Hey, perhaps we are onto something. Probably not this year, but there might be a use for it at some point. I'll talk to a guy out in Washington and see if we can make use of such a monster opportunity. Then again, if something fun winds up on my workbench, she who claims she must be obeyed may cast a jaundiced eye toward it and me, right on schedule. Last year she asked, "Where'd that bike come from?" "Been there for two years," says me, "Behind stuff." I love "stuf.f"
In theory, I was SUPPOSED to test it at El Mirage, but time and circumstance stopped me. The idea was to first shoot live hi-def video back to the tower and pit area of the finish line.
Then to experiment with using them to do timing lights (as a backup system) once we get 100% uptime. Alas, my List of Things to Do doomed that attempt. I have the pair of baby dishes sitting in the shop. Our new building has 100mbps service, and it was a prime reason we moved the business. We produce dimensional measurement data for a living. 99% of our data is now via Internet, and the load is getting bigger each year. Without it, I'm back to working at McDonald's.
The baby dishes are cheaper than wire, and certainly lighter than wire. I cannot believe how much wire Bonneville takes, after helping go through the repair/spooling. A couple tons? Dunno. Way more than I imagined. I know it could be done safely, accurately, and reliably, but like any hotrod project, it's a step by step thing.
The aiming thing isn't as hard as folk think. All you need is a compass. The dish will tell you how to fine tune it. You have to be within 6° of the target for peak signal, but 11° will transmit pretty fast as well.
I used the compass from by smart phone to aim one dish. Drove home, and did the same, and got 8 mbps right away.
Perhaps step one is to prove it at Elmo this fall. Bville is the Big Show, not a place to experiment during Speed Week. I wish I could go this year. I'm getting the fever again.