Wire Directional Radios!

[-=Fox=-]

Wiremod Radio Systems

RELEASED!

LINK!!!!

Latest Version! (Revision R6!)
The Latest Version is now Available via the Unofficial Wired Extras SVN.
Check out the OP on this for instructions on how to get it along with many other cool things as well!

Unofficial Wire-Extras SVN (UWSVN)


Old Versions:
Radio Systems 1.0.0b R5 Download!
Radio Systems 1.0.0b-R3 Download!
Radio Systems 1.0.0b R4 Download!


Finally a Dream come true, Wire now has a REALISTIC Radio System!!

It may have taken a while but it's OUT! Go Git It!

Thanks to Philxyz for the hard work and everyone who gave input, encouragement and continue to test and find bugs.

You all Rock

Usage Directions!
(for those of you who would like them)

Alrighty then, I finally got to it so here's a WIP guide to the radios (WIP cause it needs to be polished).

Transmitters only transmit, and can't receive, they can transmit on 8 channels per base frequency.

The inputs for the transmitter are as follows:
(It doesn't give any outputs)

On - Turns the Transmitter On/Off (1/0)
TxWatts - The amount of power in watts to use (200 or less is recommended)
BaseMHZ - The base frequency that the radio will transmit on (0-whatever)
ChannelX - Where X is 1-7 wire this up to the source of Data to be transmitted.

You can use a 2 value constant for both TxWatts and BaseMHZ.

The Inputs/Outputs for the Receiver are as follows:

Inputs:
BaseMHZ - Wire this to a Gate that outputs numbers, this must match the BaseMHZ value used by the Transmitter!

Outputs:
ChannelX - Where X is 1-7; wire something to receive the data, you must wire it to the same channel you are expecting data from, this must also match the data your sending from the transmitter. EG: BaseMHZ = 10 and Channel = 2, set your receiver to the same settings!

ChXdbm - Where X is 1-7; This output will give you the signal strength of the detected signal, if this value is below -90, You'll end up getting random values.

Bug Hunting! (for the LATEST version ONLY version R6!)

If you find a bug that's not listed here just yell it out and I'll stick it in this area!

Let us know if you can duplicate the problem!

Testing using RD2 and Two Small Omni Antennas. Downloaded the SVN version.

The On/Off problem seems to still exist, it will turn the transmitter on but not back off, you can still send data with the option to off (0).

You can use a work around, to turn the Transmitter off, simply give the TxWatts input a Zero (0), it will effectively turn the transmitter off and stop consuming resources.

I'll have to check to see if a non RD2 transmitter would have that problem.

Channel1 (with those pair) still seems to be borked, Data didn't transfer. Worked fine on Channel2.

Found a bug, though I didn't read the whole post to see if someone else posted it. I was in the Spacebuild 2 gamemode, with the latest SVN on LS2, WM, WME, etc. I spawned an orbital dish transmitter an attached that to an aiming turret. From there, I spawned a large omni and two small omnis. It was all well and good until I spawned the fourth antenna. No matter where I spawned it, once it had the signal, it would not let go of it no matter where the antenna was aimed. The other antennas would not pick up the signal again until the fourth had been deleted. Other than that though, it's been smooth sailing. Thanks for making such an awesome mod!

Original Post:

What we need is a configurable radio, If were going to make mini-computers and start sending data around were going to need a way to send that data around wirelessly.

Or maybe you made a miniature radio controlled car!
Or a Satellite system for your mars rovers!

The Radios should ALSO have the option of being "Frequency-less" meaning they will broadcast data and receive data to and from any receptive radio (this is why Range is important!).

Having a realistic system of radios I believe is what is missing. It would add some realism and capability for some form of electronic warfare and signal jamming!

Imagine having a radio controlled missile coming right at you! You turn on your jammer, and the missile flies wildly out of control
Or maybe your being harassed by a radio controlled auto turret, having that thing flail about with jamming would be a site to see!

In Summary:

A radio that takes 4 inputs H, V, R, F (Horizontal, Vertical, Range, Frequency (0 for no frequency)) and creates a "radiation" pattern. It would need a 4 value constant value chip, this makes the radio dynamic! So one can change the configuration of the radio instantly

Examples!:

Horizontal of 360, Vertical of 20, and range of 500; would create a radiation pattern very similar to an Omni-Directional radio (Saucer/plate shaped)

Another example is a the Yagi Antenna Horizontal 50, Vertical 50, Range 700, creates a Flashlight Beam shaped radiation pattern

What about a Panel Radio? Horizontal 120, Vertical 30 Range 600 (the range can be set to anything so its really independent)
--------------

Thats what I believe is missing in Wire, a broad communications interface, it would definitely add capability, and functionality!

What do you guys think?

[philxyz]

[/b]

I agree, radios would be awesome. If I had any free time in my life, I'd learn how to use Blender and make some Cell-tower style sector antennas and an assortment of dishes, yagis and flat panels. Each antenna would have a gain and a radiation pattern. You then wire the transmitter to the antenna.

The signal level is determined using a calculation based on the receiving antenna's co-ordinates on the map relative to the transmitting antenna, and the power loss over the distance.

Also, if you stand too close to a cell tower antenna that's switched on full blast, you could lose health

[-=Fox=-]

That sounds awesome Philxyz!

I think we can use the regular radio model thats currently in use. And make them configurable as i mentioned.

But i think later on, if we add models and perhaps a transmitter, antenna combo, sound like a feature that can be added later.

As always if someone is feeling overly ambitious, they can do the whole she-bang in one go

[philxyz]

This radio idea keeps coming up and the antenna ideas are fresh in my mind, I had to get going... I've got the Linux version of "Blender" (which I'm picking up quite quickly) and I've got a Half-Life 2 smd model exporter plugin. I've already been practicing with lua and I think I've figured out a way of making this work "low-lag"...

I'm quite busy in general but this sounds like fun so I'm adding it to my "start to work on" list and going from there.

If anyone wants to start making wire transceivers, here's the current picture in my head:

[Wire Transmitter (box)] Takes input frequency (float), transmit power (dBW) and the actual wire signal to transmit (maybe up to 8 or so, not sure yet)
[Wire Receiver (box)] Takes antenna feed and supplies the broadcast "wire value" output. Signal must be strong enough at the receiving location!

[Wire Antenna] Takes signal from a Transceiver box and transmits it at the power of the Transceiver, added to the power of the antenna gain (Transceiver dBW + Antenna dBi)

Model ideas:
- Omni-Direcional (2.2dBi gain, 360 degree beam)
- Yagi (6dBi gain, 20 degree beam)
- Log Perodic (10dBi gain, 26 degree beam)
- Cell-sector antenna (16dBi gain, 120 degree angle)
- Phased array (small, flat white diamond-square panel, directional beam) (19.5dBi gain, 12 degree angle)
- Small Microwave Drum (19.5dBi gain, 12 degree angle)
- Large Microwave Drum (22dBi gain, 6 degree angle)
- Small dish (21dBi gain, 5 degree angle)
- Big dish (32dBi gain, 5 degree angle)

I'm not sure about horizontal / vertical yet, also, the decibel-watts are just an idea, they make it easier to calculate the radiation pattern properly in lua but we don't strictly need to be that accurate... it's just cooler if it is and not much more complicated

Then, at each receiving station, there is a lookup done in a lua table. the "key" is the frequency and the "value" is the transmitter on that frequency {value=v, signalPower=p, transmitAngle=a, position=Point(x,y,z), vector=Point(x,y,z)}

using this, you can quickly calculate whether or not you can get the signal at the receiving location (distance, power, angle) and if so, the receiver passes the value on to the other equipment

With this kit, you could have wire satellite TV systems on the spacebuild maps, interplanetary wireless networks etc

[Mksowa]

Any updates on this? it's an awesome idea and i don't want it to die

[philxyz]

Just to let you know, I'm spending some time each night learning blender and in a week or 2, I'll be able to start on this. This thread may look quiet, but things are happening

Mostly because I want the radio kit too

[philxyz]

Ok, quick update - I'm up to speed with blender now, UV texturing etc and I've made the panel antenna model so far. Once I've made and imported all the models, I'll work on the design and the lua.

I'll probably release this on garrysmod.org as "Radio Mod" or similar when v1.0 is done

[-=Fox=-]

Philxyz, you ROX!

One note though, be sure to have one radio be the oddball, I really like the idea of the real-life radios! But be sure we can have a totally configurable, dynamic radio, so if we want something OTHER than whats available, we'll be able to make it.

Other than that, Keep up the GREAT work and thanks for picking this up!!!

[philxyz]

Here's a teaser.

This is the first new completed model. The "panel" antenna. It has a clean, simple blank look and I may add the "wiresys" logo to the rear module if someone responds to my other thread about it.




Now to continue with the rest

[eth0]

Nice work, glad to see this is being worked on guys