Overview
Map
Code
Contact
Other
Storytime

Update: i keep spotting kids obviously wireless network scanning. Sometimes i take photos of them too. Can anyone identify these two?

Overview

I walk/bike around with a 486 laptop running OpenBSD and a Lucent Orinoco wireless card. I scan the area i travel for wireless networks and record the base station id and quality of the signal, then try to map out where the base station is located.

Map

The thick lines are where i've walked, the dots are base stations i've found. The different colours represent different runs.

The Cyanish-green line and red dots are data gathered 2-5-2001
The Black line and green dots are data gathered 6-21-2001
The Light Cyan line and blue dots are data gathered 6-23-2001
Purple is randomly donated data

Red Dots:					Green Dots:

1  NeoChi			N		1  611ChurchFloor2         Y
2  arbor			Y		2  Air Fishman             N
3  wcc unix wireless		Y		3  John H. Stewart's G4    N
4  ITZone			Y,N		4  SEB Kiosk               Y
5  MIS				N		5  SEB Wireless LAN        Y
6  Chaotic			Y		6  UM-CENTRAL              Y,N
7  bonnie			N		7  Uelsimon's Radar        Y
8  tsunami			N		8  WaveLAN Network         N
9  0db0c1			Y		9  hi-ce-airport           N
10 AAB1				Y
10 AAB2				Y,N
11 office			Y,N


Purple Dots:

1  LeChateau	Y	(donated by bri.cors)


Blue Dots:

1  BizaBaza
2  UM-CENTRAL
3  Airport
   08936b
   nebnet


Notes:
1: There used to be a non-encrypted 'MANX' station in the same area as NeoChi.


2: from `finger john.h.stewart@umich.edu`:
 U of M Address:
               Language Resource Center
               2018 Mlb
               1275

So chances are that "John H. Stewart's G4" is at that address.


3: i messed up my datafile fromthe light-cyan run so the locations may be more
inaccurate than usual and i don't have the encryption data.  oops.

Code

here are the scripts i use - i do all this work on a 486 laptop with 16mb RAM, no GPS system and minimal $$, so i try to keep it simple.

wicontrol-check resets the card, gathers data.
timetoloc adds a timestamp to some text i enter. this is how i log position in relation to what i find from wicontrol-check

then i combine the two together.

a sample log file from the first run (wasnt using timetoloc):wi.log

Contact

Joe suggested i put my email address here:
frisco@blackant.net

Other

On a completely unrelated yet related note, Joe bought a geiger counter. We're hoping to interface that to a computer and go around town measuring the radioactivity around town.