When are we going to receive our Lanterns?

I think several years is being patient. Is there such a thing as a Lantern. I notice people are talking about Dreamcatchers and the like. Myself and a friend both paid fort a Lantern each when you started up but nothing has happened. The last communicatiion was in January of this year. Just be honest and tell us you failed and refund our money. I have totally lost all interest in your project and feel it may well have been a scam.

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I understand how you feel. It has taken a very long time.

As I understand it a ‘dreamcatcher’ is a development board, as soon as it’s reliable it will be put into an enclosure and called a lantern.

I got a earlier iteration of the product and it does work largely as advertised. I find it amazing they’ve got it all working.

I assume @Syed would send you a dreamcatcher as your reward if that’s what you want, or I know they will refund anyone who requests them via email.

Sam, thanks for your reply. I guess if I hadn’t lost interest I would have kept up with the conversation and knew what a Dreamcatcher was. I guess I will hang in there and wait.
Darrell

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@darrell Thanks for your patience. We are trying our best to make the final Lantern product far better than what it is that you originally paid for.

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Hi !
John Fux, here ! Pleased to know that you are still alive and active, but how come you do not reply to my emails or provide an update since August of 2016 ???

I’ll be the first to say that we don’t provide very regular updates, but there have been at least a half dozen since August of 2016. You can see in the updates section of the campaign.

I guess I just gave up and haven’t been logging in too often. I don’t even remember how I had it working before. I still have the equipment but will have to relearn everything. One thing I did want to know about is what is an ‘L’ lnb compared to the KU one I used before?
Darrell

Perhaps you could have a schedule of every 3 months or something, on a particular date, say the 15th, when you’d “check in” by giving us an update even if there isn’t much new to say.

At least then we wouldn’t feel marooned and would know when to expect the next update.

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@darrell an LNA is simply a low noise amplifier. The LNB is a block- down converter. The output is on a different frequency.

–Konrad. WA4OSH

With the last update on the campaign being Aug 2017, any chance of a fresh update, replicated here, as the last one mentioned negotiations with the satellite operator. Any progress?

Cheers
Andy

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@Andy_ICT2U Sorry about the delay. I’ll have something posted to IGG shortly. The short version is that we moved to a different frequency band for two reasons: We were not at able to work anything out with the existing operator. The change allows for a more interesting service and does not tie us to any specific operator. We do have a new contract that will be signed either by the first of the year or very soon afterwards. As you can tell by the activity on the forums, we have not given up; we’re just slow.

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Thanks, can’t wait to see the update! After reading the news on the link below, I was getting a bit excited that most of the major delays/hurdles were out of the way. Or soon will be, anyways. :smiley:

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/outernet-3-0-coming-soon-free-30kbps-100kbps-satellite-data-downlink-for-news-weather-audio-etc/

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The core technical issues related to the satellite link have been resolved, but we are working on first-run production, which has its own unique issues. But yes, we are getting very, very close!

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Great to hear. It seems to be much more to Outernet than there was the last time I used it.

Darrell

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Thanks Syed.

I’ve just seen the Lantern update. Sounds like you guys have been busy. Good luck and looks like 2018 could an exciting year :slight_smile:

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Syed: It will be great to finally experience Outernet when we get our Lantern. I am now organizing a microsatellite project involving twin, 100Kg spacecraft to be deployed to LEO in 2022 from the Wallops Island spaceport aboard successive Vector-H launches. Most of the payload will be telecom experiments. We would still like to work with Outernet on creating an alternative space infrastructure for uncensorable datacasting, without the costs you’re presently paying to legacy transponder providers. Please contact me by private message on Skype, LinkedIN or Facebook, and let’s chat about the future. If you can engineer the ground segment using our satellites, we’ll put up the transponder for you.

Our current baseline is that each spacecraft will carry dual redundant 96-core processors and 10 TB of solid state storage, or 192 cores and 20 TB per satellite. The satellite design provides that their telecom payloads will not have power constraints. With other telecom relays the system will host, we envision a “Forward & Store” system, in which each overhead pass transmits audio and video content at greater than linear speed, such that the periodic updates provide for a pseudo-realtime listening/viewing experience for the user. I’m sure you can think of things to do with that topology.

Come visit us this summer on the Eastern Shore, at Wallops Island.

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Wow. I really enjoyed living in Salisbury, MD and working at the Univ. of MD, Eastern Shore, a long, long time ago. What a nice area. Would love to visit again some day.

What an interesting project.

–Konrad, WA4OSH

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@David_Wenbert Thanks for your continued support–and patience. I would be very happy to learn more about your microsatellite.

  • Have you already sized the communications payload?
  • What is the RF power and antenna gain you are considering?
  • Will the payload have a 100% duty cycle?
  • What altitude and inclination for the orbit?
  • What frequency bands will the payload support?
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Hi! Just saw your post from January. Reach me by PM on Facebook, LinkedIN or Skype anytime. The microsatellite platform we are developing will consist of 15 spacecraft, most the size of Quarter [beer] Kegs, deployed in LEO orbits between 125 and 200 miles altitude. They will be used primarily as a testbed for advanced propulsion technologies; the practical upshot of which is that they will have very long term endurance at these low altitudes (for some, decades). The two which are designated for telecommunications research will have conductive tether reboost and additional power utilities which will permit high power operation over North America, AU/NZ, UK/IE, and India, measured in the hundreds of watts, electrical. The inclinations will be as given, but will be useful nonetheless. We are at a planning stage where we are looking to accommodate a number of telecom payloads, and are seeking partners to work with. The frequencies to be used and the size of any given comms package are to be determined. What do you want and how big is your transceiver? A part of the intended telecoms research will involve using the conductive tether, and, separately, its plasma return sheath, as antennas. Between this and the power, it should be able to deliver a very strong signal throughout the Anglosphere. Now, we’re working out what to do with it. Chat me up online when you get a chance.

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Sorry but I have given up. Would you please refund my $100.00. It’s certainly

been a failure. Let me know what information you need to make the refund.,

Darrell