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Poster: webdog Date: Jun 20, 2003 11:55am
Forum: sflan Subject: Stumble Map

My nice girlfriend let me net stumble in the car while she drove around the city on errands. I've extracted the data for sflan nodes and mapped it. I detected sflan 3, 8, 9 and 11.

I couldn't think of an easy way to plot my full route, but maybe someone will find this data interesting.

Best,
jeff

Attachment: SFLANStumblemap20030620.png

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Poster: Jonathan Aizen Date: Jun 20, 2003 12:25pm
Forum: sflan Subject: Re: Stumble Map

That's really cool - did you use NetStumbler? I'm curious how to do this - if you let me know, perhaps I can cruise around and do the same.

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Poster: webdog Date: Jun 20, 2003 12:29pm
Forum: sflan Subject: Re: Stumble Map

Yes, I used Netstumbler and a Senao SL-2511CD PCMCIA card (Prism 2.5 chipset). The antenna was a magnetic roof mounted 7dBi mobile omni from Pacific Wireless.

I exported the Netstumbler data as text, and extracted only the lines with "sflan" in them. The data file was then run through Street Atlas to create the map.

In SF, It's difficult to pick up stuff at a distance from the road, as you're usually surrounded by tall buildings, tall hills or tall trees.

However, the density of access points is so high that stumbling is quite easy with just an internal antenna or an inexpensive low gain mag mount omni, such as the ~$20 5dBi ones you see on www.fab-corp.com or www.hyperlinktech.com.

Cheers,
jeff

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Poster: Jonathan Aizen Date: Jun 20, 2003 2:34pm
Forum: sflan Subject: Re: Stumble Map

Thanks Jeff. What do you mean by running it through SA? I have SA7 and SA2003 (though I prefer SA7 because it's simpler). I also have a GPS if it helps with the location stuff (does NetStumbler export that info too if I have a GPS?)

This would be a great way to map out the city to know where people can expect coverage. This is particularly useful for me, as I'm looking for an apartment and I'd love to know if I'd get SFLan before I move in :)

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Poster: webdog Date: Jun 22, 2003 5:39am
Forum: sflan Subject: Re: Stumble Map

Take a "Text" export (if you only want one data plot per AP, then export as "Summary") from Netstumbler.

Open up Street Atlas 2003 USA. Look towards the bottom and select the "Draw" tab. Click on the File... button, and then Import... and then open your file. Then it should just plot the Netstumbler data points on your Street Atlas map.

Best,
jeff

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Poster: Jonathan Aizen Date: Jun 22, 2003 12:39pm
Forum: sflan Subject: Re: Stumble Map

Thanks Jeff. I think Joerg and I will be trying this soon.