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</head><body text="#000000">I'll +1 Zach's question, and as a hardware
person I've tried to go down a similar path.<br>
<br>
<span>Leffke, Zachary via Ground-Station wrote on 4/1/21 4:46 PM:</span><br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:MN2PR05MB7037267A1E8C5E4944BC9F60DF7B9@MN2PR05MB7037.namprd05.prod.outlook.com">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">I’ve
wanted to do my own custom layouts with integrated RTL-SDRs for various
projects (like multi-sdr coherent projects, custom single chain
receivers with my own
RF front ends, hats for things like RPis, etc.) and have run into
multiple barriers, some related to (I think) proprietary ICs, lack of
documentation, and lack of the ability to purchase the chips in small
quantities. Not an expert on any of this…point is,
you can’t buy the chips on digikey/mouser for whatever reason and
documentation of them is hard to come by (some stuff was leaked….but
that doesn’t seem legit either). Seems like if you want to build
RTL-SDR flavored hardware, you have to go direct to the
manufacturer, sign NDAs, and order in bulk.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">So
my question is, given that RTL-SDRs are so prolific (same for funcube
dongles, though maybe to a lesser extent), does it REALLY matter if the
ICs are proprietary?
Isn’t what actually matters is that the drivers needed to use them are
open source?</span></b><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">
<br>
</span></p></div>
</blockquote>
I suspect the response will be that the underlying modulation method for
LoRa is patented, therefor not open source (even though it is clearly
"open" as far as how it is done, there are even GNU LoRa radio
receivers, etc.) How does the landscape for LoRa change as more chip
vendors license the patent from Semtech (i.e. Microchip has products)?<br>
<br>
There does seem to be some crossing of the thought streams between a
patented technology (LoRa PHY) and the use of a closed/proprietary
technology (i.e. encryption, maybe LoRa WAN?). I haven't looked into
how LoRaWAN nodes implement security, and there may definitely be some
non-ham radio friendly things going on there. We probably want to be
clear about whether we're talking LoRa (PHY) or LoRaWAN.<br>
<br>
I didn't mean to stir the pot by mentioning TinyGS - sorry Pierros. <br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">I plan to make a comprehensive write-up on our (LSF) views for LoRa in
Space and the possible way forward (and share it here too)
</pre>
</blockquote>
That would be excellent! If the underlying technology of the LoRa PHY
is not suitable for space use (not just because it is patented!), it
would be good to understand why.<br>
<br>
I wonder if part of the ultimate problem is what Pierros alluded to:<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">They are learning for RF through googling "Arduino+LoRa pinout"
(/sarcasm-off.. I am alluring to the vast amounts of "learning" and
"how-to-get-started" materials you can find about LoRa and LoRaWAN)</pre>
</blockquote>
Maybe this is more of a marketing and user perception problem? <br>
<br>
It's so easy to find information on LoRa with examples, and then stumble
on TinyGS with a super slick installer/configurator on a single piece
of inexpensive hardware. I was up and running with TinyGS in about 30
minutes.<br>
<br>
When I've considered SATNOGs, it really felt like the simple ground
station (without rotator) wasn't super useful and coming up with a
dedicated rotator setup was more than I wanted to do (for now). <br>
<br>
More marketing related would be the pointers to the open satellite
transmitters - it doesn't help if satellite developers don't know they
exist (which was Pierros' point).<br>
<br>
I guess my contribution to the discussion is: If you're going to rally
against what seems to be the path of least resistance for some folks,
you need to provide an alternative that is just as attractive, and make
sure everyone knows about it.<br>
<br>
--Jay, KA1PQK<br>
<br>
(off to figure out what pieces I already have to build up a SATNOGs
non-rotator ground station...)<br>
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