We don't have anything to do with disaster.radio (maybe that should change), but we do have an existing single board computer that runs Linux, has a LoRa radio, and wifi. A somewhat similar product, but we use this for reception of a satellite data broadcast.
It has the 2.4 GHz LoRa radio, the SX1281. It also has a wideband mixer and synthesizer, which allows transmission across 85 - 6000 MHz. You should be a ham in order to play with the tx-side. The SX1281 is not compatible with sub-GHz LoRa.
Super interesting, how does it work in terms of pricing? Is the satellite data broadcast free? It's really neat how most of the US is convered. This might be a stupid question but do you need a license to use this and/or LoRa radio?
Neat little board and nice price point. This seems like it would be generally used as a client/relay for satellite transmissions? Any common applications to help me understand how it's used?
The primary use is for receiving our data broadcast in places that have limite/no/costly connectivity. We want to provide a basic information service that's available everywhere. Right now there is an audio stream coming down (Voice of America; it's free content), news feeds, weather updates, and the day's popular Wikipedia articles. It's a 10kbs datacast.
We also act as a relay for ham packet radio (APRS). Hams can send messages that eventually get picked up by internet-connected gateways. We take APRS messages tagged with OTHER and broadcast then over the two satellite beams.
https://othernet.is/products/dreamcatcher-v3-05
It has the 2.4 GHz LoRa radio, the SX1281. It also has a wideband mixer and synthesizer, which allows transmission across 85 - 6000 MHz. You should be a ham in order to play with the tx-side. The SX1281 is not compatible with sub-GHz LoRa.