High Speed Multimedia – The Amateur Radio bands above 50 MHz can support computer-to-computer communications at speeds high enough to support multimedia applications. Multimedia in this case refers to voice, data and image communications. Hams call this HSMM—high speed multimedia.
Washington County ARES AREDN Contact
Chris Arnesen, KU7PDX
What is the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN)?
AREDN is a custom firmware designed to run on commodity hardware that provides a way for amateur radio operators to create high-speed, ad-hoc, data networks to support emergency and community-service communications.
How can Washington County ARES/RACES utilize AREDN?
AREDN creates an IP network, just like our own private internet, allowing us to do things like send larger amounts of data via Winlink, send webcam video, exchange data files, and much more.
What is the quickest way to get active with AREDN at home or at a served agency?
As of today, 02/07/2024, I recommend purchasing a Mikrotik hAP ac2 (about $80 on Amazon.com) and flashing the AREDN firmware on it (latest AREDN documentation here). You can also reach out to me directly to get one pre-configured and ready to go.
How do I get connected to the AREDN mesh? I don’t have an AREDN node near me to connect via RF.
The AREDN development team has integrated a function into their firmware allowing for the creation of a regional Supernode via the internet. This helps to resolve an old problem with mesh networks where they would get interlinked and grow too large, causing slowdowns and frequent disconnections.
I’m operating a regional Supernode here in Hillsboro with a dedicated tunnel server on an enterprise class fiber connection with backup power. I invite our local ARES members and served agency stations to join the mesh via our existing internet connections so we can start utilizing mesh services and encourage the expansion of the RF mesh network as well. Contact me to get access to the regional tunnel server so you get into the Supernode.
Additional Resources
- Willamette Valley Mesh Network
- Mesh Firmware for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Hardware
- Mesh 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Hardware
- Books
- High Speed Multimedia for Amateur Radio by Glen Popiel, KW5GP (2016): ARRL Store, Amazon.com
- Server Application Resources
- Raspberry Pi: $35 to $55 Single-board Linux computer suitable for running server applications.
- TeamTalk 5: Multi-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS) video & audio conferencing server and client software.
- Asterisk: Full-featured SIP server software for use with VoIP phones and software.
- iPerf3: Network bandwidth measurement tool. Great for remote HSMM node speed testing.
- FileZilla Server: Free Windows FTP (file transfer protocol) server software.
- FTPUSE: Free Windows software to map a physical drive letter to a FTP server.
- hMailServer – Free email server for Windows.
- WampServer – Free web server with PHP capability for Windows.
- AfterLogic WebMail Lite PHP – Free web interface for email servers.
- SARTopo – Mapping web server for search and rescue & asset tracking.
- Site Surveying Tools
- airLink: Outdoor Wireless Link Calculator (Web)
- Radio Mobile Online (Web & Windows)
- SPLAT! (Linux & OSX, Windows)
KN6PLV AREDN MeshMap
