Subj : Re: Packet Radio
To   : tenser
From : Vk3jed
Date : Fri Jan 22 2021 21:29:00

-=> On 01-20-21 14:27, tenser wrote to SetiOp <=-

 te> First, packet.  So an initial observation is that the thrill of
 te> packet for _most_ users just isn't going to be there.  What does
 te> it really offer?  The ability to send email and exchange files?
 te> At the whopping speed of 1200 BAUD?  Yeah, that's just not that

Other than a few corner cases, I'd agree.  Packet these days survives mainly to
support APRS it seems.  That said, I'll still eventually put something up, just
coz I can.

 te> cool.  Digital modes like FT8 and FT4 at least let you earn awards
 te> and work DX; but packet is just like talking on the local repeater:

Now that's where my eyes glaze over - I don't really care about DX or awards. 
I've never claimed an award in my life, paper chasing doesn't thrill me at all.
 I know what I've worked, and I don't care whether you believe me or not.  When
I really want proof, I make audio recordings. :)

 te> no one is going to get a certificate to hang on one's wall for it.
 te> So the remaining uses end up being special-purpose, like traffic
 te> handling.  Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, but let's be
 te> honest: if you're not a traffic handler, you're unlikely to find
 te> it particularly interesting.  C'est la vie; the heaviest use of
 te> my local repeaters seems to be the nightly traffic nets.  Hmm.

No such beasts here, relly.

 te> Another issue is that the node software has bitrotted to the point
 te> of often not working.  I've fixed lots of bugs in mine; it now
 te> "works", to a point, but is disappointingly fragile.  It's clear
 te> that that code hasn't gotten a lot of love in the modern era.

Which software exactly?

 te> AMPRNet is more interesting, but what do people want to run on it?
 te> Standard Internet services, just over an RF circuit?  Well, that's
 te> cool, I guess.  I set up a Unix machine as a timesharing "host"
 te> on my AMPRNet subnet, and wrote a routing daemon, and documented

There used to be Jabber servers that were useful (ham only), but the one I was
using disappeared years ago. :(

 te> What we really need, I think, to make data on amateur radio really
 te> interesting, is an embrace of the new.  Something like IPv6 over a
 te> better link-layer protocol (perhaps 6LoWPAN?) and then things like
 te> HamWan and the BBHN stuff (which seems to have basically shut down).
 te> Then we can start to do some cool stuff.

Yeah, some data that has useful speed and/or range (and can be made to optimise
said tradeoff). 

 te> But we've got to get folks interested first.  That's the hard part.

Always.


.... Behind every successful man is an astonished mother-in-law.
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