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Prairie Technologies 5.8Ghz Microwave STL

K

kj6eo

Hello and thanks for reading my post. I have an STL related question. I don't have a direct line of site path to my Transmitter Site (8 miles away). I'm going to use a pair of Bric Link II's (FLAC) to take me to a line of sight location. I'm considering using an unlicensed 5.8Ghz Prairie Technologies Microwave STL to go the few remaining miles to the site. My question is, has anyone else here on the board used the Prairie Technologies equipment? If so, I'd like to know how it worked out for you.
 
Have not used the Prairie tech stuff but have used Ubiquiti Nanostation NSM5 5ghz units to cover 1.5 mile hop for an LPFM to extend the network to the TX and used two Barix units to transport audio over them. They are cheap $88.09 on Amazon. They work well
 
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We have used AvaLan units with good results. They are a bit more expensive at $2k for the pair, but still a great value for the quality.
 
I would avoid using 5.8ghz radios for a primary STL. Especially if you are in a moderately populated area as anyone can cause inference with your link. If you are not in a major metro area you will most likely be fine, however expect to have some interruptions. Also try and get someone with a spectrum analyzer to check both ends of the link before you try and deploy or you may find that there are no holes in the spectrum.

That being said I am using the Ubiquiti Rocket 5's for a studio to studio link(about a 30 mile link in total) and have an Axia xnode on either end and can send multiple channels of uncompressed audio in both directions. My experience with this type of link has been mixed. Some days it starts having minor audio glitches and others will just drop completely. Since you are using the Bric's you should be able to build a little bit of cushion into the connection profile by increasing the minimum delay cushion buffer. This will help with some of the minor interruptions that can occur with these types of radio's.

Good luck and look forward to hearing what results you have.
 
Thank you for your replies. The majority of people that I've spoken to have highly recommended Ubiquiti. A pair of Rocket 5's and a pair of Rocket Dishes just might get the job done. I'll get back to you once I get everything working.
 
Were you able to get the project installed and, if so, how did it work out? The Prairie Technologies system is interesting because it's an analog system at 5.8 gHz. No codecs used. You actually run analog audio directly to the dishes. Curious how it worked out.

http://www.prairietech.us/
 
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bradgoehl said:
Phreak, Are you using the new xNode firmware with the Unicast Link functionality?
Click to expand...

Not sure what version of firmware I'm running on my xNodes currently. I will have to check the one on this end and see what firmware it is running.

I had a lighting strike kill one of the radios on my link. Haven't been able to use it for the last 3 months.

I'm currently looking into licensed options for a new link that will avoid any of the problems that occurred with the old link due to interference.
 
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