Combined Expertise Takes Dream To Hundreds

April 13 2007

Wireless@Wintec - Combined Expertise Takes Dream To Hundreds

Wireless@Wintec is the brainchild of Wintec (Waikato Institute of Technology) Te Kuiti campus manager, Marlene Perry.

Early last year Marlene attended the TUANZ symposium at which the launch of the IPStar Satelite and the possibility of 100% broadband internet coverage in New Zealand was celebrated.

Marlene pondered on the option of a portable dish which could might be more manoeuvrable than the existing Wintec Artecmobile classroom, while at the same time provide the flexibility to cater for small groups in the rural sector when the Artecmobile was not available.

"We imagined being able to take some laptops to a farmer's kitchen and demonstrate broadband capability. We dreamed of putting a dish in a trailer and towing it almost anywhere. Well, now we're doing just that," she said.

Wintec expertise was called upon and concept drawings were made. The institute's ITS team worked on solutions to meet the vision and by Christmas Eve 2006
it was ready to go. The first road test came in January this year at Kawhia. It has since travelled to numerous locations including Marakopa, Tirau, Mangakino, and Ohakune.

The dish is mounted in a heavy-duty waterproof trailer with a fibreglass moulded canopy. The initiative uses an 84cm IPStar dish. The mount for the dish has an ingenious mechanism to rotate and tilt the dish for fine adjustment. When it is set in place, the dish points 270ºW with an elevation of 20º above the horizon. Equipped with 6 laptop computers, a wireless router and a scanner/printer, the system can be set up and configured to do a presentation or run a class in about 20-30 minutes. The total cost of the unit fully equipped is approximately $20,000. A future development is the installation of a solar panel and inverter, eliminating the need for mains power.

Wireless@Wintec Trailer

Students at Tirau School night class