GoTenna Teardown

[@carlossantini3605]

Next, I would like to see a teardown of the new goTenna mesh on 900Mhz.

[@zaprodk]

Very cool device. I was shocked to see the LiPo getting nicked a bit, but it didn't blow up or smoke - i guess you can be lucky after all :D

[@DavidBates]

The amplifier chip looks like it's branded RFMD which is now qorvo. They specialize in amplifiers.

[@Odin31b]

Just stumbled upon this and wow. Great breakdown and refreshing my memories of electronics.

[@reazuddin9585]

If possible please do a teardown video for the beartooth. What kind of Lora Module the beartooth is using and how much range it actually provides?

[@davidbolha]

Hello ! Great video. Thanks for sharing. 😊

[@Frisbeegrrrl]

I'd like to put in a request for a Gemma with bigger holes. I want to use it with kids (about 1000 of them with potential for much, much expansion after that) but the current holes require small needles which are difficult for newbies to thread. Any chance something like this could go into the works?

[@czorgormez]

the amplifier chip is rf5110g from rfmd. www.rfmd.com/store/rf5110g-1.html but i prefer lora based communication system for this purpose.

[@JaraFPV]

so what do we call these kinds of devices now?

[@eircali]

Hello ma'am. Is it possible to connect at least two phones in one gotenna? If yes, can you tell us how? Thank you ma'am!

[@OEFarredondo]

You got to get the dev kit and code it yourself

[@mohananp]

Can you please teardown MyFilip Watch

[@eldorkpistolero1555]

this wouldn't be good if I want to transmit a mess from east coast to west coast, I would be better off using transmitting emails via amateur Ham/uhf/vhf radio

[@yandan8]

I thought you were going to get into the very limited bandwidth. Text only communications. No voice. No pictures. No videos.

[@NickFarrow]

what about file transfers. what's the largest it can do, or can it transfer files at all

[@adafruit]

+Nick Farrow no file transfers, just messages and locations through the GoTenna app.

[@OHWRDAMI1]

+Nick Farrow If you are interested in doing file transfers and setting up a 2.4 GHz MESH network you should look into HSMM-MESH & HSMM-PI. You will need an technician's license (HAM) to operate at the higher power levels and to meet the FCC requirements for station identification. I have been able to build out my own little node repeater network and have so far been able to transmit line of sight well over 5 miles. Understanding radio propagation and antenna science helps, but unless you are homebrewing antennas any of the dozens of good quality high gain omni directional and directional antenna should get you going really easily. I built power supplies for the Raspberry Pi nodes using the PowerBoost 1000C powered by batteries scavenged and re-packed / JST-PH terminaled (purchase the extension cable and just lop off the female terminal to get leads long enough) into 10,000 mAh 3.7volt 18650s from old laptop batteries. Eventually I will make little solar arrays to keep the batteries topped up during daylight hours. The idea being that I want to be able to push high speed wifi signals into wilderness areas so that my non ham friends can communicate off grid using their smartphones and offline chat apps like FireChat (untested so far but should work) and Bleep (fully tested works great and supports file transfer). Eventually I would like to test deploying these for search and rescue ops where teams of untrained (and therefore people who do not have access to the VHF radios)can have access to group comms. Again this is for areas with null cell phone coverage. I have 2 of the goTenna units (I was part of the pre-order crowd) and they are great for what they are 2 watt MURS. But fairly limited in range and battery power and they are a walled garden so they only work with goTennas. (1 Gotenna per phone). This makes them a little pricey to invest in for anyone other than family. So if you get some consider building or buying a battery pack to keep your phone and goTenna topped up for days of heavy usage (being off-grid as such). HSSM-MESH for WRT54G(L) reflash www.broadband-hamnet.org/ HSSM-PI for Raspberry Pi hsmmpi.wordpress.com/

[@PhattyMo]

+Doctor Who Ahh,so it is MURS. I was trying to figure out what band it might use,at 'around 100mhz' that is unlicensed.

[@OHWRDAMI1]

+PhattyMo I just sent a nice fat string of packets across the air and my RF counter says it is on Blue Dot / Channel 4 / 154.570 MHz. The local Wal-Mart uses that channel as well I'd be curious to see how interference affects these devices. Going to go test that out.

[@OHWRDAMI1]

+PhattyMo Drove out to Wal-Mart. Sat in the parking lot and monitored MURS 4. Waited for traffic. Well I was pleasantly surprised. When the carrier is in use goTenna does not let you send the message. When the goTenna did raise traffic it was a maybe 400 Hz tone for maybe 50 or 60 milliseconds I was able to transmit up to "quis nost" of the Lorem Ipsum in that time. Now if your traffic gets doubled while you are transmitting I seriously doubt the blisterpack MURS radios they use at Wal-Mart listen for traffic so it would probably effectively kill your transmission. I am not certain if the goTennas send a return confirmation packet to the sender or attempt to resend if the packet does not arrive...

[@muralidharreddychalla3877]

Gotoky

[@setha6096]

Take apart google glass.

[@adafruit]

+seth altobelli We like this glass teardown and aren't inclined to duplicate it: www.catwig.com/google-glass-teardown/

[@setha6096]

+Adafruit Industries What about a garmin vivofit?

[@Goyotero1000]

Buy dPMR or DMR radio ( for the price of a Gotenna) that will give you text, GPS, voice etc. that would be truly useful. This thing is a Millennial directed marketing scheme ( notice the colored hair), not a really useful transceiver.

[@davidbolha]

Goyotero1000 Thanks for the info ! 🤗

[@williambetzelberger6128]

The newer Gotenna mesh can be useful for those who do not have amateur radio privileges. My wife is not licenced, where as I am. I see it as an addition to my communications plan, but not the end all be all.

[@fosatech]

@@williambetzelberger6128 Imagine using a license.