Sorry about the delay in getting back to this thread - it's been extremely busy on my end so I haven't had as much time as I would have liked. Anyway, I'll get the above information up ASAP but I figured that it was worth answering a few other questions that have come up.
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Originally Posted by Jerm  The WT-1 used a 802.11b protocol. This had a maximum throughput of 11mbps.
The W2-2 and the Wt-3 both use 802.11g which has a max throughput of 54mbps*. |
Note that these are line speeds (ie before considering protocol overheads), in the real world
802.11b tops out at about ~5mbps (~640KB/s) and
802.11g tops out at ~23mbps (~2.9MB/s). Either way, when running in 802.11g mode the
WT-2 and
WT-3 can be considerably faster than the
WT-1. Naturally, that is somewhat offset by the fact that the cameras the WT-2 and WT-3 are used with typically generate much larger files
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Speed is however dependent upon the signal strength - the further away you are the slower the transfer speed as the unit tries to ensure a satisfactory transfer.
Wt-3 (and 2) will generally operate within a 300ft radius, though best performance is within 100ft. This can be improved with a extended range antenae (which I believe is available from Nikon).
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As you noted above, wireless range is a complex variable so any range estimates are dependent on a lot of variables. Probably the largest one is the radio that is operating on the other end of the connection - a small Access Point with an integral antenna will give you much less operating space than a larger unit with a pair of large off-board antennae.
Generally, the above numbers are pretty much accurate for the majority of common situations. Naturally, if you are shooting by a large open-air football field you could easily get much more range. Similarly, shooting in an old WWII-style building you could easily see much smaller working distances.
Stuff to watch out for are metal superstructures (eg stadium rafters), dense materials (eg concrete firewalls) and anything with a large concentration of water (eg vegetation). Any of those objects falling in the line of sight can significantly reduce the usable range of the system, so keep your eyes out for them in the areas where you work.
If more range is necessary, however, there are a number of ways to squeeze out some more. The WA-E1 antenna is certainly one option, as is the ability to add larger antenna or more powerful radios on the other end. Just keep in mind that, as antenna gain goes up, the system will be more sensitive to how things are oriented. Think of antennae like you do light modifiers - they don't add any more energy to the system, but simply focus the energy that was already there into a smaller space.
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Note : the Wt-3 is NOT compatible with the D2 series which require a Wt-2.
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Correct, Nikon's transmitters are form-fitted to the base of the cameras that they work with. In the case of the WT-1 and WT-2, they draw power through a special port on the base of the grip. For the WT-3, the battery goes into it and the transmitter feeds power into the camera via it's battery compartment (ie it's basically a replacement for the MB-D200). As such, these transmitters won't mechanically attach to any other camera.
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* To obtain a 54mbps connection you need to be running a dhcp server. If you wish to connect to say a laptop then this has to be done in 'ad-hoc' mode. This mode can only use 802.11b ie 11mbps
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The WT-2/3 will work in 802.11g mode without a
DHCP server, the limitation is when used in the
ad-hoc mode (ie devices connect directly to one another) rather than infrastructure (ie devices connect to a central AP, which handles communication with other devices). This isn't unique to the transmitters, however, but instead is a limitation of the 802.11g protocol. The specs do not require anything beyond 11b operation in this mode, so very few networking cards provide the necessary bits to allow faster operation (ie even if the WT-2 could do it, chances are the network card in your laptop wouldn't).
With that said, there are a couple of ways around this. Companies like D-Link (DWL-G730AP) and ZyXel (G220 and AG225H) make devices that can behave as access points, but draw power from a USB port on the laptop. While they do mean another piece of equipment to deal with, they don't need any external resources (eg A/C power) so they are often suitable for field use.
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