It's almost as if this has taken a sudden halt in progress. I am VERY interested in an inexpensive solution and have taken it upon myself to create a good, reliable rig. my research is going well, and my tests as well. I can't post anything as a full conclusion yet but I will post pics of the unit, the mods, and the distances I'm getting. I don't know if anyone is interested but I'm working on a setup that will give you loooong range. you need a grid antenna but if you can tether to a power source, then this would work fine.