Long Range RF

Long range radio communication can be useful for closing an alignment feedback loop for an optical communications system if only one transmitter is present in the field. It has also been proposed by the OpComms group that such a system might be able to transmit internet data over the link, such that other SSI events like rocket and balloon launches could be live streamed from remote locations.

During one 10km OpComms test, a WiFi link was successfully established using two Linksys WRT54G routers wired to highly directional antennas.* The signal to noise ratio was found to be 7 dB, corresponding to a 2 Mbps link. This link successfully delivered a single Snapchat notification, but nothing more. The team attributes this to a misconfiguration.

*It should be noted that this arrangement is only legal while operating using amateur radio privileges