Some of the cooler technology making gains these days is raining down from above. With the onslaught of LEO communication satellites being launched, connectivity is everywhere and it's getting easier and cheaper to obtain. Through a deal between T-Mobile and Starlink, you can now experience satellite connectivity provided directly to your cellphone.
My AUXCOMM group has been playing around with the idea of using Meshtastic to supplement our resource tracking. At net control we normally use Windows computers and found the mapping capability of the Meshtastic web client to be a bit lacking. I decided to try and roll my own to give us nicer looking maps with offline capabilities and a way to track resources around the map in near real time. Here's what I came up with!
I was recently supporting a bike ride event called the Appalachian Journey. I was assigned to help out in the communications trailer as net control. It's always nice to have internet access for information. When Randy, KE4RL, built his communications trailer, he designed it to be a Faraday cage so it's impossible to receive a wifi or cellular signal inside. This gave me an opportunity to see if my old trusty Linksys 54G Router was still useful.
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| Comm. Trailer with Linksys sitting on top. |
The annual Iron Mountain Jubilee has come around again. This year the event was an extra day longer with events occurring on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Because of this, I've added a new item to my kit and decided to setup camp for the entire weekend.
There's a lot a cheap radios on the market today and many turn out to be poorly constructed junk. However, every now and again you come across a gem. This seems to be the case with the truSDX, especially if you are into digital modes or CW.
