Thank you goTenna Team for new App updates and firmware. I demoed to a ham radio class last night and will again to a super active (top 10% nationally) ham radio club (AARL) and CERT team this Monday night. People were highly receptive and going right on the website when I was explaining and demoing. If you have any PPT slides I can use for the future please share. Also, are there any group discounts?
I have a few ideas for improvement on the Random GID function in the IOS app. I would rather use a random GID for public use instead of my real phone number for privacy reasons. Great example is the Bio in my user profile.
Please make the GID copy/paste able on iPhone. Right now whenever I press or press and hold to try to copy it takes me to the screen to change it. Having to remember a looong number and go back and forth between screens is just asking for user error.
Please make the GID alpha numeric so it can be shorter while still unique to goTenna. If there is potential for confusion with other things like MAC addresses or Radio handles, maybe start all of them with GIDxxxxxxx?
Allow people to add others as contacts or to send/receive messages by either the public GID and a device’s phone number if they are not the same. From an app perspective I assume the user’s phone app will just be listening for either of those. Might be relatively easy depending on how encryption is being done. This way privacy can still be kept, but relatives and friends can contact a person in an emergency without haveing to know the random GID.
I agree this would be of value as I ran into this a couple of times during my testing.
I think this was to be more compatible with phone books and phone numbers.
This is a common misconception about the GoTenna and app. The phone is not the listening and filtering device. It is the “Node” itself that filters based on what it knows its GID to be.
So in order allow either a phone number or random GID to be accepted would require the Node to store both a verified phone number and a random GID would then raise the issue of which ID is used when transmitting.
If you use your verified phone number your friends would know it is you but then your privacy is blown and if you use the random id then your friends would not know it is you.
I am not sure I get this. In 1 to 1 or group chat mode the privacy is not an issue as you both know each other. In a Shout, you are giving off a validated ID but I am really not sure I love people hiding behind random ID’s to shout. As a HAM you are required to use a license number on every public transmission. I can look you up by that license number and hold you accountable. Not sure why we need to create or lower the friction on using a hidden identity feature (which already exist in random GID’s).
“I am not sure I get this. In 1 to 1 or group chat mode the privacy is not an issue as you both know each other. In a Shout, you are giving off a validated ID but I am really not sure I love people hiding behind random ID’s to shout. As a HAM you are required to use a license number on every public transmission. I can look you up by that license number and hold you accountable. Not sure why we need to create or lower the friction on using a hidden identity feature (which already exist in random GID’s).”
Because we are in the Digital age. I don’t want to put my phone number out on websites which can be easily crawled. For Ham, you don’t have your radio on and in your pocket all day everyday plus Call Centers or scammers don’t try to reach you via ham radio. If I only give out my GID to friends and family, no problem. However then that defeats the larger community and connectivity. I’ve been doing Cybersecurity for years. The less personal info a person gives out the better.
Unless there is a difference between the Android app and IOS your phone number is suggested but it can be changed during setup. I like the idea of an alphanumeric GID being available as an Amateur operator I would like to use my call sign.
I’m not sure I fully understand your point of view. The GoTenna Mesh is an offline device, meaning the devices and the network they form have no connection to the internet. By using your phone number as your GID, only Mesh users in range of you receive Shout messages and therefore your GID. If you don’t want others to have your number, don’t use Shout or simply use a random GID. 1-1 and group messages are between you and people you want to have a conversation with. They are invisible to other Mesh users, and end-to-end encryption means they can’t be intercepted.
Your number is not out there and not posted anywhere. If you shout a message then those in range of a single hop (1 to 4 miles average depending on line of sight issues) might hear it. Honestly, the chances any marketer would try and use GID’s for scraping phone numbers is non-existent.
This is a backup communication system, not a primary one. You need to shout to reveal your GID beyond other GoTenna owners who know you and that need is minimal and would involve a very specific situation.
Even if you post your nodes relative location (purely an optional thing) on the map associated with this site no one does so with their GID included.
Again with your call sign (which I can hear from 5 to 50 miles and beyond) I can gain so much information about you through public records yet as you point out few people attempt to market through that method.
Consider situations where you want to post to a website or list your GID for others to add you as a contact or be able to find you. This might be done for many reasons (CERT, part of a tour group, for people to contact if in trouble, your and others are at a concert and someone needs you GID, you want to show your GID on IMeshYou bio, etc). This has nothing to do with a shout broadcast or point to point chat.
I thought you might have meant something like that but did not want to presume. I think you might have missed the option to pick a random GID when you set the Gotenna up. I did the first go around. Go to Settings >> Log Out
After you log out you will have the chance to set the app up again. Read the screens carefully when you do and select a random GID or pick your own.
EDIT: I didn’t realize this before but go into settings and click profile to change your Gotenna ID(GID).