Just a thought, but why not seek alternative funding opportunities other than just radio sales. I would happily donate. You could do something like a funding page where as long as donations keep the needle above a certain kHz then the project is self funded at the given bandwidth.
2 kHz / 10 kHz / 20 kHz etc.
You may have considered it, but I thought I would ask and get feedback going on the board.
Cheers,
Cheaha
Yes, this is on the to-do list. It will be similar to the public radio model.
Out of curiosity, if funding wasnāt the issue (for example, if you could fundraise or have donors provide whatever amount you want) what speeds would be the most ideal for what you are thinking this service is best used for? Is the 800KHz really the best top level, or could you go into the MHz range and offer more services?
If money was no object, there would be 9 Ku-band beams and 3 C-band beams, each at sufficient downlink power to allow an omnidirectional antenna to receive at 100 kbps.
This is a start: Othernet's profile - Liberapay
Iāll add more details later this week. All of the contributions will be used feed the birds. Adding another channel is about $1000/month. Doubling the current speed is about $1000/month. Iāll list goals, coverage areas, and speeds later.
Just signed up and setup a monthly donation. I encourage others to do the same.
I would also suggest applying for a grant from AMPR aka 44net or 44.0.0.1. they just sold 1/3rd of the 44net to Amazon for 9 figures. If the content increased to included ARRL bulletins more space weather and news with the increased bandwidth it could be crafted to satisfy their requirements. Also have you considered reaching out to the folks who run the QO-100 geostationary ham radio transponder? I would think that the radios could be used by hams who operate QO-100 which for those who dont know is a Qatar satellite which has graciously allowed ham radio to use some transponders for armature use it is 2.4ghz up and 10ghz down. When the video transponder is not in use it would seem that data transmissions for hams could take place during the down time. This could be a large outlet for the receivers. As this satellite does not use a spot beam it could also be a possible 1/4 of the globe it could be a potential carrier satellite for Othernet.
the QO-100 txp is unfortunately not feasibly, as it is already tghtly packed with narrowband and wideband transmissions. Plus law forbeids use of HAM Radio allocations for other than purely research and development. Thereās not commerical service or content allowed, except in emergencies.
To clarify I am sugesting trying to find a use for the Othernet Technology to sell them to hams for a sort of AmatureNET. Thus selling more hardware to support Othernet News transmissions.
On the ham radio side it is not exactly āresearch onlyā, not sure if you are a ham or from what country. I am not familiar with every country only the US, Canada and Aruba. In the US the ARRL transmits content which is relevant to hams. This is allowed. W1AW Operating Schedule Additionally Amature Radio Newsline does the same thing. https://www.arnewsline.org/ The RSGB transmits Morse code training sessions. GB2CW broadcast schedule - Radio Society of Great Britain - Main Site : Radio Society of Great Britain ā Main Site Additionally as they have an uplink more APRS data such as Weather reports could be transmitted up on 2.4ghz to the satellite from the 1/4 of the earth, messages could be transmitted and received, also logs could be uploaded from remote DX-peditions in real time from remote locations that lack internet.
I feel sure there is at least one country in the footprint of QO100 that could transmit such information legally. The hardware and modulation techniques surely could be used by hams on QO-100 all it would take is contacting amsat-uk.org to find out if we could run some tests.
73,
Lin NI4Y & P40CI
i am a HAM from Germany, and your clarification puts it into perspective. I was thinking you wanted to transmit the āstockā othernet feed over the QO-100 which would clearly violate law. just using the modulation for HAM-related content is fine of course, as you cite several examples. We mean the same thing, just describe it differently.
Which organization has administrative control of the payload (QO-100) and could authorize the use of the larger 1 MHz channels for amateur radio content delivery with a LoRa carrier?
Amsat UK Esāhail 2 / QO-100 | AMSAT-UK
Go down to WB transponders Es'hail 2 - Wikipedia
The QO100 payload on ESHAIL2 is handled by the german AMSAT-DL, talked to them on the Ham Radio Conference in 2019 
But i donāt think that the Saudis will let you just use it, i donāt think that AmsatDL has the last word for such things.https://amsat-dl.org/
Thereās plenty of free capacity even on key positions of the clark belt. SES Astra alone has 11 unused transponders on their primary 19,2E orbit slot and many of the occupied (shared) ones are not running on full capacity. It should not be too difficult to find sponsors for a 200k (or even 800k) slot in certain markets. Plus iām still convinced thereās a market for a decent set of radio channels including datacasting that you can receive with a small phase array antenna. Anybody remeber worldspace? Weād just have to do with existing satellites and not start with launching our own. 
What you stated is exactly what Iāve been pushing for, since 2014ā¦
With Starlink coming online, that unused capacity is going to increase more and more every year.
Yes, 1 MHz per beam and about 10 beams for truly ubiquitous coverage (7 Ku and 3 C-band global beams). I donāt know, it could be like the modern version of shortwaveā¦
Saudi Arabia is not the owner it is Qatar hence QO aka Qatar Oscar 100
You are right, i meant Qatar, sorry 
Another thing worth noting. I have been receiving the two frequencies of EUMETCAST datacasting on Eutelsat 10E in KU band for quite some time. In case there is a problem with the satellite, EUMETCAST has leased two additional transponders on another satellite to switch the service over. These have been on Eutelsat 21,5E in the past but were now relocated to Eutelsat 13E. So one of the european Hotspot positions (Eutelsat name the 13E satelltes āHotbirdā themselves) has 2 full unused or standby KU band transponders. TXP6 11317 V and TXP8 11355 V. Thereās gonna be a switchover test in Mayā¦
If you take a look at the band plan for the bird it allows experimental modes on one of the channels. That would be where we could start. Request a test of data casting ARRL, RSGB, and any other organizations QST messages, write an article for QST, & RADCOM.
Can the SDR in the Dreamcatcher board send the data stream on 144mhz? That would be the required frequency for a 2.4ghz transverter.
The SX1280 that is used for the DC3 and DC4 is a 2.4ghz chip
So you can directly use it with QO100 in theory, i havnāt tried it yet but maybe i will do a test on the weekend.
73 Manuel DO5TY