus around 10 dBi, which gives me roughly about 37 decibels of transmit power. <https://i.postimg.cc/DZccY2YD/decibels.jpg>   Most people might not need such huge power (which equates to signal strength at distance, of course), where the key educational technical point is that this inexpensive equipment costs just about as much as the puny SOHO routers people put in their homes - where the size of this 23dBm router connected directly to my desktop computer is actually much SMALLER than a typical SOHO router (although we need to attach antennas to it, but they can be of almost any size depending on your distance needs).   In summary, for about the same cost and size of a typical SOHO router, you can get, literally, miles of distance between your modem or computer, and the access point.   You just need to know first, that it can be done rather easily, and, o Then you simply need to know what equipment to purchase on Amazon   -- You will NOT likely find this kind of equipment at a local store.

KenW <ken1943@invalid.net>: Oct 11 02:04PM -0600 On Fri, 11 Oct 2019 09:39:25 -0500, Fox's Mercantile <jdangus@att.net> wrote:   >>> my list of available networks. This is everywhere I am. What is it?   >> Do a search and you will find out.   >Tubeguy seems to be incapable of using google.   His problem. tough !!

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