>802.11 (usually known as AirPort) give 11 megabit/sec (about 100k). I have one in the laptop I'm using now (Monkey King)
Your network is using 802.11b -- WiFi in today's parlance (its what Apple uses in their AirPort products). Its not going to work too well to control a model since the range is only about 150'. It works quite well despite having to share the band with microwave ovens, cordless phones and other wireless devices. I'm using a newer technology in this computer -- 802.11a -- which uses a higher frequeny link and can theorectically deliver up to 54MBits/sec. Even if it did have the range -- and it could, because we can transmit with significant power at the high end of the band -- its not reactive enough to be safe for a flying model. If the link dropped it could take several seconds to reaquire it, time enough to lose the plane. The idea's good, though. We should be able to do something with the current radio band using commonly available and very inexpensive processors. Our requirements are very modest, in the tens of bits per second. I suppose nothing's been done because of product inertia and regulatory considerations. We should push manufacturers. They're flooding the market with R/C toys -- park fliers -- which are a risk to us all. They need to close the loop so we can all fly without fear. RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
