s2underground/ghostnet

GhostNet

GhostNet

GhostNet is the overarching term for a collection of communications networks set up to allow users around the world to exchange information without relying on pre-established infrastructure. Far from being just an emergency plan, GhostNet is intended to ease the transition of radio technology into everyday life. Though radio networks cannot truly replace the internet, we hope that we can replace a substantial portion of a person’s daily information requirements, and promote a culture of off-grid information sharing.

ghostnet's Issues

Small Booklet Printing Hint w/ Adobe Reader

To print a small 5x3 double sided booklet with the least amount of trials and paper:

Double Sided Sheets / Flip on long edge

These are the pages that align.

Sheet 1
1,3,5,7,4,2,8,6

Sheet 2
9,11,13,15,12,10,16,14

Sheet 3
17,19,21,23,20,18,24,22

Sheet 4
25,27,29,31,28,26,32,30

Happy GhostNet'ing
K4SDM

Rtty unavailable, in central US, at 7.077

I know we moved the frequency previously because of other users on the frequency. Unfortunately moving from 7.076 to 7.077 was not sufficient for my location (Oklahoma). The frequency has continuous SSTV usage and any RTTY would not be heard. I also know we cant please everyone..... but, just sharing my experience. Thank you for putting this together either way.

USB or LSB for 40m jd8call

When using js8call on 40 m do we use USB or LSB?

ARDOP vs VARAHF

The VARA HF modem is proprietary and specific to the Microsoft Windows operating system. While it is possible to get it working on Linux and the BSDs with WINE and winetricks, it is not trivial to do so.

VARA is also less robust then the ARDOP mode at the cost of being just a bit slower. The ARDOP mode is an actual open standard with a open source C implementation for all major operating systems. In my testing, ARDOP is able to establish connections in ARQ mode when VARA HF is not even able to establish one. I have also had to operate in an emergency situation with a mobile station under active jamming conditions. ARDOP was the only mode able to punch through a jammer and hold a ARQ connection open long enough to send a complete email. It is able to do this because it is able to operate in as little as 200Hz of bandwidth and change it's payload lengths adaptively.

Here is the Open ARDOP specification: https://www.winlink.org/sites/default/files/downloads/_ardop_specification.pdf
And here is the C implementation: https://www.cantab.net/users/john.wiseman/Documents/ARDOPC.html

ARDOP is also fully unlocked without a license unlike VARA.

There have been many situations during Ghostnet when VARAHF was failing to connect where I felt ARDOP could.

Add APRS group messaging to the GhostNet protocol

Although adding VHF/UHF to the GhostNet plan has been mentioned before for the obvious reasons of reaching more ham operators and providing easier mobile use, given the current (5/11/2024) geomagnetic storm that has completely wiped out HF propagation, I'm sure it's obvious at this point that relying on HF entirely for the comm plan will not always work.

I have a suggestion, which is to add APRS text messaging to the comm plan, particularly group messaging with a set of formalized APRS messaging groups that correspond similarly to the JS8Call groups already listed in the GhostNet plan. APRS already gets good coverage with its existing distribution of digipeaters and igates, and there are numerous standalone handheld and Bluetooth KISS TNC solutions that allow for low power operation in the field with a variety of devices.

Request

on future versions of the pdf can there be an indication of where changes were made so we only have to reprint and laminate a smaller number of pages?

Format for Rite in the rain printer paper

Thank you for your work on this project. I'm interested in participating in the net.

I'd like to print out the documents on Rite in the Rain loose Leaf Paper 4.6x7. The release is in PDF, which makes it a bit diffcult to reformat for the RitR printer paper.

Would you consider releasing a version of the document which target this paper format?

Ambiguous Time for North American Net

On page 8, the time for the NA net is Thursday 0100 UTC, which is 2000 Wednesday EST.
On page 9, the time for the same net is given as local Thursday night, which I take to mean 20:00 EST, which would be 0100 Friday UTC.
This is pointed out on page 9, but the schedule on page 8 still reads as if the net takes place before EUR and AUS, when in implementation it takes place afterwards.

Austraila times for Thursday Night

The times given for "Thursday Night" in Australia and Asia are not evening at all.

Thursday UTC 20:00 = Friday Sydney 07:00 = Friday Perth 04:00 = Friday Tokyo 05:00

Same goes for the EUR/AUS Data Bridge on Saturday. Very early for most. The other Data Bridge times are a bit more reasonable.

Ion2G ALE Code Plug

GhostNet thru v1.2 mentions a code plug in the Ion2G ALE section but is not available. Can it be added to this site for access? Thank you.

Troubleshooting

I'm using a mobile device and can't download pdf for GhostNet. It's most likely an error on my side...

Digitally sign PDF for authenticity

In this issue it was mentioned that document modification/forgery is a concern. While it would still require individuals to verify a given version of the document is legitimate on their own, PGP signing the PDF would allow for verification to exist outside of GitHub, especially if your PGP key was shared in tamper resistant ways (timestamped on pastebin for a low complexity adversary example).

Easy to follow guide on Medium

Official Docs

Obviously this doesn’t protect against a nation state level attack on S2 Underground personal devices, but operating on that assumption is both incredibly difficult and probably not warranted.

GhostNet 80m Freq Change

Change all 80m freqs to 3.577. Current freq is out of band and not supported. Will be corrected in version 1.2.

Request

It would be helpful to have a how-to guide to setting up a budget receive only setup with an sdr. I know there is a video about it but the video requires the use of a web-sdr which may or may not be functional in an emergency. If you can access a web-sdr via the internet then you might as well just use the internet to communicate. A guide that showed a budget antenna setup that you could use with a rtl-sdr would help people who dont have an interest in getting a HAM license or purchasing HAM equipment but would purchase a cheap sdr and antenna for emergency use.

Participation on 30 Meter Band for JS8Call

Update: It is rightfully being disputed that Technicians have data privileges on this band. Please see below comments as well. Thanks, and sorry for any confusion on the matter.

...

Technician class amateur radio operators do not have transmitting privileges on many portions of the HF bands.

They do however have access to the 30 meter band. This band is a CW (~Mores code) and data (including JS8Call) band - voice is not permitted. Also, this band is limited to a transmit power of 200 watts and is off limits to contesting (field days, etc.), so it is generally less susceptible to deliberate jamming and/or accidental interference by more powerful or prolific interests - such actions are more easily identifiable and widely discouraged within the HAM community and by the FCC.

For these reasons I think 10.107 MHz, following the given frequency convention, or similar at adjacent or alternative time windows, if not in place of the current frequency/window, would be beneficial to more people and groups interested in participating with the GhostNet's JS8Call comms plan.

Thanks for your consideration,
@ GHOSTNET, @ GNUSAIL, @ WR3ND

typo

"laminating" is misspelled, halfway through "Step 3: Cut and Laminate" section of the 2nd page.

7.075MHz RTTY?

This is inside continuous FT8 traffic on 7.074 which I doubt was intentional because my RTTY decoder grabs random characters out of an FT8 feed. Thanks for your time organizing this.