maemo.org - Talk - Offline Data Options incl Satellite, for Internet Down Situations

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Offline Data Options incl Satellite, for Internet Down Situations

TMO being a hive of hackers and me enjoying far out scenarios in fiction; I though I would post some alternative data channel ideas if some sort of virus/zombie/society crash related emergency leaves you without Internet(vs unimportant stuff like food, shelter, medical, and civil society protections)

*Othernet, requires specialized receiver but cheap to buy(North America and Europe beams) wikipedia articles, news, weather, all outnet tagged amateur packet radio service messages, and streaming satellite radio.(edit) talked to the head of the lab, apparently they can get a signal up to the transponder even mobile with nothing other than a car power system(5amp@12v) using a 60cm dish, but it is preferred that they be in contact with the satellite operator, it is a pretty narrow signal so doesn't need much power even to GEO, they have no assigned direct feed partner in the Europe satellite though so like they normally do for North America they let SES do the upfeed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outernet

*Toosheh, mostly a bridge for Middle East and Iran area footprint to bypass local internet censorship and shutdown, uses cheap common FTA DVB-S2 receivers with a PVR save to USB, use the PVR to record the white screen to a USB flash drive, remove flash drive and read files with the decoder app, view or use the programs, and media which was embedded in the recorded downstream.
Includes files, video, audio and news. English, Spanish, Arabic, Persian. 2 GB of information daily 1M/s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toosheh

This is all I could find for free offline internet-like data service delivered to Ku band satellite dish or bare aimed LNB, but I recall there being other narrow band and full channel satellite data stream services for offline communities, I must be using the wrong search criteria. I hope more crop up and do not require anything past a LNB DVB-S/S2 FTA receiver or a DIY rigged RTL-SDR and bias-T to power the LNB.
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Other options of interest but not really a live stream updating a local cache like Internet users would expect

*Amateur radio satellite, not much data possible beyond checking in with your callsign and greeting other users, certainly not a data stream. Except for QO-100 the passes are quite fast and only a few a day. The package on the space station is sometimes turned to the BBS where you can post a message like old dialup BBS mails. You can build the equipment yourself especially the antennas and duplexers.
https://www.n2yo.com/satellites/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_satellite
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/how-do-i-start/

*Globalstar, there are several modem options for ~$100 which require a serial connection or microcontroler to operate, if you want to buy a COTS device there is the SPOT Satellite Messenger which connects to a SMS or email gateway. It all uses the underutilized Globalstar LEO satellite network is a low rate simplex data (uplink only) on the L-band transponder. The service is monthly and with a microscopic data plan is a few dollars after activation fee.

*For local(several km)terrestrial there is Disaster Radio, think amateur radio packet service but run over unlicensed LoRa hardware. Chained up into a networ this can cover a very large area, wifi or bluetooth network hotspots possible at every node.
https://disaster.radio/

*More rx only projects are possible with a central transmitter broadcasting general interest BBS like data and received with DVB-T dongles with a hacked debug mode driver aka RTL-SDR or other demodulators.

*If we are down to sneaker-net(carrying data around, imagine the data bandwidth of a station-wagon blasting down a highway loaded with data tapes or flash drives, ping time sucks though) then something like Briar which can spread a message or forum post without Internet by virally spreading it's data via bluetooth and wifi meshing. Sadly no Maemo or Meego client software.
https://briarproject.org/how-it-works/

*For the N900 there is Evopedia but the last wikipedia and wikivoyage en dump is from 2013; still useful to me. For win/lin/mac computers and recent android mobile devices there is Kiwix; you can get recent dumps in ZIM format at wikipedia or the kiwix site.
https://www.kiwix.org/en/
https://dumps.wikimedia.org/other/kiwix/zim/wikipedia/

*If you have a modem you could make a dialup BBS but the hardware has become uncommon. Lacking a modem you could make a serial modem with an arduino or similar microcontroler, a resistor network DAC and some low to high impedance matching. If you are this capable at winding coils and transformers you could also make a data network which runs on a neighborhood loop of wire and earth grounds similar to the old Texas fence line telephone networks or sound powered (electrical) telephone systems on warships. making a accoustic coupler for your soundcard output and work too without needing much special equipment, an amateur radio PSK-31 program or similar will let you stream slow data over the phone or radio.

*For mobile offline I recommend having a good audiobook collection as it takes up more time but less space than movies as well as some language learning mp3s which have big re-listen potential, audiobooks also don't require battery power for lighting your screen.

*Drifting far from topic there is also the utility of having a pack of cards, a harmonica, a handful of dice, some game place markers, paper, and a few paperback books if you don't have a smart way to charge your digital devices you can always read, play RPGs, or play your own music.

*I am a big advocate for amateur radio, look for a cheap Pixie QRP kit ($5-8 w/free deliver or make from components), solder it together and be in contact via morse code with your whole continent while powered by 8 AA batteries or a car lighter socket. A resonant fraction of 40m wire to make a dipole antenna(20+20m=1/2wave dipole or 10+10m for 1/4wave etc), it all fits in your shirt pocket. I think this base design is ripe for upgrades including a cheap DDS tuner to cover the band, and an audio notch filter to 'fix' the wide receiver(too many morse code signals to easily hear one transmitter but is good to listen to voice or data) https://www.newenglandqrp.org/nescaf/
The only part you need to order is the LTC1060 you can get the common 555 timer and LM386 audio amp IC as well as other components from an electronics or radio shop.
Add some high power finals and program an attiny chip as an autokeyer and you can be master of CW on the 40m band or whatever band you mod the design for. I have on that I made on one board from components, it works great and I can listen to shortwave and SSB too. Get your license(not sure about current testing situation) and you can morse code a message, even dictate an email message to be sent for you or patch a voice call over telephone lines.

I am curious if anyone else has more zombie apocalypse, rural offline, or just used up data plan data chanels both for rx only and rx/tx.