wrote in message
ups.com...
On Mar 17, 2:19�am, "Dee Flint" wrote:

My question on this is why would we be sending large amounts of data on
amateur radio?

I can think of a couple uses for it, Dee.

First there's emergency/public service comms. The served agencies
are used to being able to send emails with sizable attachments through
the usual networks. A mode that would let them do that via amateur
radio
when the usual networks are not available would be a really good tool
in the emcomm toolbox. IMHO it's the thinking pushing WinLink.


Perhaps they would like to have such but IMHO, when the catastrophe is
serious enough and wide spread enough that hams are truly needed, that is
apt to be coupled with power source limitations that would make it unwise to
send such length attachments in many cases. Plain ascii text would be the
most useful and results in low file size. There are several modes that can
handle that. In addition, the power source limitations might make running
computers as well as radios an unwise choice in some situations.

Second, there are plenty of times in an ordinary QSO when it
would be good to be able to send a picture, station description,
article, a sound clip, etc. directly by radio, and have it in digital
format at the other end. In the past, such modes as SSTV have
gained limited acceptance because they required lots of extra
apparatus, but with the widespread acceptance of PCs today
the big limitation is software, not hardware.


Yes the PC capabilities have done a lot for digital modes of all types.

The need for it doesn't exist in general.

In some cases, if something is presented to people, they
will find a use for it. Look back on predictions about
computers - in the early '50s it was predicted that a half-
dozen or so general-purpose computers would serve all
the needs of the USA, and in the '70s it was said that no
ordinary person would ever need a computer in their home.
Both pronouncements were made by knowledgeable
professionals, and at the time seemed quite reasonable.


Well the science fiction authors were envisioning small personal size
computers almost from the day computers were invented. I must have read a
lot of it as I've always believed that computers would become an everyday
tool for everyone.


Of course "if you build it, they will come" doesn't always
work out.

If it did,
someone would have developed the appropriate digital mode by now.

I disagree. One of the big problems is that such development
tends to be protected by the developers, and *not* made
open-source. PSK-31 and Linux are exceptions, not the rule.


Well I disagree with your disagreement. To me it seems that there are
enough hams that somewhere in that group are several people capable of doing
this it they deemed it worth doing. Then we would have modes and software
developed by hams for hams. Then there would be more likelihood that it
would be shared in the same manner as PSK-31. There is nothing stopping
anyone from doing that development other than lack of interest.


etc., all came to amateur radio essentially as freebies.
The standard was widely and publicly
available, just meet it and go on the air.

But you can't homebrew
a Pactor 2/3 modem today the way you could homebrew
an SSB rig 50 years ago.


Well the today's computer capabilities, the hardware aspect simply goes
away. It becomes a software issue.

The "bell-the-cat" question is still *who* is going to develop
such new modes and then just give them away for free.
Groups that have tried (TAPR and the spread-spectrum idea)
have taken years without much to show.


I think the problem with the spread-spectrum is that for ham radio
operators, the usefulness simply doesn't justify setting up to use it.
People want to get out there and find stations rather than having to have
pre-arranged schedules for everything.

If it doesn't seem useful to them, people will pass on it.

This occurs in all fields of endeavor. A person has a bright idea, packages
it, markets it, and it doesn't sell simply because the market doesn't
perceive any significant need for or pleasure derived from the product.

Dee, N8UZE