The following article is presented as an overview. Specific information including source code will be published soon(See update below.). We have to scrub hard coded values and tool it to be applicable for anyone. This experiment was using CB radio to transmit a picture over morse code from a remote location to a network connected computer. This image is available to view with CloudBurst on the Burstcoin blockchain with the following transaction: CLOUD-VMNC-SJFZ-T7MP-5GZ5Z
UPDATE: We are preparing a live stream after the holiday to do a live demonstration with release. Be checking on my Twitter.
On to the personal reason for doing this project was demonstrate in the same amount of time some of the “cypherpunks” spent time arguing with someone over deleted tweets, this project was thought of and accomplished.
Tools
In a first world nation when nothing is wrong there is no need to explore options for most individuals besides mobile internet and their home internet service. This is not always the case for everyone and your needs are different than someone else’s needs. This is an important as what may work for you does not always work for someone else.
We often really consider analog systems to be antiquated and unusable in today’s time. This is simply not true, if we understand that analog systems can still provide meaningful use to others if leveraged correctly. In this experiment we used CB radio(Citizen Band). CB in the United States, where this experiment was performed requires no license. Now, there is a caveat and you should remain within the operating limits. You do not want to get in trouble.
Setup
Any CB radio you can purchase will work for this project, you will need someone else with either a radio or a scanner that can detect the same channel and you will need to confirm via audio that they can receive your messages. It is also a good idea to use SDR kits if you can however, that has an added cost. Use what is available for you. SDR kits makes this easier but you can also use a morse encoder and decoder software. There are plenty out there including ones such as MultiMode. Use what works for you and try out a few different ones, each have their own set of unique features.
There is a limitation to the output that you can use with CB, it is four watts, don’t go higher to avoid issues with the FCC. This is critical because distance of transmission will vary greatly on a number of factors including terrain. So it is important to understand your operating range when working with CB. Next, you will need a full peer of any chain you choose. For this we used burstcoin for a number of reasons but the main reason is that we can use CloudBurst to simplify the image upload to blockchain process. Curbshifter has spent a great amount of time and love in that project and it shows!
The How
Once you have confirmed you and the receiver are properly setup, this means that the receiver for the transactions have a peer or network route to a peer. You will need cloudburst and a full node on your device, just not connected to a network, you wish to send from. It is important to remember that all transactions are a strings of data, for example:
0010f826150aa005b2cdb96c5464e38527ce718832ae77e9bef8dc18faa2d56d0b95993782e5c7344fcbec5e36edce25010000000000000080969800000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000e0cf6b800dc7bb209273047a45492d72d726a025edb886068394b1c2206a60026136adbf6f07c91acac403fa8aa2917bae361c9bcab04160abcc583dc7635c060100000022ac0a00546aff8609414d0601130000803a29207468697320697320736f6d6520617274This is a valid signed transaction with message data, lets convert this to morse, we can do this with our own tools or you could use an online encoder for learning purposes:
----- ----- .---- ----- ..-. ---.. ..--- -.... .---- ..... ----- .- .- ----- ----- ..... -... ..--- -.-. -.. -... ----. -.... -.-. ..... ....- -.... ....- . ...-- ---.. ..... ..--- --... -.-. . --... .---- ---.. ---.. ...-- ..--- .- . --... --... . ----. -... . ..-. ---.. -.. -.-. .---- ---.. ..-. .- .- ..--- -.. ..... -.... -.. ----- -... ----. ..... ----. ----. ...-- --... ---.. ..--- . ..... -.-. --... ...-- ....- ....- ..-. -.-. -... . -.-. ..... . ...-- -.... . -.. -.-. . ..--- ..... ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---.. ----- ----. -.... ----. ---.. ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- . ----- -.-. ..-. -.... -... ---.. ----- ----- -.. -.-. --... -... -... ..--- ----- ----. ..--- --... ...-- ----- ....- --... .- ....- ..... ....- ----. ..--- -.. --... ..--- -.. --... ..--- -.... .- ----- ..--- ..... . -.. -... ---.. ---.. -.... ----- -.... ---.. ...-- ----. ....- -... .---- -.-. ..--- ..--- ----- -.... .- -.... ----- ----- ..--- -.... .---- ...-- -.... .- -.. -... ..-. -.... ..-. ----- --... -.-. ----. .---- .- -.-. .- -.-. ....- ----- ...-- ..-. .- ---.. .- .- ..--- ----. .---- --... -... .- . ...-- -.... .---- -.-. ----. -... -.-. .- -... ----- ....- .---- -.... ----- .- -... -.-. -.-. ..... ---.. ...-- -.. -.-. --... -.... ...-- ..... -.-. ----- -.... ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ..--- ..--- .- -.-. ----- .- ----- ----- ..... ....- -.... .- ..-. ..-. ---.. -.... ----- ----. ....- .---- ....- -.. ----- -.... ----- .---- .---- ...-- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---.. ----- ...-- .- ..--- ----. ..--- ----- --... ....- -.... ---.. -.... ----. --... ...-- ..--- ----- -.... ----. --... ...-- ..--- ----- --... ...-- -.... ..-. -.... -.. -.... ..... ..--- ----- -.... .---- --... ..--- --... ....-Once we can see the power of converting transactions as they are just strings of data we can understand how we can use the transactions used to upload to the blockchain by CloudBurst, we just capture the output and instead of it going to our local peer, we take and convert the transactions. We convert the transactions into morse, you broadcast over a non emergency cb channel using morse sound generator like this one or the tools we used once published. The message(s)/transactions are received by the network connected peer running the decoder software. The transactions are then posted to the peer and the transactions are put into the memory pool. The transactions are then mined and added to the block.
The Why?
This experiment was to demonstrate that we can use existing technologies in such ways to address problems. Note that we spent a total of $50.00 USD for this entire project and a little burst. The CB radios we already had but at most you can get two for around $100–200 for a pair. You do not need top of the line equipment to do this experiment. Cost effective methods of delivering data will become increasingly important in the future. As you know some regions of the world pay a lot per mb for transfer, and this is a hindrance.
On to the personal reason for doing this project was demonstrate in the same amount of time some of the “cypherpunks” spent time arguing with someone over deleted tweets, this project was thought of and accomplished. Using your pull or to simply mass report someone for hurting their feelings on Twitter is not cypherpunk, it is just proof that you may have been “over het paard getild” with the support you have. Quit having thin skin and do things that matter versus trying to suppress others, it never ends well.
A little snippet from the sauce.
Thanks Lopp for showing us your true colors, this image suits the situation well.
In closing I would like to thank #VileGang, CurbShifter, Harry, Cas, Karbon, and others who made this all possible.
