gotenna

[Gulliver3]

came across this site. Looks interesting though jury still out on applications etc. see what you think.
Phil
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/17/the-go ... nectivity/

[Zone-5]

Basically it's a two way radio that links to your phone to create a VPN in any location independent of a service provider. Turn your phone into a smart walkie-talkie!



http://www.gotenna.com/pages/features

What is the more likely range?

When you don't find yourself at the edge of cliff or hanging out in a skyscraper, your range with goTenna will be smaller. Most of the time you'll probably be trucking your boots through the dirt with land (or water) all around and level with you, and the goTennas you and your friends are using to communicate with are probably going to be 4-6 feet off the ground.

So your range with goTenna will look more like this in those more common scenarios:
City street to city street: 0.5-1 mile
Forest to forest: 2-3 miles
Water to water: 4-6 miles
Desert to desert: 4-6 miles



Can you get more than this when you're on the ground? Absolutely. We wouldn't be surprised if you did a lot better. But we want to be the first honest radio company, so we'd rather under-promise and over-deliver.
How can you improve your range?

As you probably get by now, elevating the goTenna increases its range drastically. Hike up a little, hang it from a tree, etc. But another way to improve your range when you can't elevate yourself significantly—or even when you can—is to attach it externally to other gear (e.g. a backpack), as opposed to having it at the bottom of a bag. That's what the nylon attachment strap is for!


Key app features

* Send & receive text messages for free
* Share locations on detailed offline maps
* Instantaneous transmission within range
* Automatic message retry & delivery confirmation
* Individual & group messaging
* ”Shout” broadcasts to anyone within range
* Proximal friend map & location pinging
* Emergency chat
* End-to-end encryption (224-bit elliptic curve) & self-destructing messages
* Compatible with iOS & Android

Key hardware specs

* Antenna
* 2-watt radio
* Flash memory good for 1000’s of messages
* Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
* Micro-USB connector
* BluetoothLE data interface
* Status indicator lights
* Nylon attachment strap
* Water-resistant
* Dust-tight

[GPSGuided]

Expensive UHF walkie-talkie radio.

[Zone-5]

Expensive UHF walkie-talkie radio.

Not really... If you already have a smart phone then this extends that functionality greatly in remote areas that don't have mobile coverage. Also as a virtual private network you can do data entirely privately including encryption so know one will jump your strike or know where you are coming from. It's old tech repackaged into a smart solution...

[GPSGuided]

Yes, digital mode UHF. I understand for those who need the encryption, there are already commercial options out there. For the rest, is there really a great need? I wonder if they have a licence locally yet.

[madmacca]

Not so much walking, but vehicle based camping?

Could you hook up a cheap smartphone to a Gotenna, and hang it in a high place with network coverage, while you camped on a river down below with the other gotenna? Basically your own mini base station.

[Zone-5]

Not so much walking, but vehicle based camping?

Could you hook up a cheap smartphone to a Gotenna, and hang it in a high place with network coverage, while you camped on a river down below with the other gotenna? Basically your own mini base station.

I would get it if I could connect it to a throw line and hook it over a tree to get better mobile coverage. Throw lines are the way that professional arborists place messenger lines into trees so they can pull up their climbing lines. With a little pratice you can throw a line up to 20m into a tree branch. Accurate throws of up to 50m are possible.

Device for getting HF antenna wires over trees...




~

[GPSGuided]

Only of use if there are 20-50m trees.

[Zone-5]

Only of use if there are 20-50m trees.

Who needs a tree...

[GPSGuided]

Very good Zone5! Another major item in the kit.

[madmacca]

Very good Zone5! Another major item in the kit.

Didn't I see kite shops as actually a very good source of carbon fiber replacement poles and sil-nylon - so probably very lightweight??