DIGITAL COMMUNICATION
AT
FAUN LAKE
Welcome to Faun Lake,
With it rural location and Adirondack Mountain like setting, utilizing and
maintaining some of today’s modern digital technology can be a challenge.
Information is available from many sources within the park: park manager,
your neighbors, architectural guidelines, and from Members of the IT
(information technology) committee that is designated to help address these
types of issues.
This pamphlet is designed to provide a brief overview of the various
communications options available at Faun Lake and some observations on
what seems to work best based on experiences to date.
Areas Covered:
Telephone
CB (citizen band)
Internet Access
Digital Television
IT Committee
07/02/2010
Board approved XX/XX/XXXX
Telephone Service:
Traditional Land Line:
Telephone cable has been routed throughout the entire park. There are
connection posts within easy access of almost every site, at this time most
sites have had phone lines run to their sites. If you do not find a phone cable
to your trailer consider the following steps:
Contact the office and check your sites utility map. It will generally have the
location of the cable if one exists.
Contact the local phone company responsible for maintaining our phone
lines. At this time Verizon is our utility.
Verizon will connect from the nearest post (including trenching across a
road). And connect to an individual service box. This box may be at the edge
of your property on common ground or attached to your trailer. Any
connections on your property may incur a fee from Verizon
Please remember an architectural request is required and a review with the
park mgr. is helpful when trying to locate your lines.
Phone service in New York is deregulated and therefore multiple providers
may exist to provide actual phone service. At this time faun lake has
Verison, …… & …….
Cell Phone:
Cellular phone service at Faun Lake due to its varied terrain is site
dependent. You may have to find a spot where you can receive a signal and
this may not be at your site. Any number of cell phone service providers can
be found here. If you are looking for a service provider check where their
closest cell tower is located, the closer to Faun Lake generally the better
signal you will receive.
Auxiliary antennas and or boosters (amplifiers) have helped in some cases,
these however are also dependent on many factors, a conversation with
various park residents can help provide options as to what works for their
particular situation and this may help you.
Popular Cell phone service providers include, Verizon, Sprint, and ATT
(ranked by experience in park)
Citizen Band Radio (CB)
Citizen Band Radio communication is the primary method of
communicating and making available general park information to owners.
The Friday and Saturday weekly informational broadcasts within the park
are good examples for demonstrating this method. Therefore, it is
recommended that all residents have a functional CB at their site.
Along with the weekly communications within the park, issues such as
emergency and planned power shutdowns, water pressure issues, animal
concerns and other timely information are announced over CB channel 8.
The office monitors and can be reached on channel 14.
CB signals, just like cell phone service, are affected by the terrain at Faun
Lake, your site location (down in a valley, behind a stand of trees, other side
of a hill, etc...) can greatly influence your ability to send and receive signals
from all areas of the park. Generally, the better the antenna the better the
signal. In addition, the mounted height of the antenna, the higher the better
the reception.
CB antennas may be mounted on your site, only as per the architectural
guidelines, January 2009, Section VI, para12, a: individual antennas.
There are several types of CB antennas available. These range from the
most frequently seen around the park; those with several ground plane
horizontal radials and a single vertical transmitter mast. Sometimes a basic
magnetic mount on the hitch works fine, if you are located in a good place.
Base loaded antenna's have all their signal matching properties engineered
into the base connector plate and do not require a ground plane. Many RV’s
with a lot of fiberglass, and all fiberglass boats need base loaded antennas.
Antenna prices range from cheap to relatively expensive. Your choices
may be dictated or influenced by the location of your site within the park.
Below are shown several examples of CB antennas.
base load magnetic
3-4 ft
firestix
2-5 ft
big stick type
11-18 ft
antenna with radials
Given the woody and hilly nature of Faun Lake, and the winter conditions
that brings down branches and trees, you may want to give careful
consideration to design features. If you're mounting point is under falling
trees and branches, horizontal radials on the ground plane antenna may not
be your best choice. The “single stick” or “Big Stick” with no radials or
parts that stick out in a horizontal plane that can be broken off maybe
preferable. The “Big Stick”-a trade mark- (SEARCH GOOGLE) designs
with no horizontal radials sometimes cost a little more.
Wilsonantenna.com is a good source for more detailed information about
the variety of antennas available. The better Radio Shack stores also have a
considerable amount of information and choice. Sometimes some of the
truck stops such as Flying J. and their related CB counterparts also have
considerable stock that you might consider.
The antenna and its feed line are the most critical parts of your CB
system. The most important factors affecting transmission and reception of
signals are the electronic and physical matching of your CB radio to your
CB antenna. This is noted as the SWR or (standing wave ratio). If the SWR
is not tuned and the mismatch is really bad, you can burn out your CB
transmitter stages. The SWR is a complex relationship between the physics,
electronics, and physical-structure mounting relationships that can't be
ignored. Therefore, optimum functioning requires tuning your CB to your
antenna using an SWR meter.
See Orr, William I. and Cowan, Stuart D, 1971, The Truth About CB
Antennas. Radio Publications, Inc. Box 149, Wilton, Conn, 06897>
An SWR meter is sometimes included as a feature on some CB’s a separate
inline meter may also be purchased.
CB with built in SWR
inline SWR meter
The second important factor for clear reception and maximum
transmission is a solid, clean, bright connection among all parts of your
radio, cables, and antenna. Any oxidation, corrosion, or darkening of metal,
between points of contact, in the system, will reduce the signal quality of
your transmission, the clarity of your reception, and your SWR.
Given that a lot of adverse weather conditions exist at Faun Lake, lot owners
should check all their CB connections on a yearly basis and control the
corrosion caused by moisture in order to maintain satisfactory performance
of their installations.
Internet Access:
Phone Modem Connection:
Land Line phone connection requires a wired connection through a local
phone service provider. A modem connection designed for a telephone jack
(rj-11) is also required. Many new laptops today do not have a built in rj-11
socket requiring the purchase of an external modem. This option can be
connected from your site but, is generally slow with lowest speeds, (least
effective).
Cellular Phone connection 3 options:
1. Requires a connection management kit, software and a cable to
connect your phone and PC plus a phone that will handle the
connection (generally most cell phones today)
2. Internet capable phone (connects to Internet on phone) will require
software and cable to connect (tether) to your PC
3. Wireless broadband card (USB or PCMICA) requires software and
cable
Items 1-3 have the same signal issues discussed under cell phones. Option 2
& 3, Wireless Broadband signals, however seem to be stronger and provide
a 4 – 5 x higher speed over modem, but not as high as DSL or cable.
Broadband has a relatively higher monthly cost and generally limitations on
download bandwidth.
Faun Lake Wireless Hot Spot
Currently Faun Lake has 1 available location where wireless connection can
be made.
Access to the Internet requires residents to pay a nominal seasonal fee and
register the PC’s or other internet capable devices (IPOD, Blackberry, Droid
etc.. they will be using.
Access to the Internet is via a Satellite signal and is subject to occasional
weather related interrupts. Currently there are some limitations on the use of
this site, Please see Wi-Fi policy for details.
Satellite Connection;
Currently there is only the satellite wi-fi located at the office in use at Faun
Lake. Several providers exist (Hughsnet, Directv, WildBlue, etc…) none
have been installed as part of the satellite nodes, or at an individual site to
our knowledge. Size of the dish required, pointing (because of our terrain),
and cost has been issues. This option also requires meeting architectural
guideline
If you are interested in this option please contact the IT committee so we can
better understand any advantages this option may provide.
Television:
Satellite Connection:
Currently satellite connection is available to many sites at Faun Lake.
Faun Lake has been divided into 26 nodes that each manage their own
satellite connections, Your options for a provider will be generally
predetermined by this nodes selection and the ability to point the dish in the
appropriate direction.
A listing of nodes, sites and lead person for that node is includes with this
pamphlet. A listing of nodes and sites is also available in the architectural
guidelines. Conversation with your neighbors in your node should help you
with the installation process. Note a site may also be the location point for
splitters or amplifiers, generally these are located on the back wall of the
strategically located shed for your node and can affect all other sites in your
node.
Your site may be fortunate enough to have a good view for pointing a dish.
Installation on your site can be done by yourself or an installer. This requires
an architectural request and must meet the Architectural guideline
requirements. Both Dish and DirecTV are providers in the area.
To activate your installation you must sign up with the appropriate provider
and either they will lease you a receiver or you can purchase one or bring a
compatible receiver from home. Either way it requires activation by the
provider and a monthly subscription fee.
Digital TV:
U.S. Television broadcasting switched from analog to digital signal in 2009,
requiring either a TV capable of digital decoding or the addition of a
converter attached to your analog TV set. These converter boxes can be
obtained at Radio Shack, over the Internet, or most any retailer selling TVs’.
Digital TV reception can be achieved at Faun Lake if the proper antenna
configuration is used. If you have the antenna type pictured below, you can
receive digital signal if you “point” the antenna towards the proper
broadcast Transmitter. A stationary antenna will likely get you just 3 or 4
channels.
An Antenna Rotator allows you to point at all available broadcast towers
and you may receive, about 18 digital channels from Buffalo, Rochester and
Grand Island. A negative note is that it is harder to scan channels and you
have to move the antenna to watch channels from different cities.
The signal is strongest through the front, which are the small tines that point
to the “V”
RATING Without Rotator = POOR
With Rotator = GOOD
The omni- directional antenna below will pick up signals from a wider
direction pattern and has a built in amplifier that will likely get about 8 to 12
channels . The antenna may have to be adjusted up, down and rotated while
watching the signal meter to get the best performance. Adding an antenna
rotator to this will allow for better reception of about 20 digital channels.
RATING = Without Rotator = Good With Rotator =BETTER
To date the best solution for receiving signals from all directions is to
use what is called a 4 Bay Bow Tie with a separate antenna pre-amplifier
that will boost weak signals. About 18 digital channels can be received with
this set up. With an antenna rotator, it is possible to get a few other
channels and allow for tweaking during bad weather. This antenna receives
the strongest signal from the front, which is where you see the 4 crosses or “
bow ties”.
Antenna
Pre-Amplifier
Listing of possible Digital channels and transmitter location:
2.1 , 2.2 , 2.3 , 4.1 , 7.1 – Transmitters located in Colden
17.1 , 17.2 , 17.3 , 23.1 , 29.1 , 29.2 , 49.1 , 49.2 – Transmitter located on
Grand Island
8.1 , 10.1 , 13.1 , 28.1 – Transmitter located at Rochester
51.1 , 51.2 , 51.3 , 51.4 - Transmitter NNE of Rochester
5.1 – Transmitter located in Toronto
26.1 , 26.2 – Transmitter located at Akron
For more detailed information , go to www.tvfool.com . Maps with signal
strength and signal origins can help with pointing your antenna. Not all
channels will be available in all areas of the park due to the large range in
elevations and the density of trees.
IT Committee Members: Ed Lipka ( 77 )
Doug Bersford ( 292)
Ash Ashley ( 330)
Bob Durk ( 302 )
Joe Casey ( 207 / 222 Board Liaison)
Maureen Granger (112 Web Site)