What's in your WarDriving Kit?

[Grifter]

Well, now that this thread is here, let's see what people use to do their WarDriving. I'll start it off...

- IBM ThinkPad T20
- Windows XP (Yes, Windows. Get over it.)
- Netstumbler
- Lucent Orinoco Gold PCMCIA Wireless NIC
- N Female to MMCX Adapter
- Maxrad 2.4GHz 5dB Gain Omni-Directional Antenna w/ 12' RG174U coax
- Garmin eTrex Venture GPS w/ PC Data Cable
- 400 Watt DC to AC Power Converter

That's my kit. I'm interested to see what others use.

[converge]

No wardriving gear in general here.. hell, not much to scan for up here.

I am a fan of the Lucent wireless cards. You can get them to run in anything...

Where did you get your power converter? Any more details on it?

[Grifter]

Power Converter

Not too much more information on the power converter. You can pick them up for varying prices at Target or Wal-Mart. You can get a fairly nice one for around $60.

[simple3]

not to be a little bizatch or anything, but dc to ac == inverter (as dc is a staight line and must be inverted to ac which has an alternating sin wave like look to it). ac to dc == converter.(finally five years of latin is good for something). i know it's just a technicallity, but it might help in your search to buy one. I assume of course you are talking about 12volt DC(most cars and trucks) to 115 volt/60Hz AC(american power). look on ebay, they are also sold in many electonics stores.(help not another trip to fry's. i always buy more than i need when i'm there. and the service is sooo bad.)

simple3

[pc-0x90]

I've been planning on setting up a kit recently, but I wasn't sure what to look for in the way of a GPS reciever. Most sites tend to mention Garmin, is this pretty much the standard? Are there any brands to avoid?

[russ]

Hey Grifter

Is that a power convertor or a power inverter?

I just bought a hyperlinktech.com radome yagi directional antenna to try and get some distance comms going. Looking for a decent omni antenna that I can use for the war driving. Any suggestions?

[russ]

Nevermind.... duh

Just saw the similar post from someone else regarding the inverter.

Frys sucks for service... and they suck for war driving stuff too. I've been in there THREE times this week and those bozos are friggin clueless.

ugh.... dont get me started. Oh... and their "ham" radio selection... OH MY GAWD!

[simple3]

Originally posted by pc-0x90
I've been planning on setting up a kit recently, but I wasn't sure what to look for in the way of a GPS reciever. Most sites tend to mention Garmin, is this pretty much the standard? Are there any brands to avoid?

I have heard to avoid magellen, though I have no experience good or bad with that brand. I think people like the Garmin's because they are cheap, they work pretty good, and I think even the cheapest one comes with a data cable. I just bought one, and the only problem I have with it is that even though it comes with a data cable, you have to buy another one that also has a 12V cigarette adapter which is like $40 retail. It works pretty good, unless you are under a bridge, actually it doesn't work very well inside a building either. To be able to use an external antenna, which will get you better reception, you have to buy one of the more expensive models and it is also bigger. the etrek, or whatever it is called is about the same size as a cell phone(it is a little thicker than my nokia 3300 series. I have used trimble for years, and they are probably the best gps brand out there, but you will pay for it. lets put it this way, if you are on a nuclear submarine and looking at a gps it is probably a trimble. I beleive Trimble owns more GPS patents than the US government itself. Trimble is most likely a little overkill for war driving, or really anything that doesn't need exact(<20 ft) precision.
wow that was probably more than anyone wanted to hear from me but too bad.

simple3

post scriptum: I know how much Fry's sucks I try to never go there but I get cravings sometimes and I need to feed my addiction. I just don't have the strength to go cold turkey. The key to Fry's success: geeks have a pathalogical need for abuse. can there be any other explanation?

[Grifter]

Power

It's an Inverter!! An Inverter!!! Damn you guys are anal. :) It only cost me $40 and can be found here.

Ok, now talking about GPS. I bought the Garmin eTrex Venture because it was cheap and I knew the only reason I was buying it was for wardriving. If you're going to use GPS for something else, than I suggest you get yourself something a little more robust. The Venture was not the least expensive model, but it was the cheapest that uses WASS. So I got that one because I wanted better accuracy. And yes, it did come with a data cable, which is nice.

As far as omni-directional antennas go. I picked up a Maxrad 5dB antenna from Electro-Comm Distributing. You can see the antenna here. The magnet mount that is pretty strong. Strong enough not to fly off while going 85 down the freeway. It came with 12' of coax with your choice of either a male or female N connector. The antenna was less than $50 so I had to call the company to get it since their site wouldn't let you purchase if you spent less than that. The site is here. And the phone number to the company is (303) 371-8182. As you can see, they're in Denver which was nice for me since it didn't take long for them to ship it to Salt Lake.

All of the stuff that I bought was bought for the sole purpose of wardriving, excluding the laptop, which I bought because I wanted it. You may have other ideas as to what makes a good wardriving kit. But this one suits me just fine.

[russ]

HAHAH

You wanna know what REALLY sucks? I basically live in Denver (Monument) but I'm in Dallas for the next week & 1/2.... and being the instant gratification kind of guy I'm prob going to call and have it shipped to my hotel here in Dallas. hahaha


I suck. :-)

[Grifter]

Re: HAHAH

Yes, you do.

[russ]

Re: Re: HAHAH

Originally posted by Grifter
Yes, you do.

oh man... someone is asking for trouble. :-D

[GackMan]

Wardriving...

Just drove across Portland with my IBM T23 with an Orinoco Gold and a Cabletron range extender (indoor antenna slapped on the dash board)... damn there is a lot of stuff out there.

If you are thinking about doing this get the Orinoco Gold card (they are 69.00 at PCMall right now) 'cause they have the external antenna jack built in. If you get anything else

Check out http://www.pdxwireless.org for the public ones.

I need to get a GPS and do it again so I can map them all... Any recommendations?

~G

[FAWCR]

Mapping the map???

Now that you have the GPS working with the Netstumbler, how do you convert that to the Map? Is there a special s\w? Admittedly I should be able to figure this out, but my frustration level is climbing rapidly. I have the MS streets maps and can't get the GPS or Netstumbler to work with it.

Any help??

Abuse along with help is always viewed.

[GackMan]

http://www.netstumbler.com/cgi-bin/mappoint.php

it will spit out the data into a format that is useable in mappoint.