Free Data From Space With Othernet (Is Almost Over!)

[@falafell]

Hearing about another obscure, failed satellite service is awesome, I don't think I would have known this was ever a thing if you didn't make a video on it, Thank you for covering it!

[@theminer49erz]

Yeah, funny how the very people that would be interested in it haven't heard about it until it was too late. Seems like a marketing issue.

[@blpblp-tj7ux]

my favorite aspect of any/every SIFP video is the "wtf has he done now" factor 😃

[@roberthayes6329]

Mine is he going to shave that crap off his face?😅

[@mattparker9726]

for REAL

[@W2GMD]

Gabe I'm so happy you were able to get a least a little data into the Outer/Othernet devices. I can't wait 'till you dig into the rest of the stuff in the box!

[@saveitforparts]

Lots of good stuff in there! :-)

[@MaxUgly]

If you are the sender thanks for providing this cool stuff!

[@kd5inm]

@W2GMD, if you sent this, thanks! Too cool Greg!

[@muchristian]

Glad you were able to try it. I've had Othernet for several years and really had plans for setting it up with neighborhood wifi for "off the internet neighborhood wifi" I was going to include weather sensors and setup a neighborhood jabber server and forum. Sort of like a place where people could organize their gardening and other neighborhood stuff along with get some basic info like weather and news without having internet should someone choose not to have it. I am sad to see it go, but I understand the cost was about 15k a month. Hope you find a replacement and let us all know about it!

[@Defianthuman]

Well that's certainly quite a cost! Sad to see something so awesome go down.

[@NotDrDre]

“Free” and “space” are two of my favorite things!

[@hbirtt]

lol "professionally zip tied" That phrase is perfect for this channel. That is a compliment. I love the channel.

[@AlexTaradov]

This brings back memories of teletext.

[@GuyWithASolderingIron]

ČT czech television still transmits teletext

[@rubenskiii]

It's still on television in the Netherlands i believe as well.​@@GuyWithASolderingIron

[@poyrikkanal]

Turkish television also transmits teletext on the channel number 1

[@TheBcoolGuy]

Swedish TV does too

[@thealeas]

it does sound a lot like the idea of teletext, I was about to comment that!

[@TheThorns]

R.I.P. Outernet/Othernet Closest thing I have seen to Project Xanadu. Hardware wise not software obviously

[@Rob2]

I had one of their kits in 2017/2018 when it worked on L-Band, with a RTL stick and a Raspberry-Pi like board. It had a small patch antenna that you could just put in front of the window. Or in my case outside on the roof as I had no window facing the correct direction. Even worked with them when their computer failed and the Europe downlink went silent, recommended them a second-hand computer store that could ship a rack server to the uplink station which would then be mounted by ground station personnel. Saved them shipping overseas from the US. They were on a tight budget back then, it was just an idealist 3-man project that had only income from selling the kits and had to rely on satellite providers giving capacity for free.

[@intercity125]

Those LNBs aren't just regular universal LNBs - they're the 'Bullseye' LNB with TCXO LOs that you need for narrowband signals. Still not hugely expensive but not a regular ten buck LNBF.

[@yoppindia]

Cant we get signal from broadband LNB? is the signal too weak for normal LNB?

[@intercity125]

@@yoppindiaIt’s not so much signal strength - the LNA stage is nothing special on these. It’s just normal DVB-S(2) transponders are wideband so frequency stability of the local oscillator isn’t so important - so they can drift around a surprising amount especially the DRO types. Makes it virtually impossible to use for narrowband signals when you can wind up drifting up and down many times your channel width. That’s why that web application tunes up and down in fine steps to hunt it out - even with the low drift “Bullseye” the reproducibility is poor.

[@pappyjohn8142]

I was thinking, man what witty comment can i come up with for Gabe this time. But i think i just want you to know. I love your channel. Completely random stuff i get to learn about every video. With almost the hate and worry in the country i just want you to know how much i appreciate learning without drama. Thanks Gabe. Truly.

[@saveitforparts]

Thanks! This was a fun one to film.

[@patchvonbraun]

The Othernet carrier is fairly narrowband (20kbps or maybe a bit more), which means that the "Bulleye" LNBs they offer for this, while they use a crystal-locked synthesizer, can still drift +/- 5KHz or more. For a 10MHz-wide carrier, that's not a lot. For a 10s-of-kHz wide carrier, that's a lot! It also explains why, under ideal circumstances, you don't need a dish. The feed-horn itself probably offers 10-12dB of antenna gain, which is probably (barely) enough to allow the narrowband signal to be seen and demodulated. A MUCH smaller dish than your 7ft would probably work fine.

[@Rob2]

Yes it should work with the bare LNB, but you need clear sight. It looks like he has trees in the path of the signal, which attenuate A LOT.

[@kd5inm]

Maybe an old huge dish tv dish would work?

[@443DM]

On the forums, a bunch of people got 2-7dB of gain using things from soup cans (2dB), to pringles cans (3dB) and nicely "coned" wire mesh (5-7dB). Some dollar store metal mesh trashcans might work pretty well.

[@patchvonbraun]

@@443DM I've mated a galvanized steel funnel (sometimes used for transmission fluid transfer, because it can attack plastics) to a Ku-band LNBF to achieve not-unimpressive gain boosts. A shallower angle produces a bit more gain for the same final aperture, but for "improvised" systems, they're not bad.

[@robfl07]

In the early 1990s when I was in high school, my HS library had an Apple IIc hooked up to a modem connected to a coax cable that I assumed was attached to the local cable provider, but it totally makes sense that it was connected to an antenna on the roof. It was pretty old tech back then (at least the computer the school could spare to run the system) and other than students who needed essay topic ideas, I’m pretty sure I was the only one to consistently use the system. I was always amazed at the breadth of news topics that were constantly coming in (albeit very slowly). Seeing the software interface you showed totally brought back a flood of memories! Other than being text only, what I remember could totally have been a precursor to the Othernet/Outernet system you showed here. Thanks for the blast from the past!

[@SooSmokie]

Or likely to the phone lines that the internet came from back then....

[@carlhoward5469]

LOL... I can't believe you tried the LNB without a dish of any kind. Such an optimist. 😄

[@BenJefferyCanada]

When I got an Outernet kit years ago, it seemed to work decently with the bare LNB dangling out a window. I haven't tried it out in at least 6 years though.

[@cuoops]

Yes I remember an article showing you didn't need a dish. I think it was on the RTLSDR blog site.

[@scotterdog1036]

Yeah Othernet has died. I’m very impressed you have data!😅 Hey! That’s my Whole Earth Catalog on your top shelf. I can tell by the signature worn spine. I’m glad it’s in a good place now.😂

[@lesliespeaker668]

I didn't know DVB-S receiver to SDR conversions were a thing. I'm hooked, makes me want one of them now.

[@tomwall75]

It looks like you found a suitable power supply. For future reference: if you need 5 volts with alot of current you can use the 5 volt rail of an old computer power supply and wire it to a USB plug. If you do go that route don't forget you have short a pin to ground to make the power supply turn on. Just Google power supply pinout. I believe for a 20 pin connector it's pin 14 and 16 for a 24 pin.

[@jasonprivately1764]

Can you explain

[@JaredConnell]

​@@jasonprivately1764 you can use an old power supply from a desktop pc for 3.3, 5, or 12 volts. You just have to connect a certain pin to ground in order for it to turn on without a motherboard connected. Then you can connect whatever kind of plug you want to the different wires to get whatever voltage you need. I've done it before but its been a while so just google something like 'using a pc power supply for 5 volts' if you want to know more.

[@carsalesman7991]

Wiring the green wire from the motherboard connector to GND will turn on the psu. You can just put a switch in that circuit and Bob's your uncle!

[@codycarreras4825]

I’m all for it. I binged a bunch of your previous satellite videos last night. All great stuff. Love the longer form stuff also. And I always love when that old Soyo display pops up too. That’s a name you don’t hear much anymore.

[@saveitforparts]

I found that Soyo in a junk pile at work. I actually do all my video editing on it.

[@StrawberryKitten]

You use Bing?

[@nofider1]

That "Bullseye" LNB can be easily modified for better stability by injecting a 25mhz ref on the red F connector by carefully removing the 25mhz crystal from the pcb. No other mods. Yes it requires another length of coax from your ref source. I use one on my Q0-100 setup instead of the DX Patrol LNB. The Bullseye LNB is a pretty good all round device. Have fun. :-)

[@saveitforparts]

I have yet to investigate reference sources, I keep hearing about them but have never tried one.

[@testcardsandmore1231]

@@saveitforparts I was about to suggest receving the QO-100 satellite but then I realised that it's below the horizon in the US. :(

[@joepeach997]

WOW!!! It was like Christmas when you opened the box with the Othernet equipment Gems!!!! Love your enthusiasm, I would have been the same way! So cool, love it when you get excited as we do!

[@jszigetvari]

If you want to go after their story, I can point you to some former project participants and senior community members who may help get in touch with the people behind the project.

[@kd5inm]

Yes, do that. It would be interesting

[@gavin9038]

Hope Gabe spots this comment!

[@jszigetvari]

We have already got in contact.

[@xavierdemers-bouchard2747]

What an odd service to offer. Very impressive that you got to receive it based on the few crumbs of info out there! You're really just getting it done now!

[@charliebaby7065]

Well isn't this just dandy. I was wondering what the heck happened to them about a year ago. No idea why your video was suggested but it looks like youtubes finally figured me out. (I'm sure that won't last) Thanks so much for the update. This really made my week

[@Austins_Corner]

I remember saving this to my favorites back in the 2014-15 time-frame. I really wish this would stick around because I've wanted to use this for years.

[@tdannecy]

Glad you made this video. I wanted to get into Outernet when it started and I was working on a Library Science degree. I thought there was a great opportunity to volunteer to help with content etc., but I could never get in contact with anyone at the project. I haven’t thought about it for years until you posted. Thanks!

[@r4indeer]

Damn, I remember making a little presentation about the Outernet for a school assignment many years ago, totally forgot this existed. I believe it was still just an idea back then, never saw it in action - so cool to see it here!

[@kencreten7308]

Your descriptions are like the bomb, Man. Thanks so much. Seriously.

[@patchvonbraun]

Near as I can tell from the Dreamcatcher 3.05 schematics, the LoRA chip is actually used for demodulating the satellite signal! In effect, they're sending a LoRA signal over the satellite. But since there's very little actual documentation, I can't confirm this.

[@mechmyday]

This is correct. They are basically sending an uplink with LoRA modulation. The Dreamcatcher has the LNB do a simple down-conversion to a frequency that is compatible with the LoRA radio so it can demodulate the data signal. They also included a LoRA module capable for re-transmitting the downlink signal locally with the idea that you'll only need one satellite downlink to cover a small town or village.

[@Symbiiote]

I didnt know outernet was online holy cow. I still have my outernet hardware.

[@alzeNL]

Amazing stuff - admire your tenacity in sticking with this where there are so many 'unknowns' to eventually get data and content!

[@perfectomprg]

Nice idea, but i think the built-in need for specialized hardware like that instantly makes this only a toy for tech enthusiasts. Shortwave has so much potential still.

[@nonsuch]

Neat. This system reminds me of WaveTop which was software from the mid 90's that you would use with a TV tuner card on a PC. It would send you random stuff over the air via the VBI "Vertical Blanking Interval" (or VBlank) that you can capture and sift through. It was marketed as a free info source rather than free Internet, kinda like Othernet. Although, the Othernet is way more sophisticated and much faster, at least when it was going strong. WaveTop was extremely slow. You wouldn't even get your first bit of data for a few days and then it would trickle in.

[@RickTheGeek]

This reminds me of way "back in the day" there was a satellite delivered FidoNet feed for BBSes

[@prillewitz]

Fantastic Gabe! I had heard of it but never imagined that it was in working order. I am experimenting with satellite tv but just like you I am always trying to find the right positions.

[@terrylandess6072]

This sounds so much like the Satellite craze of the late 80's into the 90's. Once enough people were purchasing dishes, they began to need 'descramblers'. Eventually the security outpaced the advantage of using this form of entertainment. I never really thought about the same thing with internet.

[@wadeduvall7026]

You just can't find this kind of quality but obscure content anywhere else on the internet.

[@maxvideodrome4215]

The reminds me of the BBS days “PlanetConnect” was a satellite feed for BBS operators. Messages/Files etc

[@ShawnWrona]

If I had more money, and more time to put into catching radio frequencies… I’d be doing all of the same stuff you are doing!! But I’m struggling to save up to buy a discovery dish at the moment 😂 I love the stuff you’re doing! I’m living vicariously through your channel 😂

[@jeremyloveslinux]

Unless you really like religious channels, “free to air” satellite TV is not exactly desirable.

[@gorak9000]

there's a lot more than religious crap on FTA, but it's too technical for most people to mess with. You need both ku and cband though to get most of the content - a lot is on cband. It used to be a lot more interesting a few years ago when all the live news feeds were still by sat - now it's all by cellular/IP and you can't see any of it.

[@andrewmcewan9145]

In northamerica at least. You can likely hit british tv geo sats at the very edge of newfoundland.

[@LarryBlowers]

I always wondered if there was anything free to see falling from the sky. Sounds like nothing worth my time. Thanks!

[@andrewmcewan9145]

@@LarryBlowers there are a few things to see. This guy has a few samples and unencrypted broadcasts Peter Fairlie

[@gusbuswag]

OP is Cisco certified and shills Arch

[@myself248]

It's a damn shame they never found a business model, it was such a neat idea. There was a Usenet-by-satellite service back in the 90s that I always hoped would resurrect and modernize, and of course there's Toosheh and stuff in the east, but I've never had a chance to scan the feeds in the west and see if there's stuff hidden away in the transport streams.

[@theminer49erz]

Man, what a shame that they are shutting down, that's a really cool service. It should be subsidized!

[@joels7605]

So cool. I had never heard of this before. Absolutely amazing. I love this channel.

[@danielgonzales9752]

Glad you finally found a way to set up your syrup selling shop on the net 👍

[@espowari]

Yes! I was super interested in Outernet - loving the channel.

[@al3k]

Pretty cool. Never heard of othernet, but sounds a bit like facebook trying to take over remote areas and giving "free internet" where it's basically just a doomscrolling ad-feed.. PS. I spotted Salvation in your bookshelf.. I'm a huge old Peter F. Hamilton fan, glad to see you enjoy his stuff too. Isn't it just the best? :) What other good books have you got? Maybe you can do a short vid about them for us? Would be interesting.

[@saveitforparts]

A bookshelf tour could be fun. I actually need to reorganize my office since the shelves are overfilled.

[@hobergenix]

It was a fun project and had potential. I think one of the ideas was to set up some sort of request site. So that you could ask for non copyright materials. Books, Music, news. But if you were able to log onto a website to do this you already have internet and could just do it yourself. Each board version was about 100 dollars. Probably made little on the boards and no income stream to pay for the satellite time.

[@gregeigsti3280]

Great video on an obscure bit of technology that never really moved past obscure (what a shame). IMO their main issue was always moving between birds necessitated users to accumulate yet one more piece of incompatible hardware to keep playing. I was able to round-trip data through the system using the APRS feed that you mentioned and that was fun to achieve. Anyway, thanks for all of the fun videos!

[@brokeboisentertainment8525]

I would love to see some sort of satellite communication server that the entire community could hop on one day

[@petevenuti7355]

Does anybody here remember "free world dial-up" , an early adopter voice over IP over the internet thing , they even had phones from Thailand that was voice over IP over Wi-Fi, nobody else did anything like that! It was incredible. You just needed a $300 Cisco router and at least two permanent ISDN connections at maybe a thousand a month. And with that you could have free long distance calls! Great savings! Of course this was the 90s, and if you spent a few hours on the phone to the nearest city you're getting a $300 or $500 phone bill, so I'm actually serious it would save you tons of money, especially if you had a long distance relationship with a psychiatrist that does their appointments over the phone. I mean just imagine having the free cash to spend a few thousand dollars on your phone bill and still be able to pay your $300 rent!

[@rkirke1]

Outernet sounds like a really cool idea, it's a pity it never took off/is shutting down :( I'm trying to think of a more modern implementation that avoids the expensive/custom hardware issues you mentioned. For the most accessible ground station hardware, I'd imagine a Ku band LNB + RTL-SDR would do it. The first problem would be funding/persuading enough GEO operators to get on board, and then the linked problems of "cheap LNBs drift so needs a wideband signal", vs "funding a wideband transmission is prohibitively expensive". My bet for the immediate future of this sort of thing is probably LEO LoRA satellites. LoRA RX hardware is cheap, cubesats are cheap(ish). With the right kind of financial backing, user friendly software/hardware packages, and de-bloated downlinks, I'd imagine it could be a pretty effective RX only data service.

[@michaellichter4091]

Thank you very much for this very interesting video; this is something I didn’t know about at all. It’s fascinating to see what’s possible. I really like the satellite videos, and there’s always something new to discover.

[@cttv90108]

Back in the 90s AP had satellite distribution of data to their Newsroom software. A small dish downloaded AP news to a windows nt server. Can't remember if it was l band or s band.

[@443DM]

earlier than that: 1982 - The AP introduces Laserphoto II, the first network capable of transmitting photographs by satellite, as well as over ordinary telephone land lines and microwave links. Designed to facilitate the distribution of photographs in color, the network requires half an hour to transmit three black-and-white separations of the color image, which correspond to the cyan, magenta, and yellow plates used in color printing. Laserphoto II operates side-by-side with the existing Laserphoto network until both are superseded by the PhotoStream system in 1991.

[@ToddVollmer]

We need to start a fund to get you a CubeSat into space :)

[@internet155]

I remember hearing about this when I was into the long range wireless point to point transmission stuff. Good times

[@sagetx]

22:30 Wow. That's some early 1990's dial-up bbs nostalgia.

[@brianbarker2551]

Still cool, the fact you can get it working is the best part.

[@RyanMercer]

Oh man, I forgot all about this.

[@erickvond6825]

For powering high amperage devices like the Dreamcatcher you can hack together an old AT or ATX power supply with a USB cable which has the appropriate end on it. Just cut the USB-A end off and solder the red and black wires to a red and black wire on the PSU you use. With ATX power supplies you will need to jump the green and any black wire together to enable the PSU.

[@stepdg]

Another video that is so cool! Thank you as always for trying out every crazy idea!

[@Hazik_YouTube]

I was curious how these work back in a day Great vid!

[@YuNherd]

hope these critical communication companies opensource their products, they could still profit from after sales support i guess. this is awesome.

[@CanuckHam]

Also the othernet kinda died out but it doesnt mean there cant be a revival especially on an amateur radio satellite and lora

[@rubenskiii]

Awesome video again Gabe, never heard of this idea!

[@ace_life7079]

Thank you for being so amazing on another adventure with technology.Please don't ever stop making content so that we can enjoy it for the rest of our lives

[@charlesdorval394]

The closed and expensive hardware surely didn't help them Oh wow, Allwinner A13, that bring backs memories, probably hackable though I'm not sure if there is still kernel support for the ... sunxi 4 I think it is It's been a while hehehe

[@Pazuzu-2048]

Great episode, Mr. Parts.

[@SthamerAMVs]

Think this is a great thing to exist. Like you said, very good for countries that haven’t got access to the outside world. Shame it’s going, could have been something pretty great

[@TheRealLifeoutdoors]

Man this is a great idea wish someone would pick this up for future

[@captmulch1]

Super cool Gabe. Love your work …

[@gyubear]

Decades ago, in Europe, I try to catch data packets with a skystar broadcast satellite tuner card in my pc. The service name was sat torrent, and spread by Astra and Eutelsat satellites, (you send your request via landline dialup internet, and got your data from satellite.). My/our method was: catch the downstream a day, and try to decompile. Mostly pictures from websites, mp3 downloads (unknown singers, unknown songs), and video files (p•rn, and middle eastern preachers speeches). Few month later turn to boring, because the got data was similar. But was fun for a while. i'm curious: now working same service yet?

[@saveitforparts]

I heard of that back when I had satellite internet in Alaska, but I never tried it out!

[@Rob2]

Yes, I have done that as well, for a while. Used a "dreambox" satellite receiver that could easily relay a DVB PID to the ethernet interface, and some software that collected downloaded files. Indeed the users were mainly from middle eastern countries, and the material downloaded was just what you would expect but are not allowed to say.

[@espowari]

Also along these lines was Rachel Pi. Basically a school in a box WiFi solution.

[@armisteadab]

I used to get rtts teletype over shortwave, had no idea about this. Same feel, just waiting for what might come by.

[@DJTKarlsson]

I remember reading about this back in Europe approx. 10 years ago. And it always felt like even Teletext on FTA channels would give you more data/info than what outernet was beaming down to us. I always thought about buying one, just for fun, but then they went semi-silent and became hard to track down. If i remember correctly they had a office based in Germany somewhere with some outlet out in south Europe, maybe it was Spain or Italy? I might be totally off tho, its been a while! i even forgot about Othernet until this video xD

[@Rob2]

Technically it is true that Teletext sent more data, in that it has a higher bitrate than Outernet/Othernet. However, the Teletext carroussel revolves in only like 30 seconds, or a multiple of that for subpages, while the Outernet carroussel would take hours. You were supposed to keep the receiver powered on all day, and then once a day or so connect to it and view what it had collected. That would be a lot more than what you could see at one time on a typical Teletext service. They were based in the US but they had downlinks in the 3 geostationary areas of the world. In Europe they have been on Hotbird and Astra TV satellites (Ku band) and on Inmarsat (L band). The latter was uplinked from the Netherlands, but they had no office here, only a computer and modulator co-located at the uplink station in Burum.

[@localixdots9698]

У нас в России такое называется "спутниковая рыбалка". Так можно читать чью-то чужую электронную почту, любой файл который скачивают. В одно время пользовался, но потом стало скучно.

[@KR-hg8be]

This is one of those ideas that probably would have been wildly sucessful in like 1985 but isnt really all that useful now vs the real internet.

[@Doc_Hawk]

This isn't just to replace the internet. This is for places so remote you can't get the internet, or you have heavly censored goverment internet/news

[@KR-hg8be]

@Doc_Hawk how are you supposed to access it in a country with heavy censorship when the receiving equipment is expensive and must be purchased online and also involves a large sat dish that isn't exactly easy to hide?

[@KristopherChambers]

Could try using the debian archive for the apt sources

[@pqlfn]

how did you comment 6 days ago if the video just got posted?

[@cocusar]

​@@pqlfnvideo is up early for patrons

[@AnotherFreakingDude]

Wdym? You can't time travel yet?​@@pqlfn

[@thesohnly]

​​@@pqlfnsifp vids start as unlisted videos for patreon supporters

[@treahblade]

@@pqlfn Supporters get early access.

[@Mrrefreshyourmind]

Just curious are you going to participate in this weeks ISS SSTV event? Love your videos!

[@saveitforparts]

I'm trying!

[@alzeNL]

thanks for posting this - i wasnt even aware and love SSTV and ISS ! :D

[@Mrrefreshyourmind]

@@alzeNL you got till Monday! I’ve only got 2 clear pictures so far happy hunting!

[@JeffBilkins]

Would be fun if there was a wikipedia satellite in a stable orbit that broadcasts the whole thing forever.

[@cttv90108]

A shame that it failed, an interesting idea.

[@MsBongkong]

No idea what is going on, but I love your videos.

[@yourguysheppy]

Could probably build one less aircraft carrier and fund this entire project for 100+ years

[@kameljoe21]

Something like this could be super viable these days. Starlink with its ability to send text via satellites with pretty much what is already out there. The only problem be how would it go about doing that. First not all phones are set up to get those government warning text/tests yet that option could be a viable solution. LEO Satellites with text capability should change how we can transmit data regardless where we are at. Future android and IOS versions are likely going to contain software that would allow the ability to accept those messages. A system much like the othernet could become viable again. It might even be enough to broadcast severs weather warning to all those affected in the path. This would require no service, contract or anything. Much like NOAA already does yet reaching people who might not have even that. LEO Satellites have so much capability that we have not even reached what we could add in to each one of these things.

[@kameljoe21]

Yeah there is no money in this at all. This would be something funded by the government. Though weather would be one of the best sources to fund with and the extras would be a viable plus.

[@belstar1128]

i doubt it most people want more now and way more regions have internet access now

[@dkraft]

I had this working well in the city back in 2017. Essential to use a "pringles can" rejection due to ground interference. Sad that now I've moved to the country that this is going to stay in a box for the rest of it's life.. Perhaps I'll throw it on the "Sacrifices to God of Speed" shelf.

[@davidbwa]

THEN: "INFORMATION SHOULD BE FREE!" NOW: "Sorry, we don't have enough money to keep this project operating". LOL

[@afinnishfishnet7366]

Interesting. Though the fact that its one way with no control over what you get means that i think itd be less good as "internet" and more as just a general satelitte transmitting generally useful things

[@AndrewBeals]

I've had a 3.03 or 3.05 board in the project shelf for years - a ham friend bought one at the same time and he got his receiving by sticking the LNB at the feed point of a Dish Network antenna. I promptly went and found a free one - but life events got in the way. Sad to hear that its going away - I was looking forward to having a mysterious hotspot of Wikipedia, news, and weather sat images simply appear in the neighborhood one day. Guess it will join the Steam Link boxen as possible low-power linux hosts (why hasn't Steam released an open bootloader?) for yet-to-be-determined projects.

[@SupremeLordGeek]

Basically modern teletext

[@mattparker9726]

25:00 so don't bow out, and use YOUR DIY knowledge and make something awesome like that! I'm pretty sure I'd donate $20 to help make that happen! Like this comment if YOU would too!

[@graywolf2694]

It's a cool idea, just leave it running and receive info.

[@elkneto4334]

"we have internet at home" its beyond shitty, at this point teletext over sat is better

[@josh3771]

Such a cool project, sadly sounds like the project was mismanaged constantly requiring new hardware and poor communication. Probably no use case for this anymore thanks to affordable 4G/Starlink.

[@thedarkdragon89]

This is a cool project, sadly I never heard about it and I imagine that was it's deathkneel.

[@asckiwi]

5:57 Great author, love those books

[@DiodeDenizen]

Space stuff is neat, but can we see the contents of that bookshelf?

[@coolspot18]

PointCast from Space.

[@Mosfet510]

It will be interesting to see what can be done with the sdr section, 40-6G is a nice spread. I bet there is a linux utility out there somewhere for it. 👍

[@doesnotexist578]

interesting that it used the ses-2 sat, I have been regularly pointing dishes to ses-1 and ses-3 for years now and since ses owns them I imagine that the main reason othernet is going out is do to how much it probably costs for them to use the ses satellites, ses-1 and 3 (before it was decommissioned earlier this year) are both very high traffic satellites and I suspect that ses-2 is no different, while the othernet idea is pretty neat and I would love to see more like it, I would think any company that does this and doesn't have their own personal satellite is probably going to be eaten alive in the cost of essentially renting satellites

[@Rob2]

I think they relied on satellite companies providing them the bandwidth pro bono. Remember they always used very narrowband (low bitrate) modes, it was not like using an entire TV transponder, more like the bandwidth for a single low-quality radio station.

[@TrevorHarvey-yi9zl]

You might be able to find an old repo and update the sources.

[@Doc_Hawk]

honestly that's a great concept

[@Aeduo]

With enough fiddling with the sources.list file you might be able to get it to clean update to the latest, maybe taking some stepping stones in between but yeah. Pretty sure debian does maintain mirrors for very old versions but they're kept somewhere else and you need to feed it the location of where it would be now. I don't know off hand at all where it would be though other than looking around debian's website. Weirdo hardware like that though might also need specific kernels and firmwares and other things so updating it might just brick it.