71–80 of 86 posts
There are many cheap shanzhai android phones with walkie talkie ptt functions (around 400MHz iirc) for about a decade. We tried to convince manufactures to open up the software stack to no avail, while being bullied at local hackerspaces (“this is illegal!”). I am licensed.
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P2P capabilities aren't what the providers and governments want. The providers don't want it because they can't charge you for it. The governments don't like to see people communicate outside of their control. See how Apple caved to China making AirDrop no longer public and has followed suit in the rest of the world because other governments fear this capability too.
So, do phones in the "libre" genre have these features ?
Also, the hardware for good peer to peer communication is just not present in regular phones. Some libre hardware projects do have optional addons for LoRa, such as the PinePhone: https://pine64.org/documentation/Phone_Accessories/LoRa/
Nice!! I wish it could do DMR though. Analog isn't used to much anymore in these parts. Although to be more precise, HAM radio has declined a lot but DMR repeaters are linked in groups so it seems like there's a lot more activity.
There are many cheap shanzhai android phones with walkie talkie ptt functions (around 400MHz iirc) for about a decade. We tried to convince manufactures to open up the software stack to no avail, while being bullied at local hackerspaces (“this is illegal!”). I am licensed.
It's mindblowing to me how modern cell phones have worse broadcast and P2P capabilities than what we had decades ago (when feature phones often featured FM receivers and could share photos via Bluetooth across manufacturers and OSes). Airdrop was the closest thing we had, and even that has been intentionally nerfed for non-contact senders. It's absurd that modern phones can talk to satellites hundreds of kilometers a…
You can still do that! It never went away.
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So, do phones in the "libre" genre have these features ?
No, but I think this is more because it takes them so much effort replicating the basic functionality and compatibility with e.g. android apps that they just don't have the energy for it. Also, the hardware for good peer to peer communication is just not present in regular phones. Some libre hardware projects do have optional addons for LoRa, such as the PinePhone: https://pine64.org/documentation/Phone_Accessories/L…
Perhaps you mean p2p phone calls. Fine - although I have a hard time believing that the 900 Mhz radios capable of talking to a tower literal miles away are physically incapable of talking to each other. They're just programmed not to. In any case, the inconvenience and unreliability of sending files 3 feet, vs the streamlined experience of sending them via a corporate datacenter thousands of miles away, demonstrates that this is not about hardware. This is about software, and by extension about control.
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No, but I think this is more because it takes them so much effort replicating the basic functionality and compatibility with e.g. android apps that they just don't have the energy for it. Also, the hardware for good peer to peer communication is just not present in regular phones. Some libre hardware projects do have optional addons for LoRa, such as the PinePhone: https://pine64.org/documentation/Phone_Accessories/L…
That's not at all true, phones have both WiFi and Bluetooth, both of which are perfectly capable of communicating peer to peer. Bluetooth file transfer worked 20 years ago. Wifi is physically capable but the software usually requires one phone to be the Daddy and host a hotspot, because god forbid an IP subnet exist without routable internet i.e. the mothership. There is a standard, "Wi-Fi Direct", that solves this -…
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It's mindblowing to me how modern cell phones have worse broadcast and P2P capabilities than what we had decades ago (when feature phones often featured FM receivers and could share photos via Bluetooth across manufacturers and OSes). Airdrop was the closest thing we had, and even that has been intentionally nerfed for non-contact senders. It's absurd that modern phones can talk to satellites hundreds of kilometers a…
> share photos via Bluetooth across manufacturers and OSes You can still do that! It never went away.
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Agree. We need a compact short wave transceiver device actually.
QRP is the keyword you may be looking for. 9W, battery powered, SDR shortwave transceivers. There are inexpensive and expensive versions.
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Baofeng is 20 dollars? How much cheaper and compact do you need? And I know, I know, Baofengs are notorious for going over the allowed noise limits… but still…
Baofeng's are not shortwave radios afaik