This might pair well with an Othernet kit, supposing you're in a coverage area.
Caveat: I have not attained reception yet, because of obstacles.
The North America kit comes with:
- Low Noise Block Downconverter (LNB) antenna, capable of Ku-Band reception of the SES-2 satellite. Must be pointed very accurately: elevation, azimuth AND rotating for polarization
- Crappy little tripod, good enough to get started
- An acrylic laser-cut LNB collar to hold the antenna on the tripod, which I immediately snapped.
- A 1GHz arm based board with embedded software defined radio.
- An 802.11n dongle.
Here's a youtube overview of the desktop environment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TuNVC0Vw2Y&t=281s
Basically, the board receives compressed tar files in the data stream and caches them on a secondary microSD card. You access that content with various linux desktop apps served over a webdesktop.
It also receives APRS signals, which can be really handy in situations of truly catastrophic disaster.
In other words, they're shaping the perceptions for you, rather than giving you the raw data to decide for yourself.
You can view some folks online feeds[0] to get a feel for what data they let you see.