Subj : Not A Ham But...
To   : Kgf
From : Spaceman Spiff
Date : Sat Jul 31 2004 11:45 am

  Re: Not A Ham But...
  By: Kgf to MIKE POWELL on Tue Apr 06 2004 04:18 pm

 >   Re: Not A Ham But...
 >   By: MIKE POWELL to KGF on Tue Apr 06 2004 01:19 pm
 > 
 >  > >I realise the world of HAM radio isn't what it used to be, but I'm findi
 >  > >more and more interesting as I listen in.  Haven't found any "pirate sta
 >  > >yet but I get a kick out of listening to Radio Taiwan, Havana and Ecuado
 >  >
 >  > Are those actually HAM stations, or are they Shortwave stations (or is th
 >  > really a difference)?  I used to own a shortwave radio.  Used to enjoy
 >  > listening to Radio Moscow World Service (this was still during the "Cold
 >  > War," and I was young, so I really thought I had stumbled onto something!
 >  > VOA, and WRNO.
 >  >
 >  > Mike
 > 
 > That's a good question..is there a difference?
 > 
 > I've been fascinated by the whole HAM thing for a while now...I think I may 
 > e the plunge and get my license sometime soon.
 > 
 > So can anyone tell me what packet radio is like?  I've read a lot, but it's 
 > all that clear to me.  I gather it's not like TCP/IP or anything...can you
 > "connect" to other sites and such?
 > 

Packet radio or Packet BBSing is similar in nature to a regular Bulletin Board.
Like an old school phone modem BBS connecting over phone lines, Packet is using
a radio and TNC in place of Phone Lines and Phone Modem.

The look and commands of the BBS may be a little different and of course the
nature of the messages is governed by Amatuer radio Rules and Regs.

APRS is getting very popular in our area and I am looking for a TNC to get into
it.  You can set up an APRS station, Radio;TNC and Computer and if you are in
an area with a lot of APRS stations, you can send messages that will be passed
along all the other APRS stations that can talk to eachother. In the Philly
area we cover an area from Philly and several counties around across New Jersy,
Deleware and New York.  The system would be capable of going farther West is we
had a chpoice APRS ststion located west of Philly that could link us to APRS
stations in Lancaster and Harrisburg.

Basically it is a way to pass messages via computer.
The bit rate is considerably slower than you may be used to, 9600 Baud, but if
you are just running text messages it is good. Generally you will get on your
com,puter which has been saving all the messages for you all day. You read them
and then reply to or send your own messages and let the computers and HAM
radios send the messages across out.

It is not like you will be surfing the Word Wide Web.  It is similar to what we
do here on Synchronet.

:)

.