[FADCA] Packet in Florida

[Chuck Hast]

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 13:27:39 -0800 (PST), Bill West
<mrcyberbill at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hello All:
> 
> I have been watching this list for a while -
> especially reading all about the current "project" of
> EMAIL over Ham Radio for EMCOMMs.
> 
> I have no problem supporting FADCA as a paying member,
> but I have a question first.
> 
> Does FADCA, (with recent maillist messages so much
> emphasizing it seems lately, on linking/converting
> Amateur Radio to Internet) still fully support those
> of us that run BBSs, ChatNodes, TCPIP over Amateur
> Radio, etc.?? Or does FADCA lean towards caring about
> only the latest "projects" of Packet??

We are in the process of converting the switches state wide to
LINUX FPAC, that will also natively support IP and all of the
other protocols that are a part of the LInux OS. The present
network will pass IP providing you have the proper software
on each end to encap the IP in ax25 frames and then use the
network routing and infrastructure to get the IP data to the far
end.

As to the other devices (BBS, Conference bridges, etc) we
view these as services or devices which are users of the
network and encourage people to bring them on line and
get them in use.

The EMCOMMS is a important user of the network for disaster
recovery and other public safety work.

The Winlink2k product is just another user of the network, though
a more modern user that makes for much greater ease to bring
people into service either as hams or in the event of a disaster
as traffic handlers.
> 
> I can read the By_Laws and such and what FADCA
> supports on paper, but how is it in reality for now
> and the future? (especially for some members that do
> not see integrating Internet as a positive thing).
> 

We try to acommodate all, there are those who are not interested in
internet connections, the network is there and needs more people
who will work to make the RF pieces work so that the wire is only a
back up in the event of a disasterous loss of all links in/out of a area,
the more RF we have the less we need to rely on wire, but at the
same time there are places where there is no RF and so we need
that wire link, but if we can make it RF that is a very good thing.

We need to do not only vhf/uhf microwave links but also HF, there is
a lot to be done, and anyone who is willing to work will be put to
use.



-- 
Chuck Hast 
To paraphrase my flight instructor;
"the only dumb question is the one you DID NOT ask resulting in my going
out and having to identify your bits and pieces in the midst of torn
and twisted metal."