[Imc-makerspace] We are being summoned to action

[Brian Duggan]

Hey folks, specifically mesh wifi reading group folks,

You may have heard about the effort to raise a new radio tower for WRFU,
the radio station in the IMC. Thanks to the work of wonderful RFU
volunteers Tatyana Safronova and Ricardo Diaz, they are closer than ever
to getting this thing off the ground.

RFU's current tower is on top of the IMC itself. They want to build a
new tower from the ground, right next to the IMC. The new tower would be
35 feet taller than the current tower, rocking 100 feet.

This matters to us because...
1) Low power FM community radio is cool
2) Mesh WiFi nodes!

The current tower has three Soekris x86 boxes with directional antennas
mounted on it. With a higher tower, we can get a much better Fresnel zone.

Tatyana and Ricardo have already worked through towers of paperwork to
move this project forward. Now they have begun making their case for a
taller radio tower to the City of Urbana. That's where we come in.

We need to make the city understand why having a taller tower is good
for our community. We need to show them how many people care enough
about it to make an appearance at the Planning Commission meeting.

The next Commission meeting is this Thursday night at 7:30pm. I know
it's during the reading group. I'm just letting people know about it so
they can choose what they'd like to do.

As an AmeriCorps member, I cannot speak before the commission. If
someone who understood why it's important for mesh wifi nodes to have a
tall tower could speak, that would help a great deal. No need for an
in-depth physics-based argument. "It makes it easier to connect further"
is plenty good enough.

I will probably attend the Commission meeting for at least a few
minutes. Sorry to the reading group.

If the Planning Commission recommends that the city approve the tower,
RFU members and supporters should also attend the next Urbana City
Council meeting on March 21 at 7:00pm.

In any case, the tower is good for wifi folks to know about.

Thanks
Brian

-- 
Brian Duggan
Technical Projects Developer
UC Independent Media Center
http://www.ucimc.org | 631 223 8442