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#21
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Anyone still use packet radio?
On Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:47:27 -0700, Joey wrote:
I wish I could find a use for it, but all good things come to an almost-end, I guess I don't know where you live, but here in the Midland Michigan area packet and ham radio in general are alive and well. I can't say the internet has been bad for amatuer radio... look at IRLP, echolink, etc. success. It seems everything comes back to voice traffic.... look at VoIP on the internet, we have a big fast data network, and guess what? we want to TALK on it (or download p0rn. lol) There is a lot of digital traffic locally and via a gateway to through the Internet. We use both voice and digital modes on VHF and UHF. There is a lot of experimenting and building as well. I guess my voice capable HT will never be obsolete! And that's why i keep it up and running... J On 12 Apr 2007 07:22:20 GMT, blue box thief "blue box wrote: On 2007-04-12, Joey joey29034atyawwhodotcom wrote: Just curious how many out there still have active 2m packet radio in their area? Aside from APRS, I don't think anyone is listening... and even that seems to be fading here. APRS is also very active in this area. I am not sure about that (aprs I mean). In Ireland there seems to be alot of activity. Maybe its only by a small number, but it looks busy. I've been rather inactive for the past 7-10 years and it seems packet has dissapeared in that time! Anyone have any creative ideas? It depends on the area. Some are very active and other's are like a desert. I use a TM-D700 in the car, an all band all mode 897D in the shop and an old Alinco DR610T in here for VHF and UHF. I also use a pair of VX-7RBs and often run locked cross band. Well the only thing that hasn't been sent is pr0n..that seems a money-spinner on cell networks. I honestly can't come up with any use for it that I can't already do over the internet... My laptop even has built in EVDO on two cell networks (redundancy!). What more can I ask for? Emergencies. If there is a major disaster and the power hasn't failed yet, the cell towers become overloaded, often by the press and therefore useless for any thing else. Nor can they remain on emergency power indefinitely. The same is true for the Internet. No power, no Internet. Strong storms can also render satellite communications unusable as can solar storms. Of course those storms take out GPS as well. Storm chasing around here makes good use of packet/APRS and voice over much wider areas then WiFi or WiMax I remember going to a radio meeting(probably the only meeting i went to!) , dunno, about 7-8 years ago. I argued that Internet was good for ham radio, while alot of people (waay more experienced than I) argued the opposite. It'll kill DX, Packet etc. I argued the opposite. It'll give people opportunity to find information, access to other sides of the world, as if they were in their backgarden. Maybe the group here is just a bit more forward thinking as they embrace many faces of ham radio as well as the Internet. A little bit of both seems to have happened. Is that a bad thing? I see the Internet and Ham Radio as compatible and that, to me, is a good thing. PS. 3 month old TH-D7A for sale How about you and me have a chat http://www.runningwithbulls.com/blog/contact-us/ thanks, bernard |
#22
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Anyone still use packet radio?
When/If all comms is via satellite, then that will give a target/one place of insecurity in comms. Exactly. Didn't China just show that it can shoot down satellites? I'm sure the US and Russia can, and possibly the EU as well. ... more likely serious solar disaster.... solar flairs, etc, could knock out satellites. Ed K7AAT |
#23
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Anyone still use packet radio?
On 2007-04-17, Dick wrote:
When/If all comms is via satellite, then that will give a target/one place of insecurity in comms. Exactly. Didn't China just show that it can shoot down satellites? I'm sure the US and Russia can, and possibly the EU as well. And we cn't trust any of those states! Yes, but it that happens we won't have to worry about communications. We need to find a deep cave. Where VLF will still work perfectly (one there is no EMP) bernard |
#24
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Anyone still use packet radio?
On Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:18:54 -0700, Dick wrote:
On 12 Apr 2007 10:16:15 -0700, "Nobody" wrote: Actually, no that is not a bad thing for the masses. . . . . 73, Dick - W6CCD I'd have to agree with most of your observations... I am in the southern california area, so yeah I see the lack of packet and even APRS use. In the real world for day to day use, it apparently has no value. Why should I care were some guy I don't know is driving? Do I need to know where there hams are in a disaster? I can just ask them on the radio. I can basically dump any kind of data I want (voice, telemetry, messaging, file transfers, remote control) on the internet. Heck, I was instant messaging and watching myself on google earth via gps in literally the middle of nowhere, Wyoming last summer (nothing but freeway and a few cows) via Verizon 1xRTT/EVDO. I don't see 1.5MB speeds on ham radio at the moment I have Verizon's EVDO in my laptop, a Sprint EVDO card from work (talk about dual-band!), and a cell phone from Cingular. Oh and an old-school 2-way pager. Other family members have Verizon cellular, and 1 has a 2-way pager on a different carrier than mine. Our main house has 2 electric feeds (#2 to a guest house) on reasonably seperated ciruits and 2 phone lines, 1 with DSL. I maintain a generator/UPS for my computers, refrigerators, microwave oven, and of course radios. We also have a vacation house 80 miles away with its own DSL. That is the only place not covered by simplex ham radio. We'd have to rely on repeaters and quite a distance at that... Or get some HF stuff, but why bother... So why do I need a ham radio???? Well, cause I expect 80% of that stuff to fail when we have our next large siesmic event. I have a mobile 2/440 unit in my car and the other two have $99 cloned 2m HT's programmed both for repeaters and simplex. So amateur radio does serve as the last backup in case that long list of things all crap out. However, our family expects to be out of communication during a large event. Our need to communicate really will just be for "health and welfare", just to see how everyone is. I don't expect to have anyone listening on the other end if stuck under a building. One of us will be working at the hospital, one at home, and myself will either be in school (at a different hospital) or at the local police dept. (volunteer) as soon as I can get there. We know to stay off the phones. "Yes dear, we all felt the same earthquake!" Our local city fire dept does have a team of amateur radio operators, organized at the county level, which is the only way to go if u want to be successful. They have been used in the past in real conditions. During the fires in so cal, they used them mostly for fire watch patrols in the arson prone canyons around here. During a disaster, they're primary purpose will still be "eyes and ears". There is an HF station at our EOC for talking to "the state OES" but I dunno how that would really be used. They also have sat phones, so unless the chinese shoot us down, I guarantee you the emergency officials will pick that up first. Our local 800mhz trunked system is very robust with multiple sites for each system, with the abillity to run local in failsoft at each repeater site in case the main controller goes away. And don't forget everyone has a "Nextel" lol. So yeah, I still see ham radio as the last resort. But honestly, I don't expect to use it much during a disaster. I will be doing my job/volunteer work. But I still keep everything charged and tested just in case!!! As for the future of the hobby, yeah, keep getting kids interested in it. Since they all have cell phones now, it will be a challenge however to find some reason to use these "antique CB radios". I heard a QSO on the winsystem the other day between a local and a guy from Australia and then one from Japan a few minutes later. via IRLP of course... It's this kind of integration with other services that *might* keep the hobby alive. You more creative types out there may have to some up with something new! And no, showing up to a modern school with a dirty t-shirt, greasy beard, Yeasu hat, and 6 radios, speaker mics, and oversized antennas hanging off of your beer gut will not inpress the kids. (Yes, I've seen this!!) One suggestion is to integrate with local public safety and present the hobby in this light; as an adjunct to police and fire. I wish I had more ideas as I think we can still be a valuable resource, but it may not be in the traditional sense that's been the "standard" for the past 50 years. OK, enough ranting... back to the real world..... Joey |
#25
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Anyone still use packet radio?
On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:00:53 -0700, Joey joey29034atyawwhodotcom
wrote: So yeah, I still see ham radio as the last resort. But honestly, I don't expect to use it much during a disaster. I will be doing my job/volunteer work. But I still keep everything charged and tested just in case!!! Joey Something to keep in mind is that, if the President declares a national emergency, no one will be able to use ham radio for anything unless they are a member of RACES. So the decision will be made for you unless you are a member of that organization. Dick -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
#26
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Anyone still use packet radio?
On 17 Apr 2007 19:43:09 GMT, blue box thief "blue box
wrote: On 2007-04-17, Dick wrote: Yes, but it that happens we won't have to worry about communications. We need to find a deep cave. Where VLF will still work perfectly (one there is no EMP) bernard Might be useful to talk to someone in the same cave with you, but not too useful if the rest of the world has been melted down to the basic elements. Dick -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
#27
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Anyone still use packet radio?
On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:54:52 -0700, Dick wrote: On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:00:53 -0700, Joey joey29034atyawwhodotcom wrote: So yeah, I still see ham radio as the last resort. But honestly, I don't expect to use it much during a disaster. I will be doing my job/volunteer work. But I still keep everything charged and tested just in case!!! Joey Something to keep in mind is that, if the President declares a national emergency, no one will be able to use ham radio for anything unless they are a member of RACES. So the decision will be made for you unless you are a member of that organization. Dick That, and most of the repeaters, especially on 440, are all closed/private around here and therefore useless anyway. Of course, none of them are ever used expect for about 4 of the systems, and therefore just tie up empty bandwidth so people can feel special about themselves.. What's up with Santiago pk? Is there a secret society you have to join first to put a repeater on that mountain? It's the best site in so cal for north/south comms, yet 95% of the things up there are "private"... Talk about pretentious... I was, well technically am still on the county ECS team, but I became inactive cause no one really did too much. They still do their thing which is good, but I just didn't have time. Of course being a local RACES (does that still exist?) member does u no good if a high-level machine is taken over and you want to use it for 1 minute... |
#28
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Anyone still use packet radio?
On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:01:59 -0700, Dick wrote:
On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 18:26:45 -0700, Jack Hamilton wrote: blue box thief "blue box wrote: On 2007-04-13, Dick wrote: BIG SNIP Dick, I agree with all you have said above! Some day, when ALL communications are via satellite, and nothing on the ground can be destroyed by flood, fire, earthquake, tornados, terrorist attacks, etc., then amateur radio will lose its value to the country for backup emergency communications. Until then, people will continue to depend upon amateur radio even when they don't realize it. When/If all comms is via satellite, then that will give a target/one place of insecurity in comms. Exactly. Didn't China just show that it can shoot down satellites? I'm sure the US and Russia can, and possibly the EU as well. Yes, but it that happens we won't have to worry about communications. We need to find a deep cave. I think solar storms would prove to be a far greater danger to both satellite invigilation and communications. Just one major X class solar mass ejection pointed right at us and it's going to get mighty quiet down here. The GPS signals have been interrupted a couple of times and we weren't even in a direct path. |
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