Hi Bryan

I'd try and model this for you but the s/w I use is broken at the moment.

You can calculate path loss over an LOS path fairly easily. If you start
with the RF output in dBm, add antenna gains, subtract the path and
cable losses you'll get a close result. This can then be applied against
the receiver sensitivity (I use to use -87dBm for 802.11 links) If you
want to model in the existence of a reflector or (say) back to back yagi
you do it is two paths using the received power at the reflecting device
as the source power for the next minus about 3dB. The results tend to be
less than encouraging in most places but it depends on the application.
One study I did (for example) was to get a 410MHz signal into a railway
cutting on the edge of a mountain. (ie no source of reflection from the
other side) The 25W TX was about 2km away and we modeled two back to
back 13dBi antennas. With -82dBm as the lowest specd RX signal we only
got about 300m range from the reflecting array.

Freds suggestion of using a billboard is however a good one and simple
to experiment with. I also agree that the powerline wont be much help.

Pls tell us how it works out!

Cheers Bob VK2YQA

Bryan Martin wrote:
I am attempting to setup a 802.11b bridge between my location (siteA) down
the powerlines but off to the right NLOS (siteB) roughly 1 mile away.