Starscan Systems
Starscan Systems is a small sole proprietorship type business I started in 1989 as a part of Integrity One. My first endeavor was designing, building and installing automated multimedia entertainment systems for clubs and sports bars that I maintained by way of modems and phone lines. These systems employed many types of audio and video equipment integrated with computers. As technology evolved these systems gave way to newer designs which eventually integrated the internet into the control and programming. As fads come and go, so did the themes of the clubs and sports bars. Eventually I got out of that area of the business and for periods of time the business became dormant. Occasionally I would work on modified versions on these systems for high end homes and some business applications.
As trends and demand changed so did my interests. Again the business became dormant but not dead. In late 2006 I became interested in Wireless Wide Area Shared Networks after reading several articles online about systems in big cities like Seattle, WA. Having lived in a fringe service area and rural suburb for over twenty years I saw that there was a possibility for a need that could be served by a modified version of the big city plans. While the plans in the large metropolitan areas were focused mainly on providing blanket free wireless coverage, I saw a way to make these system plans serve the sparsely covered rural suburbs and farming communities.
I have resided in the Whispering Pines area just off Ohio State Route 676 near Marietta, Ohio for almost 22 years. Coverage of this area with state of the art phone and cable systems has always lagged that of the city areas. This is in part due to the companies awarded the right to service the area not wanting to invest in the latest systems because the population density did not yield the revenue the companies needed to make it worth their while. I saw this as a need that might be fulfilled by implementing a Wide Area Wireless System. So I designed and built a system using low cost off the shelf components. I set up a pilot system and tested it for four months. I based the system at my home at 270 Rummer Road, on a tower that I used for my Amateur Radio hobby. I set up my old van truck with a laptop computer and a special antenna and drove around the area testing the capabilities of the system. I was able to successfully access my system as far away as the parking lot of the St. John's church in Churchtown. That is about two miles from my base unit. In December of 2006 a violent storm destroyed my tower and brought down the equipment on it. Fortunately the equipment escaped major damage except for one of the antennas. The tower damaged a skylight and the roof of the adjacent structure when it came down and we decided that there would not be another 100 foot tower erected fixed to the structure. At that same time I was retiring from my regular job as a commercial/industrial construction electrician. There were also other pressing matters in my life at that time which caused me to put the wireless system ideas on the back burner. Recently I have learned from talking with some of the people in the neighborhood that there still might be a need for the system. Therefore I have decided to set the system up again and do some more testing if I can find a few volunteers willing to participate.
I learned that I had put the narrow beam omni-directional antennas on the tower too high to serve the immediate residences around my house. That alone told me that I did not need a really tall tower for the system to work locally. All I really need to do is install the antennas about 20' and 40' above ground. I still have enough of the tower standing to accomplish this. If all goes as planned I will be putting the system back in service in this new configuration sometime during September 2009. From that point on we will just have to see if there is a real need and desire for a system like this.
My experience in electronics, computers and communications equipment spans over a period of almost fifty years if you count my boyhood hobby and interest in electronics and Amateur Radio. Immediately after high school I went into the Air Force and I worked with cryptographic equipment, communications systems, and launch enable systems. I have also worked in R & D labs, production design and I have worked with installation and set up of Programmable Logic Control systems. I feel that I have a good general knowledge base that will support my needs in operating wireless wide area systems. I have also operated several small business simultaneously. I believe this experience will provide the background I need to successfully manage a system like I am proposing.
David G. Boley
owner,
Starscan Systems
E-mail us at