When the evening is done, and Herb has shown-and-told and answered questions, you should have a handle on what it takes to set up and run such an operation-- process and theory, hardware and software. If nothing more, you'll learn a few of the ins and outs of high speed Internet networking.

It'll be up-to-date information, too, because Herb and Carl’s excellent venture, though with antecedents stretching back a few years and already judged a success, started up merely a few months ago.

Lucas Valley is a San Rafael subdivision of 538 households. It was developed in the 1960’s with all-underground utilities that included coaxial cables for cable TV. The cable system, though, under ownership of the Lucas Valley Homeowners Association, has required repair and upgrade over the years.

In 1998, the system was rebuilt to add more TV channels. Naegele, already ten years the volunteer manager of the cable TV system, oversaw the rebuild. With an eye toward the Internet (Lucas Valley is an upscale neighborhood with a high penetration of computers), bi-directional amplifiers, necessary for the upload/download play of the Internet, replaced the one-way amplifiers that had been adequate for TV.

But getting high-speed access was a problem. They were too far from a Pac Bell hub for a DSL connection. ATT, with a congenital tendency towards monopoly, wouldn’t step in unless they owned the cable. The LV Homeowners Association approached and negotiated with various ISP’s, even to the point of putting down earnest money, but were left standing at the altar, still in need of an alternative.

They considered doing it themselves. Surveys had been taken and people had shown an interest. But if the Association was going to get serious about doing the project themselves, they needed to know how serious the homeowners were. They asked for a $300 refundable deposit. They got over 200 respondents.

But politics and the divergent wills of Board members delayed an Association commitment. Finally, a new LVHA Board of Directors was elected that was more committed to the high-speed access project. When all was considered, the new Board thought it best to abdicate responsibility for the project to an independent entity. Naegele took charge of setting up a company and asked for others to join him in committing capital for the start-up. Only Herb Drake responded.

Herb says it has been quite a learning experience. Routers, splitters, directional couplers, high pass filters, test equipment, test procedures, leakage, Cisco, T1 line concerns, modems, cables, all those different computers to connect to, and so on. Lucas Valley Cable, Inc., sub-contracts certain services and has hotlines for tech support. The cost of their broadband cable service? $25/month.
Check out their website: www.lucasvalley.net

Though it is quite exciting for them, both Drake and Naegele keep their day jobs. Herb has an E.E. from Lehigh and works as the Web Technologist for the Golden Gate Baptist Seminary. Carl has a Ph. D. in physics and a Masters in computer science. He teaches in the Computer Science Department at San Francisco University.