Bandwidth Reduction from 800 kHz to 200 kHz

BillMc · 2021-02-03T21:23:44.551Z

This is not the direction I hoped we’d be going in. Is this temporary? I can’t find where it was “As mentioned earlier”?

Syed · 2021-02-03T21:43:02.824Z

This is one location where it was mentioned, but there is another one, which I can’t find right now. I think @kenbarbi commented on that original post.

@BillMc I really can’t say whether it’s permanent or temporary. The revenue stream related to public broadcast is related to sales of receivers. As more radios are sold, the bitrate increases. Based on my experience with sales of the product over the years, a cheap product with a slow download sells better than a more expensive product with a faster download.

If millions radios are sold, then I will absolutely make sure we are running at 100 kbps all over the world. But until that time…

lost · 2021-02-04T02:35:01.090Z

will the reduction in bandwidth have any effect on the weather information?

Syed · 2021-02-04T02:36:41.683Z

Possibly. We are going to eventually move to a model where customers determine what is broadcast.

VE3SKH · 2021-02-04T05:05:12.941Z

Hi there. I’m new to the forum and just purchased and set up my device. Still learning about Othernet, but I find it really interesting.

Is the funding solely based on the sale of radios and Dreamcatchers? Is there any membership costs involved, or donations to help the project along? If not, is that being considered?

I see lots of possibilities here, but I guess I’m still learning about how the project works.
Thanks
Chris

Syed · 2021-02-04T15:28:14.060Z

@VE3SKH Yes, the funding is based on the sale of radios (the term radio is used interchangeably with Dreamcatcher, which is a data radio). Hardware sales–that is the business model. It’s very simple.

Yes, there will be an option to become a member to support the broadcast. This will be available after the frequency changes are made.

caveman99 · 2021-02-10T14:44:32.567Z

Is there any new code available on Git yet? I’d like to tinker with my Heltec device (ESP32+Semtech LORA Chip) a bit…

I’d gladly pay a fee for being able to broadcast bits of data over the stream.

Syed · 2021-02-10T15:19:18.616Z

I’m pulling together the files right now. I’ll post here when the repo is live.

Syed · 2021-02-10T15:20:28.267Z

By the way, the NA channel is currently off-air. The lease on the EU channel has already been signed, but I’m still working on the lease for the NA channel.

Syed · 2021-02-10T15:26:47.701Z

@caveman99 @Tysonpower Here is the link to the repo. I’ll post the firmware binaries there in a few minutes. This repo will also contain the schematic for the board.

GitHub

GitHub - Othernet-Project/Dreamcatcher

Contribute to Othernet-Project/Dreamcatcher development by creating an account on GitHub.

Let’s move all discussion related to Dreamcatcher to another thread.

VE3SKH · 2021-02-10T15:52:20.733Z

Do we have a general ETA on the NA channel coming back online?

Syed · 2021-02-10T16:03:02.143Z

March 1st is the target.

VE3SKH · 2021-02-10T16:14:30.089Z

Thanks for the update!

Simba7 · 2021-02-12T22:02:07.919Z

Ooof. That’s a heck of a dive in bitrate.

20kbps -> 10kbps -> 2.5kbps.

Tysonpower · 2021-02-13T11:32:40.570Z

Biggest reason here is cost, Sat transponder bandwidth is expensive sadly

caveman99 · 2021-02-13T14:57:55.551Z

For broadcasting a data carousel its not really important. The audio will be a victim to this im afaid.

caveman99 · 2021-02-13T14:59:46.188Z

MeteoTime does transmit a 4 day weather forecast with 14 bit per minute on a long wave AM frequency in Germany and Switzerland normally used for clock synchronizsation… there is a way if you want to

wsombeck · 2021-02-13T16:14:04.889Z

dcf77 on 77,5 KHz. The Data can be watched live here:
https://dcf77logs.de/live
The trick is that every location gets it’s weather data at a specific minute. The decoding Circuit and a license can be obtained for a decent price.
In Germany there are lots of places served with local weather, in Europe it is also available, but the locations are less dense. Clocks with built-in weather forecast are available for low prices here in Germany. The company behind is Meteotime.

VE3SP · 2021-02-17T20:08:25.040Z

Waiting for the new stream here in Toronto Canada

we have a group of hams that use the system.
Andre

Syed · 2021-02-17T20:19:38.005Z

Crazy. What do you do with it?