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Whatcom County Amateur Radio Microwave Networks

DG members are also active in expanding the use of Amateur Radio microwave high speed networks in Whatcom County.

  • HamWAN is a point to multipoint network similar in architecture to Wireless Internet Service Providers. The Puget Sound Data Ring (PSDR) of HamWAN extends from Vancouver, WA to Victoria, BC. Users connect to HamWAN nodes on the Amateur Radio portion of the 5.9 GHz band at speeds between 3 and 10 Mbps. The primary HamWAN node serving Whatcom County is on the peak of Lookout Mountain, with excellent coverage of Whatcom and Skagit County. A number of DG members are connected to the Lookout HamWAN node.

    • To connect to HamWAN requires a clear line of sight between the HamWAN user antenna (dish) and the HamWAN node - trees block 5 GHz signals.

    • Instructions for putting together a HamWAN station are on the main HamWAN website. If you’d like help, or mentoring on connecting to HamWAN, ask for help on the DG email list.

  • Amateur Radio Emergency Digital Network (AREDN) is a self-organizing mesh network system that can be used similar to HamWAN (wide area network) or much like Wi-Fi (local area network) depending on the equipment used. AREDN operates on the Amateur Radio 2.3 GHz band just below the license-exempt 2.4 GHz band used for Wi-Fi. Two wide area AREDN nodes in Whatcom County are:
    • Whatcom County Search and Rescue building, 1041 W Smith Road, Bellingham WA 98226 (near the intersection of Smith Road and Northwest Drive) - small tower
    • MBARC King Mountain Repeater Site
    • In addition to the two wide area AREDN sites, any AREDN user node can automatically mesh with any other user node. If you are within range of another AREDN user, you may be able to connect. AREDN nodes can also connect via “Internet Tunneling” for experimentation with AREDN applications. If you’d like help to connect to one of the Whatcom County “AREDN tunnels”, ask for help on the DG email list.
    • Instructions for putting together an AREDN node are on the main AREDN website. If you’d like help, or mentoring on connecting to AREDN, ask for help on the DG email list.
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