[FARC] APRS Software Info

Mon May 4 15:09:30 EDT 2009

Kirk,

I can promise you that in an emergency hams will find a way to communicate 
and the 'rule book'  has  nothing to do  with it, need does. In the mean 
time its neat that we all develop our own interests, its the  ham way !!

Thanks for the  VA ecom pkt nets !!

73 de  rolan w3fdk

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kirk Talbott" <kirktal7237 at msn.com>
To: "Frederick, Maryland ARC" <farc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 1:41 PM
Subject: Re: [FARC] APRS Software Info

>I think the decision has already been made to go with APRS and Winlink 2000
> so it is a done deal.  I'm not saying it is necessarily a bad decision.  I
> mean somebody with the technical know-how (Bruninga ?) obviously has this
> all figured out such that APRS and Winlink 2000 will work fine for ecomm.
> They have, right?
>
> It's just that other ecomm methods are around too and I know how the
> bureaucratic mind works, everything is procedure.  I can imagine the
> conversation in an emergency situation when the sky has opened up and
> unleashed its fury and some of the ecomm systems are down.
>
> "Do we have a procedure for Outpost software with 1200 baud Packet for use
> at the EOC to communicate with outlying Packet stations?"
>
> "Nope."
>
> "Then we can't use it?"
>
> "Nope."
>
> Bureaucracies, even the local groups like ARES/RACES following NIMS, run 
> on
> written procedures and if it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage.
>
> I've been talking with KR4MA Earl down in Linden Virginia and they use
> Airmail and old 1200 baud Packet for ecomm messaging.  In fact he told me
> they've been running ecomm Packet nets down there for about 10 years, says
> it is an integral component of their ecomm system and he invited me to 
> check
> in sometime.    They seem to be stuck on Airmail though, probably what 
> they
> used first and don't want to give it up.    Rolan W3FDK and I have been
> testing Outpost with their LINDBB and PAGEBB full-service BBS's.
>
> I put a bulletin on the LINDBB BBS about our Saturday night Packet net in
> Frederick and that's when Earl sent me a Packet message about their own
> Packet nets.  They really have their ecomm Packet ducks in a row down 
> there
> and evidently have for many years.   They certainly are light years ahead 
> of
> us.
>
> Virginia Packet Nets if you're curious:
>
> Tuesday nights 8:15 145.73 node VDEM using TALK mode.
> Wednesday nights 8:15 145.73 node VAEOC in CONFERENCE mode.   (Note this 
> is
> a BBS and it may ask you to register, ignore if you don't want to.)
>
> If you can't hit these nodes direct you may have to connect with the VIA
> command:   C VDEM v LINDND or C VAEOC v LINDND.
> LINDND is the node for Linden VA., LINDBB is Linden's BBS.   Rolan can get
> to LINDND from Adamstown so you should be ok from where you are Joe. 
> There
> is no way to get to them via FDK.
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Joseph M. Durnal" <joseph.durnal at gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 12:13 PM
> To: "Frederick, Maryland ARC" <farc at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [FARC] APRS Software Info
>
>> On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 9:43 AM, Kirk Talbott <kirktal7237 at msn.com> wrote:
>>
>>> ... My
>>> particular rub is when bureaucratic entities determine, often
>>> arbitrarily,
>>> that one system or method of emergency communication is so much more
>>> beneficial than any other,  that other methods of emergency 
>>> communication
>>> are deemed antiquated and thus excluded.    This is not good....
>>
>>
>> There seems to be a movement to force hams to adopt winlink for
>> emergency communications.  Not that winlink is all that bad, and is
>> probably the best ham radio e-mail implementation out there, its HF
>> implementation is often abused at the expense of other digital modes,
>> with one side or the other not listening befor transmitting.  Pactor
>> is a relentless digital mode that will hammer the band until it gets
>> its way.  So your PSK31 QSO may just have to wait for someone to send
>> their e-mail.
>>
>> The airmail program itself is limited.  On HF it requires a
>> proprietary pactor modem and there are only a couple of TNCs it works
>> with on VHF with the biggest problem being that it doesn't work with
>> software packet engines.  You are also limited to Windows, so Mac &
>> Linux users are left out.
>>
>>
>> ... On another subject in the thread, some folks don't like to be
>> tracked, even some that use APRS.  Most APRS clients have position
>> ambiguity, which basically puts you within the nearest 10th of a
>> minute or the nearest minute, etc, configurable.  The Xastir client
>> displays this in a great way, your station with a dotted box around it
>> indicating that you could be anywhere within that box!
>>
>> 73 de Joseph Durnal NE3R
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