Subj : packet radio
To   : Daryl Stout
From : Spaceman Spiff
Date : Thu Jul 07 2005 09:05 pm

  Re: packet radio
  By: Daryl Stout to ANGUS MCLEOD on Mon Jul 04 2005 06:46 pm

 > AM>In my experience, packet BBS's are bo-ring.  (Packet radio itself is
 >   >bo-ring.)  There are no people involved.  Packet radio is all about
 >   >machines passing unwanted, useless and out-of-date bulletins back and
 >   >forth between each other on automatci, causing massive QRN in the process
 >   >The only packet systems I've ever used that actually had some merit were
 >   >the systems on the PacSats.
 > 
 >    I've been licensed since 1991, and ran various nets in central
 > Arkansas from 1993 to 2003...but health and other issues forced me to
 > cut back my ham radio involvement 2 years ago.
 > 
 >   I mainly work with packet radio now...and there are some freeware ham
 > radio doors that were done by Dave Perry, W4KGU, that I ran on my BBS,
 > which I started in 1992.
 > 
 >   Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any of them to work with
 > Synchronet, because they apparently ignore, or don't have fossil driver
 > operations. When I tried to run them, they would not "stop and wait for
 > input". The reason may be that comport data and locked baud rates are
 > basically "ignored" under telnet usage with Synchronet. But, when I was
 > running GT Power software with dial-up, they worked just fine.
 > 
 >    For the record, those doors included:
 > 
 > 1) QRZDoor -- where using the current QRZ Callsign CD-ROM, you could
 > look up info on any ham, and create a textfile of desired data, then
 > download it.
 > 
 > 2) BULLET -- a ham radio bulletins door that could list up to 26
 > categories of text bulletins (from W1AW, The ARRL Letter, Newsline,
 > etc.). You could also use the door for other bulletin categories.
 > 
 > 3) WASPRT -- Worked All States Awards Competition Tracker, for 10 to 80
 > meters on HF and a "Special Band" that you select (such as VHF).
 > 
 > 4) ARPD -- Packet Door (my favorite), where you could logon to the BBS,
 > and if you were a licensed ham radio operator, enter the door, and work
 > packet remotely through the BBS...as if the TNC was at their QTH. The
 > door changes the callsign of the TNC to the name of the user in the
 > control file (this way, the Sysop prevents unlicensed hams from using
 > it), and it opens a capture file to log all activity, for possible FCC
 > enforcement, if needed.
 > 
 >   If there was a way I could get these external doors to work with
 > Synchronet, I'd put them back online.
 > 
 > 73,
 > 
 > Daryl, N5VLZ
 > 
They would probably work fine, I thin Sync works fine with lots of Doors.

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