Hi All,
Regards,
Kapil Bishnoi
Based on what I know or think I know this is unlikely to happen on the current hardware. I don’t think the BTLE chipset in the Gotenna will support voice without a lot of compression. I’m also not sure if the RF transmitter could handle the duty cycle. That said the Gotenna team is very creative.
That is one for the Gotenna team but based on what I have seen from them they are looking at every aspect of what they can do. I would not be surprised if we saw something like that a few years down the road.
I’m somewhat skeptical of Sonnet. They promise a little too much otherwise I might have preordered one.
One thing that is noteworthy when comparing the Gotenna to the Beartooth or Sonnet is the size difference - both are HUGE compared to the svelte, Swiss army knife-like Gotenna Mesh. Perhaps this is the price you pay for voice communications. And if this is true, it might just be better to carry a walkie talkie in addition to the Gotenna for those situations where you want to speak with someone by voice. After all, there are certain situations where a walkie talkie (which can be pulled out and quickly used without worrying about unlocking) has its advantages.
On the other hand, I DO have to admit that I like the fact that Sonnet supposedly has provisions for an external antenna. I would REALLY like to see this on future Gotenna products.
Hardware is definitely capable.
We are not planning on supporting real time audio. goTenna’s focus is on enabling long range communication using license free spectrum. Supporting voice will require severe compromises on range, battery life and size. Beartooth for e.g., is 3 times heavier than Mesh and supports real-time voice only over a few hundred feet.
We are planning on supporting short voice memo’s in future.
The BTLE chipset is quite capable. We will be releasing a FW upgrade to really speed things up in the near future.
Honestly, I would prefer to be able to send pictures with Gotenna rather than voice messages. After all, I have walkie talkies if I want to talk. But there are currently no options for sending pictures.
Sounds like even the cheapest FRS walkie talkies you can get at Walmart would work better for voice than Beartooth.
The next gen Mesh protocol we are working on, may support sending very small data files (pictures etc.).
Yes!
If you’re an amateur radio operater there are expensive walkie talkie style radios that do this and have their own cameras built in. I think it’s legal in the business bands as well.
I agree with you but I think it would be possible to enable sending voice from the lock screen to make things more convenient.
I really like the ability to charge your phone using the Beartooth but as someone that is very conscious of weight / size constraints with ultralight hiking I think Gotenna made a good choice keeping their device light. The weight difference doesn’t seem like much at first but it means a lot kayaking / hiking over long distances.
I really look forward to seeing what your team does with the protocol.