[FADCA] Database and Telpac/Paclink

[Bill Sinbine]

At 08:52 AM 10/5/2004, you wrote:
>Deltona
>Tuesday Oct 5 0700
>
>
>Most Paclink stations and Telpac nodes will be AGW PE compliant and could 
>have the AGW Digi set up.  If the Paclink user leaves his/her computer on 
>24/7 it is recommended the AGW Digi be set up - then that digi should be 
>registered.  We have a real potential problem with getting a lot of this 
>stuff registered by well-meaning hams who want to try these things out- 
>register them- then take them off the air!  (See REF below)
>
>To be useful a registered Telpac node or digi must be on 24/7.  I see no 
>value in registering a Telpac node that is not.  The digi should be ON for 
>all Telpac nodes. (See REF below)

I agree bud. How this all came about was from the email I sent to all FADCA 
directors.
The basis of the message was to get our database up to date and remove ALL 
the old wood no matter how small the network database will be. The database 
needs to be accurate. This means that ALL people that have a switch or bbs 
or node MUST fill out the COMPLETE  coordination form on the web site so 
Russ will have all current information. This will be a LOT of work on 
Russ's part and we talked about it and it is the thing that is WAY past 
overdue!!!


>We definitely need a comprehensive master list of Florida Telpac nodes, 
>PMBO packet ports, and EMCOMMs PMBOs that may otherwise may be reached 
>through a Telpac node.  The EMCOMMs PMBOs will be those that 'hubb' 
>messages for local users when the associated Telpac node no longer has an 
>internet connection. It could be beneficial for our FADCA list to include 
>HF PMBOs, but those could be simply marked as "HF" with a permanent 
>reference link to the winlink.org QRG list which is meticulously 
>maintained and updated by WL2K. FADCA doesn't coordinate those frequencies 
>anyway.

We are already doing this with sedan and apers. We have no problem with 
listing anything that is on the air FULL TIME.
The reason to have ALL the full time telpac and Paclink stations listed are 
two fold. One is so we know where everything is and two and the most 
important is how this all came up in the first place. IF the ARRL is really 
true blue about supporting ARES EMCOMMs then they need to put the packet 
(lets say digital) listings back in the repeater directory. I will pursue 
this once we have our database current. This will all take time to get done 
but we know for the most part that our LAN frequencies aren't going to 
change and this is the most important part to be listed in the directory.

 From comments I've heard about the Florida packet network being among the 
best in the country we need to keep moving ahead and keep the roll model 
status going. If we can show the ARRL that we are current and keeping it 
that way we will have a much better chance on getting the info added back 
into the repeater directory.

Why am I making this big push you ask?

Let's take what has happened this year in Florida with the storms.
Right now we are only starting to get the EMCOMMs thing going and we have a 
big head start over the rest of the country. Let's say that we are a year 
or two down the road right now with our system.
When I went over to Arcadia I had no way of knowing that Doug had a Telpac 
node set up. I didn't have time to get on the internet and look things up 
even though I knew where to go look. I was called out and only had two 
hours to respond and go!! I could have it printed out on paper what the 
LAN's are and what is where but I can't store that much paper and it would 
just get lost. Now lets say that I needed to respond to Georgia. I have NO 
idea where to look for information.  If it was in a repeater/digital 
directory I could just open the book and know where to go anywhere in the 
country. Like I said it will take a few years to get there but we (FADCA) 
need to get the ball rolling NOW.

If this doesn't make much sense to you I'm still working 12 plus hours a 
day and I'm very tired and prob typing in circles but I think you should be 
able to get my point.

The bottom line is that if the ARRL is really backing ARES EMCOMMs then 
they will support us with adding the listing for anyone that is coming in 
from outside of the area. WE might know what is where but when the 
operators get set up to operate they will for the most part be from outside 
the area and not know what is where.

I would like to ask EVERYONE that is running a switch, bbs telpac PMBO get 
with Russ and fill out the paperwork from scratch. This will give us a 
brand new CURRENT database.

enough for now!!!

73, Bill N4XEO
  President and District 3 Director FADCA

E- Mail   mailto:n4xeo at bellsouth.net
F.A.D.C.A.: http://www.fadca.org
FPAC:      http://www.qsl.net/fpac