Building a capable 80m radio-orienteering transmitter system has traditionally been a major DIY project: cobbling together designs from hand-drawn schematics found on the internet, parts scrounged or purchased after hours of searching, and assemblies pieced together over months of concerted effort. But the times, they are a-changin’. Three companion open-source projects now provide a practical and affordable 80m solution for far more clubs, organizers, and experimenters: SignalSlinger, SignalStreamer, and SerialSlinger.
SignalSlinger
SignalSlinger is an 80m radio-orienteering transmitter available as a kit. Designed for the 3.5 MHz to 3.7 MHz amateur band, it supports classic, sprint, and foxoring, international-style radio-orienteering events. Sporting a high-accuracy real-time clock, it can handle tightly-synchronized transmissions along with accurate scheduled start and finish times over multiple days. SignalSlingers are suitable for championship events, yet affordable for clubs to acquire them for practices and demonstrations.
SignalStreamer
SignalStreamer is the matching 80m transmit antenna. Designed specifically to complement SignalSlinger, it even fits into the same style of enclosure. The result is a compact, purpose-built antenna solution that removes another common barrier for those wanting to put transmitters into service quickly and reliably. The SignalSlinger transmitters feature an easy-to-initiate 30-second keydown making SignalStreamer antenna tuning a breeze.
SerialSlinger
SerialSlinger is the companion app for configuring SignalSlinger transmitters. Instead of requiring users to rely on unreliable DIP switches or enter hard-to-remember serial commands, SerialSlinger provides an organized tabular interface. Available for the Android operating system, the app can go into the field with you, in your pocket. The app automatically discovers a connected transmitter, reads its settings, displays them clearly, allows edits, and then writes any requested changes back to the device or clones them to other transmitters.
Taken together, these three projects form something that radio sport has long needed: a coherent, open, obtainable 80m transmitter ecosystem. The transmitter is open. The antenna is open. The configuration software is open. And each piece was created to work with the others instead of leaving users to mix and match one-of-a-kind equipment solutions.
That matters because radio orienteering does not grow when equipment is hard to obtain, hard to configure, or too expensive to reproduce. It grows when clubs and individuals can assemble dependable gear and put it on the air without heroic effort.
Visit the GitHub repositories to learn more:
Look for SignalSlinger kits to be available soon from the Backwoods Orienteering Klub.