The Centrelea Computer Club was featured in the Annapolis County Spectator newspaper for Thursday, February 16, 2006. The article focused on the creation of the Club's new satellite-based wireless network. For those who missed it, here is the text of the article:

Byline: Ken MacPherson, Annapolis County Spectator

Away from the off-ramps of the information super-highway that is Fundy web and away from cable Internet service, users rely on dial up connection. Comparatively speaking, they live on less than a well-beaten track.

But, necessity being touted as the mother of invention, the residents of Centrelea decided that off the beaten track should pose no restriction to modern Internet service. They are up to speed thanks to the community's C@P site and a wireless connection.

The story starts with Gontran Trottier, Centrelea Computer Club chair, in Dec. 2004 when he started to research the idea of a satellite-based system with his son, an engineer with MIT, and a group of volunteers from his group.

"We found the appropriate equipment and tested all summer. We built one structure, and by the end of August were up and running," he says.

He admits the process of getting the system to everyone who wanted in took a little longer that he would have liked.

"The challenge with a satellite system is that the computer's aerial must be in line of sight with the tower to operate. We need a laptop to determine the best location in a home to place the aerial. We don't own a laptop so we had to borrow one. Of course we could only get it when the owner wasn't using it."

Land-based obstacles such as trees, and other buildings also came into play for placing home antennas. Water molecules in heavy rain or snowstorms can diffuse signal strength and affect the end user. Trottier says since its inception the system has never failed, due to strong storms.

Local resident Tim Hennigar donated an old television tower as the broadcast point. The signal radiates at roughly a 60-degree angle encompassing all of Centrelea, emanating nearly to Tupperville and to Highway 101, where DSL connects to Bridgetown.

About 15 customers are online currently, with the potential of 50 when the system is finished.

Users wanting access to the system will need a specific computer access code.

Trottier suggests the fee for service for members of the co-operative project will be in the range of $30 per month, plus the cost of antenna installation, which is different for each customer depending on the relative ease of installation.

He says one C@P has recovered infrastructure cost, the fee should drop.

The Centrelea C@P site started seven or eight years ago and is subsidized with similar sites throughtout the province by the government of Nova Scotia.