[Rooftops] Fwd: New World's Record Set At Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest

[Jim Youll]

I'm just happy that I was there to see a room packed with übergeeks
give a spontaneous and excited standing ovation to some kids from
Ohio (like me) who only thought about entering the contest less than
3 weeks before it happened :)

Begin forwarded message:

> From: contest <contest at wifi-shootout.com>
> Date: August 4, 2004 7:15:07 PM EDT
> To: contest at wifi-shootout.com
> Subject: New World's Record Set At Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest
> Reply-To: contest at wifi-shootout.com
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- August 3, 2004
>
> New World's Record Set At Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest
>
> Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
>
> Amateur engineering took a new turn on July 31, 2004, in the Nevada
> desert, as three teenage ham radio operators from Ohio took top honors
> in the 2nd Annual Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest.  Held in conjunction
> with the annual Defcon convention, the contest seeks to discover who  
> can
> achieve the greatest connected wireless network distance between two
> computers using the 802.11b Wireless Fidelity (Wifi) protocol.
>
> Using two consumer-grade 32-milliwatt Orinoco Gold USB Wifi adapters
> mounted on the feed points of two surplus 9-1/2 foot satellite dishes,
> the team known as P.A.D. achieved a verified connect distance of 55.1
> miles (88.67 kilometers), without the use of external amplification.
>
> This surpasses previous records set in the unamplified class, including
> those of Canarias Wireless of Spain (70.5 kilometers) and Seattle
> Wireless (61.1 kilometers).
>
> After reading a story at http://classes.weber.edu/wireless/, it was
> thought that team P.A.D. had not beaten the record set by students from
> Utah's Weber State University, who achieved a wifi connection of 82
> miles on December 6, 2003.  However, after scrutinizing the university
> team's equipment list
> (http://classes.weber.edu/wireless/Project%20Information.htm), it was
> discovered that the Weber State team had indeed used two external 1.5
> watt bi-directional amplifiers.
>
> Similar concerns arose after reading a rather confusing story about the
> 72-mile wifi shot achieved by the HPWREN facility
> (http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/ 
> 0,10801,75830,00.html).
> However, in a follow-up story published by Computerworld
> (http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/ 
> 0,10801,76118,00.html),
> the use of external power amplifiers was once again revealed.
>
> All other wifi records exceeding 55.1 miles have involved the use of
> external power amplifiers.
>
> Further information about the Defcon Wifi Shootout contest may be  
> found at
> http://www.wifi-shootout.com.
>
> OTHER LINKS OF INTEREST
>
> http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/LongShots
> http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/4045
> http://www.defcon.org
> http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64440,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2
>
> Released by the Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest Staff.
>