How goTenna extends RF to the mainstream & adds to every Ham’s toolbelt

The biggest difference between LTE direct and goTenna is LTE direct tops out at 500m, whereas goTenna's range is typical of 2m waves. We are expecting up to 1 mile in an urban setting, which is some of the worst terrain for RF.

 

Is it just me or does the fact that in the promotional video they point out it is good way to avoid getting arrested if you need to talk about selling drugs! I was on board until then, but drugs are a real problem and I have seen entire families destroyed by them, you probably have as well. No way I can give them my money. I also don't like to see the ad here on QRZ. It's just my opinion, nothing more..

 

Wow, I never bothered to even watch that before but now I see you are certainly correct. And the little teenie boppers with beer swashing all over the place from plastic cups. Yup, great marketing. I did not feel this way before but now...yeah goTenna can go suck a big ten incher.

 

Whoo Bouy let the fun begin.

 

But an "urban setting" is some of the best terrain for being less than 500m from another device, so the existing Firechat app or the planned LTE upgrade would cover that. Heck, I'm standing here in a typical suburban house out in the sprawl, and I'm quite certain there are at least three or four other folks with smartphones within 500m of me. That's almost 1/3 of a mile, for the metrically challenged. In a really rural setting you might be a mile from the next device, but if you're that far out in the sticks, who's going to be able to come help you anyway?

So yeah, drug dealers. Go with that.

 

LTE Direct is amazing. No doubt about that. I think what sets goTenna apart from LTE Direct would be message storing and no "middle man" requirement. In a lot of scenarios there might not be a middle man with an LTE direct phone powered on (think deep in the woods, at sea, in an underdeveloped country, etc). If two people are within range of one another and in need of communicating, they can do that. Even if one of their smartphones is off, the messages will still be stored on the goTenna until the phone is powered on. Comparing to LTE Direct in a woods scenario, you would need to daisy-chain 13 (minimum) LTE Direct devices to cover 4 miles (low estimate for goTenna in that scenario). The two capabilities are similar, but just like any other mesh networking, LTE Direct fails without other nodes. goTenna is designed for the case that there are no intermediate nodes, and I think that difference is worth considering.

 

Given that Facebook is involved, it's almost a lock that LTE Direct will be targeted as an advertising platform. If that comes to pass, it will be essentially a receive only application for consumers (you won't be able to transmit over all the ads being blasted at you).

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/530996/future-smartphones-wont-need-cell-towers-to-connect/

 

2 watts? it better have a BNC Connector to be able to go to an eggbeater or Yagi.

I prefer at least 5 watts and an external beam thanks.

Good Luck with your internship, and even more so; lots of luck with a real job in the Future.

Best Wishes and no sarcasm intended with my post.

73 K2HAT Lee

 

The FCC limits MURS to 2 watts - we can't get around that. Thanks though - I appreciate it.

 

BARBIE beat him to the punch ?? OMG!!! LOL!!! TTYL!!!

 

I lasted all of 5 minutes on FireChat. It reminded me of CB radio via text.

Perhaps they have improved it, but all the crud I got on that in 5 minutes convinced me that I didn't need to be that connected.

I would hope that any competing technology (especially something that costs something) would be a lot more useful than that was.

 

No, you're an amateur radio operator. It takes a lot more than just a license to become a ham.

 

Seems like they may be pushing legality as vhf MURS has a 2w power limit, no repeaters or store and forwarding allowed so no digipeating, no spread sppectrum or connection to a public switched network either. With elevated external antennas you could get 10 to 15 miles on 2w, more or less.

 

You may not connect MURS to a public switched network, so, NO INTERNET CONNECTIONS.

 

Given that goTenna is explicitly marketing their product to potheads and club kids (seriously - watch their YouTube ad), it seems highly unlikely that it'll draw any higher class of clientele than Firechat. With either technology, you're interacting with the people within range of you, with all that entails.