Crowd-Sourced Project: Lets Vote!

     For anyone new to our crowd-sourced project, feel free to check out the first post in this series here. For those of you that prefer the quick version, here's the scoop:
     Through my work I ended up with a neat little box, that just begged to be reused for some neat ham-radio related purpose.  Rather than just dive into something, I decided to make this a fun group project, where anyone who reads my blog can contribute ideas, and I would supply the labor and do the actual building.

​     After collecting ideas for our group project, here they are!  Some of the idea's were very similar, so in some cases I lumped ideas from different individuals together.  Also, because I don't want to influence the vote, I'm going to attempt to write the descriptions of each ideas clear enough for everyone to understand the idea, but vague enough to leave things open-ended for additional feedback and ideas once we pick a project.  Here we go!

Idea #1: VHF/UHF Go Kit

     This is one of the idea's that is mostly self explanatory.  Some of the suggestions were basic, and some were more complex, including the possibility for a small computer for digital/packet type activities.

Idea #2: Eclipse Propagation Recorder

     The basic premise of this idea is to build a device that can receive and record the entire AM radio broadcast band at once.  The purpose would be to deploy the box in the path of an Eclipse.  By playing back the recording and evaluating what AM broadcast stations are heard (since the locations of these stations are known), we can extract some data to evaluate the Eclipse's effects on propagation.

Idea #3: VHF or UHF Only Go Kit

     This is another self explanatory idea. - Similar to idea #1, but single banded.

Idea #4: Transmitter for FoxHunting

     This idea is probably self-explanatory, but for newer hams or non-hams, here's some basic info:
​     A popular activity in ham radio is using radio direction finding techniques to find hidden transmitters, as part of a contest or event.  This idea is to use the box I have to build a transmitter in, so that it could be hidden for Foxhunting.

Idea #5: HF/QRP Go Kit

     The idea here is to use the box to build a small HF station.  One of the suggestions involved using one of the popular kits like the BitX or new uBitX, as the basis for the transceiver.  There were varying versions of this idea, covering different power levels, focused on different modes - i.e. cw only, ssb only, digital modes only (by including a single board computer), or some combination. For voting, we'll lump all these idea's together, and if this idea wins the vote those details will be hashed through in the planning stages.

Idea #6: VHF/UHF Winlink Station

     Winlink is a system for sending e-mail via radio.  There is more information about it available at www.winlink.org. This suggestion is to build all the components necessary for a functioning VHF/UHF Winlink station into this box.

Idea #7: Field Service Kit

     These ideas are centered around having some basic tools / meters / small radio / small computer built into the case that can be used for testing, repairing, setting up, and maybe even tracking (via APRS) radio equipment.

Idea #8: Portable SDR with display

     This one is centered around building a small computer and SDR into the box for a portable receiver.

Idea #9: Portable WiFi Hotspot

     Make a rugged portable Wifi hotspot that could be used in Emcom situations so that individuals in a response area could communicate with each other via wifi data connections on their own, or "throw-away" cell phones.

Idea #10: Portable PsKMail Station

     I don't know a lot about PSKMail, but there is some basic information available here.  This looks like another option for mail over radio.

Idea #11: Repeater Controller

     The suggestion was to build a repeater controller, that could potentially link to other repeaters with DTMF tones.

Idea #12: Satellite Operations Kit

     Build a small kit for satellite operations.

Final Thoughts Before Voting

    So there's the ideas!  Vote for your favorite below.  Including your callsign is optional, but I plan on acknowledging everyone who contributes by including their callsigns' in (or on) the project, for anyone who chooses to share theirs!

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​Voting is now Closed!
​Stay tuned - the winning project will be announced soon!

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