[FADCA] Re: Fw: <No Subject> Changed to "Use of the Infrastructure"

[bud thompson]

Deltona
Wednesday Feb 12 1730EST

Yes, Russ' demo was a good one.

Actually, we plan on taking full advantage of the "infrastructure" as
another wider bandwidth (faster) layer on the Florida Layered Network

In EMCOMM planning we deal with the concept of The Last Mile:

The Last Mile:  The incident area where normal communications facilities,
especially telephone services, are disabled or overloaded due to the
incident.

The Last Mile may be an area of five square miles or cover half a state.  By
definition casual telephone calls cannot be made within, from, or into the
Last Mile.  Inside the Last Mile all connections to the internet are also
overloaded or not working.  There goes our e-mail.  Of course many homes and
businesses could also be without electricity to run computers, radios, etc.

What we are planning is the use of the Airmail e-mail client (terminal
program) which can be used with an HF PacTOR terminal unit or a TNC-2 clone
packet TNC on vhf/uhf.  The concept is for ham radio to Bridge across that
Last Mile using HF or VHF (packet networks) to where there is no
interruption
of services.  On HF the link would be to a WL2K station (hundreds or
thousands of miles away) or on VHF packet to a WL2K station or TelPac node
tens of miles away.  In either case the target WL2K or TelPac would be
outside the Last Mile - where wire line and internet communications are, by
definition, not over loaded.  Bridging the Last Mile this way will provide
EMCOMM messaging (in the form of conventional e-mail) to flow to/from
anywhere needed outside the Last Mile.

What we will need in Florida is forward thinking EOC EMCOMM planners at the
County, District and State levels to include Airmail or WL2K HF PacTOR
capability to take advantage of this within the Last Mile and to help
facilitate the process to bridge the Last Mile.

Yesterday I sent a ham-to-e-mail message with two attachments. One was an MS
Word file (a 30K binary file), the other a small DOS.txt file. The actual
text in the e-mail message was only a reference to the testing.  The total
e-mail message was just over 32Kbytes.  From my home Airmail set up in
Deltona on 20M I linked with WB5KSD, a frequency/band scanning WL2K station
near Dallas, TX.  I got lucky and made the link in about 15 seconds - it
would have taken 45 seconds had I missed his scanning the frequency the
first time.  Once linked the entire 32K message was sent and we were
disconnected in about 80 seconds.  I then walked across the shack about 10
ft to my XYL's computer and the e-mail message was in her in folder.

Picture this: Dade County and any bounding county being inside the Last
Mile - all other places in Florida and the world are outside the Last Mile.
This 32K message could have been sent from any EOC in Dade County to any
HF-Airmail equipped EOC or WL2K station in Florida or anyplace in the US.
(It doesn't matter which one - they are all tied to the internet.) Or, the
32K message could have been sent over the layered packet network to a TelPac
node in W. Palm Beach - again, tied to the internet.  It makes no difference
whether HF or vhf - the message would be at the addressees' in folder in
much less than five minutes.  Additionally there could have been a dozen or
more (I don't know the limit) cc: addressees and it would not have taken any
more time.

There are 35 WL2K stations spread around the globe, most in the U.S.  What
we need is ARES/RACEs groups at the local level in Florida planning on
adding TelPac nodes to the packet network in their areas.

The entire US government, all States, and virtually every company in the
world depends on the internet for routine daily business and EMCOMM
planning.  Someone out there is quite certain the entire internet is not
going to go down - and a pile of money has been spent to insure that.  They
don't call it the world wide web for nothing.

I see no valid reason for Ham Radio EMCOMM planners to not embrace the
internet on the basis it is going to become overloaded.  If the entire
Internet goes down - we've got a lot more to worry about than getting a 300
character message from Miami to Tallahassee using the SEDAN Wide Area
Network.

The Last Mile or the First Mile?

If the stuff hits the fan somewhere else, it is your Last Mile in.
If the stuff hits the fan in your back yard, it is your First Mile out.

Can we risk not being prepared

73,
bud Thompson N0IA

?
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Billy Williams" <n4uf@nofars.org>
To: <oderr@bellsouth.net>
Cc: "Jeff Reynolds" <jeff.reynolds@co.clay.fl.us>; "Rick Muething KN6KB"
<rmuething@cfl.rr.com>; "Vern Ferris" <w4nek@arrl.net>; "Bud Thompson"
<budt@cfl.rr.com>; "David Elmore" <dwelmore@juno.com>; "Larry Filzen"
<lfilzen1@attbi.com>; "Bill Neylans" <bneylans@clayelectric.com>; "FADCA"
<fadca@mailman.qth.net>; "Rudy Hubbard" <wa4pup@arrl.org>; "Frank Butler"
<w4rh@arrl.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 11:48
Subject: Re: Fw: <No Subject>


> Thanks Russ for the demo.  Each emergency situation is different and the
more
> tools that we have, the better.
>
> For transferring large volumes of info quickly in a situation where
> the "infrastructure" is largely in tact--TelPac seems like a great way to
go
>
> I can see problems if the telephone system and/or Internet become
overloaded.
> While SEDAN and other packets modes may be slower, they seem to rely less
on
> the "infrastructure."
>
> Thanks to all who have contributed their time and talents to develop this
> option which could be of assistance in a communications emergency.  Served
> agencies should consider the benefits this system has to offer along with
other
> systems that might provide an alternative in case of severe infrastructure
> damage.
>
> 73,
>
> Billy Williams, N4UF
> District Emergency Coordinator, Crown ARES
>
> Quoting oderr@bellsouth.net:
>
> > Good evening everyone.
> >
> > This message (below) was sent using TelPac, a Telnet to Packet interface
> > that was developed as part of the World Wide WinLink2000 system that
> > supports digital communication from and to mobile digital stations.
> >
> > It was sent by Packet Radio to the Telnet Station at KN6KB and back to
me
> > via the internet. I have copied exactly was was received by my email
> > client.
> > This message was sent only minutes before it was received in my email.
> >
> > It demonstrates the capability of the Florida Layered Packet Network
from
> > Jacksonville to Orlando and the use of TelPac to send a message from an
> > AX.25 Packet station to an ANY email address using TelPac.
> >
> > This message, while short and simple, provides documentation that the
> > concept of using packet radio, the Florida Layered Network, and TelPac
as a
> > means of sending messages during a communications emergency from the
LAST
> > Mile (where wire line communications are disrupted by a disaster or
other
> > interruption of commercial communications) with the resources of Amateur
> > Radio and the Internet is a viable method of Amateur Radio support of
> > Emergency Response Agencies.
> >
> > This application of Packet Radio is the most capable method of sending
> > digital messages AND attached Files that exists in Florida. It far
> > surpasses
> > the capability of any other method now being promoted.  This method
allows
> > radio support from the site of a disaster to the first available
internet
> > connection and does not require keyboard to keyboard communications. It
> > supports sending files needed by Emergency Management, such as Situation
> > Reports as required by the Department of Emergency Management.
> >
> > If you have questions regarding this innovative application of Amateur
> > Packet Radio and the internet, I refer you to Bud Thompson, N0IA, at
> > budt@cfl.rr.com and Rick Muething, KN6KB at rmuething@cfl.rr.com or
simply
> > use "reply to all" from your email client.
> >
> > Thanks to KN6KB, KF4SIR, N0IA and all the other dedicated Amateur Radio
> > Operators that have made this possible.
> >
> > 73 Russ Oder
> > N4KOX
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > Wrom: DADRZFSQHYUCDDJBLVL
> > To: <oderr@bellsouth.net>
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 11:55 PM
> > Subject: <No Subject>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > This Message via TelPac
> > This message is being sent from packet to the internet using KF4SIR-2
> > TelPac
> > station to KN6KB vis a Telnet Connection. The message is sent by packet
to
> > KF4SIR as AX.25 packet and then by the internet to KN6KB where it is
> > entered
> > as a message. It is then sent to the recepient as an email message.
> > 73 and thanks for the test, Rick.
> > Russ, N4KOX 02/11/03.
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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