![]() There is a growing community of Bitcoin enthusiasts with backgrounds in amateur radio, as well as established ham radio communities around the globe that may find novel use cases for fldigi-proxy with their existing setups. The next step in this work is to test fldigi-proxy with real-world radio setups, and use the feedback from amateur radio operators to inform which modes are supported and used as defaults. With fldigi-proxy and lnproxy, offline Bitcoin users can use Lightning channels for fast payments on a medium more censorship-resistant and decentralized than the public Internet or Tor. The nodes have already established a Lightning channel, and Node A is sending a payment (sending from blue fldigi box on the left) to Node B (receiving from tan fldigi box on the right).įor comparison, this is half the time it would take for a Bitcoin transaction with an above-average fee to be included in a block, and the recipient would still want to wait for a few more blocks before considering the transaction final. The left (Node A) and right (Node B) halves of the screen show two lnproxy + fldigi setups, communicating via a shared sound card. ![]() There is room for improvement with respect to how much time is spent with neither radio transmitting, but in practice leaving sections of silence between transmissions is a reasonable approach to not clogging a channel. Using these default settings, lnproxy can setup a Lightning channel and send a payment in about 5 minutes. The default radio settings for fldigi-proxy mimic a typical configuration for low bandwidth long-distance radio communication that could be used between Eastern Canada and the Southern Caribbean. In this configuration, each fldigi instance is transmitting and listening over the same sound card, similar to radios using the same frequency. Setup and Resultsįldigi typically communicates with a radio via a sound card, so anyone can test it without radios by setting up an ‘audio loopback’. Radio operators may also encounter background noise or other operators on particular frequencies, and high-power radios may have limits on how long they should transmit continuously. Independent of these parameters, we also have to ensure that radio operators take turns transmitting and receiving, so that data flows evenly between the two and both operators never try to transmit at the same time. In addition, specific frequencies are typically used for particular techniques such as skywave propagation, which allow for extremely long-distance communication under certain weather conditions. We can also configure the radio via fldigi to choose a balance between bandwidth and reliable transmission. Fldigi-proxy configures the radio via fldigi, and connects to this port to relay data between lnproxy and fldigi. lnproxy can use a TCP/IP port to send and receive data. This tool can be used with lnproxy to replace goTenna Mesh devices as the radio used to communicate with Lightning channel peers. Fldigi-proxyįldigi-proxy is a tool that achieves this by using the popular fldigi program to control a radio and send and receive packets via that radio. To support using offline Lightning channels globally, we need a similar tool to use a ham radio as an interface for lnproxy. This implies sending data tens, hundreds, and even thousands of kilometers.įortunately, the amateur radio community has been doing this for decades ( ARRL), and has created tools such as Winlink that provide e-mail service over radio links. Ideally an offline user should be able to open Lightning channels with peers in any location, including other countries and continents, as if they were connected to the internet. Long-lived mesh networks such as Freifunk and Guifi typically only span a single city. Sending data various distances while offline is more complex. With the lnproxy project, Lightning channels can be opened and used in a mostly-offline mesh network, expanding the possibilities for offline-only Bitcoin users. GoTenna Mesh devices make it straightforward to form local mesh networks where connections between devices can reach multiple kilometers, even in cities. It may be slower to send data halfway around the globe compared to within a city, but in both cases should use the same equipment and infrastructure. ![]() Even Bitcoin users with ubiquitous low-cost internet connectivity are at risk of censorship and surveillance from centralized ISPs and mobile carriers and could benefit from offline alternatives.Ī key requirement for making offline-only Bitcoin use cases viable is to replace the need for centralized last-mile access to the internet with a system capable of sending data, independent of the physical distance it needs to travel. People in parts of the world with expensive, intermittent or low-bandwidth connectivity to the internet need alternative offline ways to use the Bitcoin network.
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