The FreeDV project recently went to Pacificon in San Ramon, California to discuss the latest updates to the project as well as interact with its users. On the first day prior to the hamfest officially opening, we set up a FreeDV booth just down the hall from the ATV booth and across from Bioenno Power, which had several cool things on it:
(From left to right: DVB-T transceiver, Mel Whitten K0PFX, the latest SM1000, two separate ezDV setups with the Icom IC-705 and Elecraft KX3, and a display showing the latest FreeDV activity on FreeDV Reporter.)
Over the course of the weekend, the booth got significant traffic from hams from the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond interested in HF digital voice. One person (John AL7ID) even came from the Fairbanks (Alaska) area!
Mooneer Salem (K6AQ) also gave a talk introducing FreeDV and explaining how to get on the air using it, including discussing the software and hardware options available. As a result of the presentation and the presence at the booth, we were able to provide assistance to several users (some over email after the show concluded) who previously had difficulty getting FreeDV running:
As an additional surprise, the M17 project also had a booth at Pacificon this year, where they had their latest OpenHT project on display. Wojciech Kaczmarski SP5WWP, the person who started M17, also happened to be there and hung out with us at the booth for a bit:
All in all, it was definitely a fun and worthwhile experience. Hope to see you guys again next year!