Outernet

[Satellite Guy]

Hi shortwave fans!
So I'm wondering if anyone here has heard of Outernet (www.outernet.is), which is trying do with satellite, modern internet content and crowd participation in the 21st century what shortwave did for global communication in the 20th. Outernet started broadcasting content in August over North America, Europe and North Africa and plans to expand to the rest of the world by the end of the year.

We are inspired by the legions of shortwave fans, technically minded or information-aly minded, especially how both shortwave and Outernet are about getting around censorship and control of information. I am personally involved in Outernet and if you have any questions, please let me know!

Ian

Information on how to build an Outernet receiver: http://outernet-project.github.io/orx-install/

[ChrisSmolinski]

Thanks for the info. Will the system eventually transmit on frequencies that can be picked up by just a RTL dongle and modest antenna?  I have a WiFi dish that I have modified for use around 1680 MHz, for example, which can give me a bit of gain, along with a pre-amp.

[Satellite Guy]

Hi Chris - An RTL dongle and a modest antenna are part of our goals but we are not there just yet. Right now, we are broadcasting from GEO satellites in the Ku band (specifically from Galaxy 19 at 97W and from Hotbird at 13E). So the setup you'll need is a dish (with LNB), a DVB-S decoder and a Raspberry Pi to store the transmitted files. There is some discussion about putting together receivers on the Outernet discussion board.
But we are trying to move quickly to using certain existing LEO satellites, so something that can be received by an RTL is definitely in the works. Stay tuned.

[Satellite Guy]

Hi Chris - some more info about accessing Outernet on our Lantern campaign site: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lantern-one-device-free-data-from-space-forever/x/9123023#home

Also check out https://www.outernet.is/en/receive for plans on how to build your own receiver.
Hope this helps!!
Ian

[quantegy]

FYI guys, there has been some talk about using an HF strategy to fill in the gaps for satellites. https://discuss.outernet.is/t/shortwave-hf-station-filling-in-the-gaps/828/22

A great discussion

[Satellite Guy]

Hey guys - Our Outernet Lantern campaign is ending today. Please check it out and help with our own satellite version of shortwave radio:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lantern-one-device-free-data-from-space-forever/x/9123023#home