How to communicate where you have no cellular coverage?
 

My name is Randolf. I represent a team of engineers who happen to be outdoor lovers and used to work in Motorola, Honeywell, and the aerospace industry. Dangerous situations we each experienced in the wilderness brought us together, and we came to realize that there is a serious need for better off-grind communication.

Walkie-talkies are what we commonly use when there is no cell coverage. However they have no GPS. In case of an emergency, we cannot find the exact location. Satellite communication, such as DeLorme inReach, seems ideal, except that they are quite expensive, and further charge usage fees. Besides, both options are pretty heavy and bulky that we have to make a painful trade-off between safety and portability.

We feel extremely astonishing that we have to trust our lives to some technologies of half a century ago like walkie-talkie and satellite communication, while nowadays’ technology can do far better. Based on the latest Internet of Things tech, we have invented Sonnet. It combines satellite communication’ functionality with walkies-talkies’ affordability, in addition to being more portable. Without relying on cell towers, Sonnet powers up to 10km communication to:
- send text and voice messages (privately or in a group);
- send image data, and files;
- share, mark and track GPS locations;
- set up your own off-grind communication network;

Our mesh-networking function can increase the effective range by multiple times via relaying data through other users in the area.

We will sell Sonnet at $89 per pair. And it is one time purchase for the hardware.


Sonnet:



When there is no coverage, Sonnet allows us to always communicate with each other no matter how harsh the conditions are. This can literally save our lives in case of an emergency. Multimedia and GPS can also improve our communication accuracy, and take group coordination to the next level.

We wish to offer outdoor enthusiasts the lowest possible price. But to do so, there is a threshold volume we cannot afford on our own. This is why we have launched a Kickstarter campaign, and we wish you can help us to make the change happen.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...-communication


We would be very grateful for any feedback you guys might have!




Thanks for viewing,
Randolf

Only 10km range?

The idea is intriguing, but this should be in the classifieds.

Thanks for the note.
I will.
The peer-to-peer range is up to 10km but you can be relayed for 16 times and get a much larger network coverage. Assume there is a bunch of friends who are a lit bit stretched out and avg 4 miles from each other. The right-most one is however 20 miles distant from the left-most one. They two still can communicate with each other via relayed signal because there are someones between them who can be the intermediate point to relay the signal.

Send me a set and I'll test them out in the mountains this year.

I would rather have the "Spot" it will call for help and give your exact GPS location and you can leave messages for people at home. Cabelas and other out door stores sell them.

For clarification, Sonnet hasn't been in the manufacturing phase yet.
We have completed working prototypes. Wishing to offer outdoor enthusiasts the lowest possible price, we found ourselves in need of pre-orders, otherwise we cannot manufacture Sonnet out at an affordable price without sacrificing the quality.
This is why we have launched a Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...-communication

Sonnet is primarily designed for a team to always stay connected, as well as setting up a personal communication network in the wilderness.
For solo hunters I would agree that a satellite phone is more useful unless you plan to set up your own communication network.

How does this product differentiate itself from gotenna?

Does Sonnet link to a cell phone similar to GoTenna or Beartooth? How is it linked (bluetooth, NFC, etc)? How is it powered?