[FADCA] Anyone want to take exception to this?

[bud thompson]

FADCA -  Anyone want to take exception to this? (I would welcome that, but I
doubt anyone will!)

The Winlink 2000 (WL2K) coordinator Steve, K4CJX, asked me a poignant
question regarding 'readiness' for WL2K e-mail over ham radio to support
Dennis, hurricanes, etc.. in Florida.  Read Steve's question and my
response.

bud


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "K4CJX" <k4cjx at comcast.net>
To: "'bud thompson'" <budt at cfl.rr.com>; <N5SN-8 at Winlink.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2005 13:43
Subject: RE: bud and Sally's Hurricane Preparedness - Test#1


> Bud,
>
> How is the Winlink system usage for the potential stricken area?
>
> Steve
>

Hi, Steve-

Hard to tell - but the only thing WL2K in an organized fashion in the state
are the four Full-featured PMBOs.

We still don't have much ARES/RACES WL2K activity anywhere in the state.
The Seminole County group I work with is the most promising, and it could
not get five people mobilized in three hours ready to go with Paclink and/or
Airmail.  It is really slow coming.

I don't know what it is going to take to get a fire built under anyone from
an organized standpoint.  I'm concentrating on getting the packet network
filled in and adding support for Telpac nodes.  That is coming along at a
snail's pace but much more promising than ARES/RACES folks getting on
Paclink en masse.  I just picked up two new helpers in the past five weeks
who are really into technical stuff, including LINUX.  There is more
activity in the networking group to get LINUX FPAC working (to replace DOS
FPAC) than any other activity.  We are holding another FADCA Technical
Conference in Tampa August 20th.  Much of that will be LINUX FPAC status and
higher tech stuff than the one I set up April 30th. At least I don't have to
organize that one.. just attend and make a couple of presentations.

I should have all my immediate networking tasks finished by the middle of
August - which will put the network from Jacksonville through to Melbourne
in good shape along the east coast, much of the backbones 9.6kb.  Then I'll
probably start another campaign to get more ARES leaders (ECs) fired up to
get their folks on Paclink.  Once the Melbourne switch is back up I'll
probably give a club meeting program there.

I believe the most rewarding advance will come from getting a served agency
or two fired up to be able to use E-Mail over Ham radio - and if such served
agency(s) would supply their own ham radio Paclink AGW station in their
office/mobile van, etc. the ECs would find people to support that.  We will
likely get that far with the new Altamont City EOC as we start putting ham
gear into it in August.

Meanwhile 90% of the ARES/RACES planning here is to simply have hams with
2M voice radios assigned to shelters to handle NTS messaging between the
shelters and the EOC.

Really discouraging that folks seem so comfortable staying in the middle
ages.

later
bud