News and Events
Members of the LVMesh group, Scott, – K7RSW, Rick – K7FYI and Tom – KB7HTA installed a new mesh node at the Red Mountain repeater site that adds coverage for Boulder City. The installed node, a Ubiquiti Rocket M5 with a 90° – 17 dBi sector antenna points South East directly toward the center of town. In addition to the new node, Ethernet cabling was also replaced on the other mesh nodes with high quality UV resistant covering.
After the installation, a test of the mesh node was made by driving around Boulder City in Rick’s truck, which had a TP-Link CPE 510 mesh node attached. The results were very good, with an estimated coverage of 85-90% of the city. We all agree a mesh node, with an Omni antenna mounted on top of the city’s water tower, would be necessary to provide 100% coverage. It would be worth looking into down the road.
Link Test -- Apex Peak to Beacon Hill
Friday November 15, 2019, Richard, KO0OOO and Tom, KB7HTA journeyed up to Apex as part of a team to test the feasibility of a link between Apex Peak and Beacon Hill, which is on North end of the Moapa Valley. The other members of the team Wayne (photo above), N7HWM and Steve, KJ6WCS, drove to a spot next to the I-15 near Beacon Hill, Northeast of Glendale, NV. On site, Wayne and Steve setup a tripod with an Ubiquiti Rocket M2 attached to a 90° sector antenna (16 dBi) and LVMesh power box. They attached a laptop computer to the LAN port of the POE powering the node and began looking for connections.
Meanwhile, Richard (photo above) and Tom installed an Ubiquiti Rocket M2 attached to a 24 dBi dish onto a tower and pointed it toward Beacon Hill. After running the Ethernet cable into the shack, attaching the POE and connecting the LAN cable to the network switch, the link test between the two nodes began.
Wayne and Steve tested the link from their location to Apex and into Las Vegas Valley, while Richard and Tom completed additional work on Apex Peak. The link was tested by connecting to various nodes in Las Vegas and downloading camera photos. Wayne described the link as functional, but slow. See the node status page below.
In summary, the team felt the test was a success, however the link between Apex Peak and Beacon Hill will require a node equipped with a dish (24 dBi) vs a sector antenna (16 dBi) used for the test. The increased gain of the dish will more than quadruple the signal between the two sites, which should provide a reliable and speedy link.
Group Information
Las Vegas Mesh Network Map
Backhauls are shown in green with red pins representing individual node locations. Only those nodes with latitude and longitude information is shown. Updated May 8, 2022
The Las Vegas Mesh Group was formed in February of 2019, out of the need to provide a reliable emergency data network in the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas. Off the shelf networking equipment will be used with software provided by Amateur Radio Emengency Data Network (AREDN) development team.
LVMesh Network Now Running Team Talk 5
TeamTalk 5 is now being used on the LVMesh network for collaboration and a weekly NET. The first NET occurred on Saturday November 15, 2019, with Richard, KO0OOO, Rick, K7FYI and Tom, KB7HTA joining in on a discussion about TeamTalk software. TeamTalk is a conferencing system, which people use to communicate on the Internet using VoIP and video streaming. The TeamTalk conferencing system consists of a server (contact Richard, KO0OOO, if you would like an account) and client application. The software is proprietary, freeware.
The most recent Sunday Night NET on October 31, 2021 boasted 8 participants: Allen (KF7EED), Dale (WA6MZW), Dan (N7BDP), Frank (N7ZEV), George (KI7BJV), Richard (KO0OOO), Steven (N6SFX) and Tom (KB7HTA). Nine participants is the record.
Connecting to the Las Vegas Mesh Network
Solar Power for the LVMesh Network on Apex
Amateur Radio Mesh Networking Part 1
Amateur Radio Mesh Networking Part 2
Mesh Node Relay Site Status
| Upper Potosi Mountain | |
| Ubiquiti Rocket M5 – 90° Sector Antenna 20 dBi Channel 172 (5.860) BW 10 MHz – North East (Las Vegas) |  |
| Ubiquiti Rocket M2 – 120° Sector Antenna 15 dBi Channel -2 (2.397) BW 10 MHz – North East (Las Vegas) | |
| Red Mountain | |
| Ubiquiti Rocket M5 – 90° Sector Antenna 20 dBi Channel 172 (5.860) BW 10 MHz – West (Las Vegas) | |
| Ubiquiti Rocket M5 – 90° Sector Antenna 17 dBi Channel 175 (5.875) BW 10 MHz- South East (Boulder City) | |
| Ubiquiti Rocket M5 – 6.8° Rocket Dish 30 dBi Channel 175 (5.905) BW 10 MHz – North West (K7FYI) | |
| N7ZEV Relay Site | |
| Ubiquiti Rocket M5 – 6.8° Rocket Dish 30 dBi Channel 172 (5.860) BW 10 MHz – South East (Red Mtn) | |
| Ubiquiti Rocket M2(2.4 GHz) – 6.8° Rocket Dish 24 dBi Channel -2 (2.397) BW 10 MHz – South West (Potosi) | |
| Ubiquiti Rocket M5 – 60° Sector Antenna 21 dBi Channel 178 (5.890) BW 10 MHz -North East (Apex) | |
| Updated Jan 12, 2024 |