In article ,
charlesb wrote:
Check around with the local hams, and see if other hams share your interest.

There are, at least, a few other people in my state doing IP-based
stuff over AX.25, though none in my county - indeed, maybe I'll send
some e-mail around. Thanks for the suggestion!

(snip)
The most common "newbee" mistake made by hams interested in IP packet radio
is the "loner" approach, where they do things without even checking with
other hams in the area to see whats already being done and perhaps *join in*
with the local hams in their efforts. - Participate.
(snip)

Right, thanks. What would really make a difference for me is if there
was some useful community venture to which my running of a
mostly-unattended AX.25 node would valuably contribute - really,
that's the deciding factor for me, because it's not like there aren't
plenty of other non-ham technical things that offer social contact and
interesting conversation, but are easier to get into.

So, I guess that the first step really is just to ask some other AX.25
hams in my area what they're interested in. Anything from providing
servers that report local weather, to researching new routing
protocols, would interest me - I'd just be looking for enough stuff
where me providing an extra node could actually make any consequential
difference.

-- Mark