High Performance Wireless Research & Education Network

03/10/2026

In the pre-dawn hours of March 3, 2026, the sky above San Diego County’s Palomar Mountain region put on a rare celestial performance: the last total lunar eclipse visible from North America until New Year’s Eve 2028. At San Diego State University’s (SDSU) Sky Oaks Ranch Ecological Reserve — a dark-sky site nestled in the Cleveland National Forest far from city lights — a network of scientific cameras documented every phase of the eclipse from dusk to dawn. The resulting time-lapse record vividly illustrates what happens to a moonlit landscape when the Moon is swallowed by Earth’s shadow — and what is revealed when that shadow falls.

The NSF-funded HPWREN is a non-commercial, prototype, high-performance, wide-area, wireless network in San Diego that includes backbone nodes at UCSD and several remote areas.

03/06/2026

Monument Peak Microwave Tower Collapse Captured by HPWREN Cameras and Seismic Sensors: A rapid unscheduled disassembly of a microwave tower on Mount Laguna's Monument Peak on 18 February 2026 was documented by Sudoku Ham of the Open Research Institute. It is a well written and well researched article, describing the author's view of the event, based on information he was able to obtain.

The NSF-funded HPWREN is a non-commercial, prototype, high-performance, wide-area, wireless network in San Diego that includes backbone nodes at UCSD and several remote areas.

02/11/2026

The HPWREN 2025 Year in Review was just released. See the in-depth writeup at https://www.hpwren.ucsd.edu/news/20260101/index.html

01/16/2026

Several HPWREN cameras saw the re-entry of the Dragon space capsule as it was lighting up the sky along California’s coastline.

Several HPWREN cameras saw the re-entry of the Dragon space capsule as it was lighting up the sky along California’s coastline.

11/14/2025

Aurora Borealis, as seen (mostly) from Southern California on 11 Nov 2025.

Aurora Borealis, as seen (mostly) from Southern California on 11 Nov 2025.

10/08/2025

One of HPWREN cameras installed on VCMWD wireless network captured this
stunning whole arc view of a rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in
the evening of September 28, with the already set sun still illuminating the
rocket exhaust trail. This was taken with an experimental 32 megapixel
(8192x3840) 180-degree panoramic video camera taken at a full 30 frames per
second. See the video here:

One of HPWREN cameras installed on VCMWD wireless network captured this stunning whole arc view of a rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the ev...

02/24/2025

Check out the HPWREN 2024 Year in Review - now live:

The NSF-funded HPWREN is a non-commercial, prototype, high-performance, wide-area, wireless network in San Diego that includes backbone nodes at UCSD and several remote areas.

02/13/2025

Border 2 fire on Otay Mountain - revised view of ignition
Based on images via one of the more light and near-IR sensitive monochrome HPWREN fixed field of view cameras, it was possible to revise the ignition time of the recent Border 2 fire to more than 12 hours prior to the previously recorded ignition point at about 13:23 on 23 January 2025. Instead, the fire started the night before at, or prior to, 00:45. This time-lapse video shows the area from midnight to 15:00. To create better visibility of the area, the basic video is overlaid with a semi-transparent baseline image that was taken from shortly after the daytime flareup, and adds a small visible plume. This helps with comparing the locations of the times when the fire was visible, to determine that they were indeed the same. It also provides for a better view of where things are, as, without the overlay, the photos look more or less black at the ignition location.

NOTE: This is NOT an official statement, and just my view of what I saw in the imagesBased on images via one of the more light and near-IR sensitive monochro...

02/12/2025

Robert Quimby, a professor of Astronomy at San Diego State University has used images from the east-facing HPWREN camera at the Mount Laguna Observatory to show how the Moon's position in the sky changes as it moves through its orbit. A plot showing the apparent position of the Moon every 24 hours and 50 minutes for 1 month is called the Lunar Analemma. Watch the video at: https://bit.ly/4aYAnsw

01/29/2025

After the fires: winter wonderland. This time-lapse shows the 360 degree view around the Mount Wilson Observatory on 01/27/25. While the video will work on a "normal" screen, it will look better on a virtual reality device that supports surround views.

This time-lapse show the view around the Mount Wilson Observatory on 27 January 2025. It is shown as a 360 degree view. While the video should work on a "nor...

01/24/2025

This time-lapse shows the Border 2 Fire from before its wispy start at 13:23 or before, then progresses to burn on top of Otay Mountain. The video then runs until 18:00 and shows two opposing 180 degree views on top of Otay Mountain, with some overlap.

This time-lapse video shows the Border 2 Fire from before its wispy start at 13:23 or before, then progresses to burn on top of Otay Mountain.The video is sh...