we are working hard on a commercial ronja, not based on clock's reference design but influenced by it. CLock's too complicated on both (electronic and HARDware) fronts, but great for nerds with plenty of time. I hope we'll start a manufacture of commercial ronjas (I'll call it somehow different, say "Crusader") in the near future. For non-commercial and private persons I would like to make it with minimum profit (if ever), for commercial subjects it should be reasonably priced. Reason? Companies can subtract their expenses from income, citizens not (they buy it from taxed money). I think this strategy is fair. Long range will be far more expensive than short range (which means short range should be very cheap ;-)
Well, there should be at least 2 commercial versions (both available noncommercially for czfree users for material cost and labour - i.e. no profit for us, developers warranty - you become a member of a test team, report bugs, statistics...)
Minironja (development name previously chosen not by me), the smaller one should archieve a goal of 200m range, be PnP (RJ45 ethernet connector), no heating of optics (usable "behing window from inside looking outside"), limited outdoor installation (not rainproof), wall mountable. Speed 10 or 100mbit/sec full duplex. Price for czfree users 5000Kc/unit. But may be lower (I hope so) or higher. weight about 1kg (very light) and small (30 cm footprint).
Ronja (or a redesign of clock's ronja) should have bigger optics, range 1km or 1.5km (that depends mainly on optics), Wall mountable, universal 2 axis knucklejoint, weight about 10lbs (5 kg), weatherproof, optics heater, RJ45 or fiber (that will be more expensive) interface, 10 or 100mbit, full duplex.
Both should be ethernet switch transparent - ie PnP.
Minironja's goal is to connect local communities together - blocks of houses, close apartments - there where lying copper is costly or dangerous (ligtning protection). It should create net of local switched ethernet computers that is easy to deploy and install - even for networking amateurs. Those clusters of houses should be interconnected by bigger brothers (full ronjas).
We are planning even megaronja, with 20cm optics, but for this time being only for developers as a "proof of concept".
Timeframe for smaller minironjas is about 2 months for usable prototypes to be given out to users for testing. Not a small feat, I swear... but possible.
well, clock has 3 yrs of experience, I have 5 (years of cold winter days without internet because of bad mechanics ;-)
Minironja is working now - with 1mbit serial interface over USB->serial controller. It's crap (serial). But I needed the cheapest mechanics for development, so I used plastic PVC tubes. It might work behind a window - a small roof is needed of course because of weather. It should be waterproof inside, like a full-scale ronja is (silicone sealant, etc). Over 79 metres it should word (actually, we tested it with StB over 100metres with bad optics - it worked, angle of the lighting cone was much wider than that of ronja, so some misaligment would not bother it. The only concern is frost on optics and maybe very DENSE fog. But fog that is that dense that you don't see a 50 meters is rare (statistically).
Ronja could be made with 10baseFL optical interface, to save almost all of the electronics that is inside it - it would only amplify that signal from fiber optic interface, send it over a desired distance and convert back to optics - I wonder why Clock didn't use it - it has idle signal right in it (it' not that cheap as an easily decodable AUI interface, I know).
A Gigabit version of ronja is possible also - gigabit ethernet cards are cheap these days - with optical interface, only 5000 Kc w/o added value tax.
One thing, that is not so cheap but should be is fiber to PECL (optical to electrical) converter. It costs some thousands of Kc - much more than a card with it onboard.
For minironja, very precise mechanics with 1mrad accuracy isn't necessary. For people trying to wire two houses together it should be a good optimal solution - place it behind a window, to be accessible for servicing.
I hope we get that 20cm optics ronja ready, with 100mbit interface (be it fiber optic or metallic).
Well, we'll see. If I hadn't have enthusiasm, I'd not develop it.
29.09.2002 v 23:35
geoff
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Registrován: 03.09.2002
Příspěvků: 27
Re: regarding Ronjas, Crusader rebellions & The Phase of the Moon ;-)
23.09.2002 v 23:30
