The problems with a satellite solution are cost, weight and power. I want to
be able to carry the whole thing backpack for several hundred km and for it
to operate on battery power. There is a commercial HF SSB station in Sydney
for marine radio - it looks like I would be using this if I was in the
eastern states of Australia (ultimately I want to do an extended trek along
the Vic/NSW alpine trail). This is mainly remote mountainous country with
occasional 4WD tracks and roads and very few settlements. I have loked at
the SSB radio options - the best seems to be the SCS transceiver, but Rx
current is still 100mA.
I would probably use a PalmPilot as the computer part with an interface to
this. Here in WA there doesnt seem to be any options (we are 3000km from the
eastern seaboard). All in all a big project!

Richard

Laura Halliday wrote in message
om...
"Richard Hosking" wrote in message
.au...

No doubt this is an easy question, but is there a way of interfacing to
the

web via HF SSB/data?

I want to be able to do this from a remote location portable/backpack
with

no mobile phone access and low power. The nearest infrastructure could
be

several hundred km away

I could use amateur bands or possibly a commercial solution if
available.

What would be the data format and where would I get more info on this?


This shoulds like a job for a satellite. If worst comes
to worst, plug a modem in to a satellite phone and dial
up your ISP...

The first UoSATs were for exactly this sort of application:
take a briefcase-sized station in to the field and send
chitchat back to home base by satellite, completely
independent of terrestrial infrastructure, which may not
exist anyway.

We have satellite Internet here in Canada. It isn't cheap.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

"Richard Hosking" wrote in message
. au...
No doubt this is an easy question, but is there a way of interfacing to
the
web via HF SSB/data?
I want to be able to do this from a remote location portable/backpack with
no mobile phone access and low power. The nearest infrastructure could be
several hundred km away
I could use amateur bands or possibly a commercial solution if available.
What would be the data format and where would I get more info on this?

Thanks
Richard



I'm aware of a service that provides e-mail on commercial HF frequencies to
safari camps in Botswana from a base in Johannesburg in South Africa. AFAIK
they use Pactor. Many of these camps are several hundred miles from the
nearest phone line.
(My cousin worked in some of the camps)

73 Roger ZR3RC

"Richard Hosking" wrote in message
. au...
No doubt this is an easy question, but is there a way of interfacing to
the
web via HF SSB/data?
I want to be able to do this from a remote location portable/backpack with
no mobile phone access and low power. The nearest infrastructure could be
several hundred km away
I could use amateur bands or possibly a commercial solution if available.
What would be the data format and where would I get more info on this?

Thanks
Richard



I'm aware of a service that provides e-mail on commercial HF frequencies to
safari camps in Botswana from a base in Johannesburg in South Africa. AFAIK
they use Pactor. Many of these camps are several hundred miles from the
nearest phone line.
(My cousin worked in some of the camps)

73 Roger ZR3RC

Have you considered adding a solar cell or two the station. I am using a
much smaller radio, but a 15 watt cell has me battery independent. A 1.4
watt cell maintained enough charge on the gel-cell for me to operate field
day weekend.

--
73 es cul

wb3fup
a Salty Bear

"Richard Hosking" wrote in message
. au...
The problems with a satellite solution are cost, weight and power. I want
to
be able to carry the whole thing backpack for several hundred km and for
it
to operate on battery power. There is a commercial HF SSB station in
Sydney
for marine radio - it looks like I would be using this if I was in the
eastern states of Australia (ultimately I want to do an extended trek
along
the Vic/NSW alpine trail). This is mainly remote mountainous country with
occasional 4WD tracks and roads and very few settlements. I have loked at
the SSB radio options - the best seems to be the SCS transceiver, but Rx
current is still 100mA.
I would probably use a PalmPilot as the computer part with an interface
to
this. Here in WA there doesnt seem to be any options (we are 3000km from
the
eastern seaboard). All in all a big project!

Richard

Laura Halliday wrote in message
om...
"Richard Hosking" wrote in message
.au...

No doubt this is an easy question, but is there a way of interfacing
to
the

web via HF SSB/data?

I want to be able to do this from a remote location portable/backpack
with

no mobile phone access and low power. The nearest infrastructure
could
be

several hundred km away

I could use amateur bands or possibly a commercial solution if
available.

What would be the data format and where would I get more info on
this?


This shoulds like a job for a satellite. If worst comes
to worst, plug a modem in to a satellite phone and dial
up your ISP...

The first UoSATs were for exactly this sort of application:
take a briefcase-sized station in to the field and send
chitchat back to home base by satellite, completely
independent of terrestrial infrastructure, which may not
exist anyway.

We have satellite Internet here in Canada. It isn't cheap.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

Have you considered adding a solar cell or two the station. I am using a
much smaller radio, but a 15 watt cell has me battery independent. A 1.4
watt cell maintained enough charge on the gel-cell for me to operate field
day weekend.

--
73 es cul

wb3fup
a Salty Bear

"Richard Hosking" wrote in message
. au...
The problems with a satellite solution are cost, weight and power. I want
to
be able to carry the whole thing backpack for several hundred km and for
it
to operate on battery power. There is a commercial HF SSB station in
Sydney
for marine radio - it looks like I would be using this if I was in the
eastern states of Australia (ultimately I want to do an extended trek
along
the Vic/NSW alpine trail). This is mainly remote mountainous country with
occasional 4WD tracks and roads and very few settlements. I have loked at
the SSB radio options - the best seems to be the SCS transceiver, but Rx
current is still 100mA.
I would probably use a PalmPilot as the computer part with an interface
to
this. Here in WA there doesnt seem to be any options (we are 3000km from
the
eastern seaboard). All in all a big project!

Richard

Laura Halliday wrote in message
om...
"Richard Hosking" wrote in message
.au...

No doubt this is an easy question, but is there a way of interfacing
to
the

web via HF SSB/data?

I want to be able to do this from a remote location portable/backpack
with

no mobile phone access and low power. The nearest infrastructure
could
be

several hundred km away

I could use amateur bands or possibly a commercial solution if
available.

What would be the data format and where would I get more info on
this?


This shoulds like a job for a satellite. If worst comes
to worst, plug a modem in to a satellite phone and dial
up your ISP...

The first UoSATs were for exactly this sort of application:
take a briefcase-sized station in to the field and send
chitchat back to home base by satellite, completely
independent of terrestrial infrastructure, which may not
exist anyway.

We have satellite Internet here in Canada. It isn't cheap.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

Laura Halliday wrote:

"Richard Hosking" wrote in message .au...

No doubt this is an easy question, but is there a way of interfacing to the

web via HF SSB/data?

I want to be able to do this from a remote location portable/backpack with

no mobile phone access and low power. The nearest infrastructure could be

several hundred km away

I could use amateur bands or possibly a commercial solution if available.

What would be the data format and where would I get more info on this?

This shoulds like a job for a satellite. If worst comes
to worst, plug a modem in to a satellite phone and dial
up your ISP...

The first UoSATs were for exactly this sort of application:
take a briefcase-sized station in to the field and send
chitchat back to home base by satellite, completely
independent of terrestrial infrastructure, which may not
exist anyway.

We have satellite Internet here in Canada. It isn't cheap.

Laura,

We can only get a sat downlink here easily. The uplink is almost always
a dialup.

Rob

Laura Halliday wrote:

"Richard Hosking" wrote in message .au...

No doubt this is an easy question, but is there a way of interfacing to the

web via HF SSB/data?

I want to be able to do this from a remote location portable/backpack with

no mobile phone access and low power. The nearest infrastructure could be

several hundred km away

I could use amateur bands or possibly a commercial solution if available.

What would be the data format and where would I get more info on this?

This shoulds like a job for a satellite. If worst comes
to worst, plug a modem in to a satellite phone and dial
up your ISP...

The first UoSATs were for exactly this sort of application:
take a briefcase-sized station in to the field and send
chitchat back to home base by satellite, completely
independent of terrestrial infrastructure, which may not
exist anyway.

We have satellite Internet here in Canada. It isn't cheap.

Laura,

We can only get a sat downlink here easily. The uplink is almost always
a dialup.

Rob

Richard,

I don't know if you ever got the response you needed on this. In my
quick scan of the responses, I did not see any references to the very
common use of HF/SSB as a transport for E-Mail in the maritime
services. Of course, I'm not sure how picky they are about your station
being on a floating platform, so that may be a problem. That said, I
believe INMARSAT started out as a tool for the high seas and is now used
by everyone and everywhere. If that does not work, check out the
available equipment and perhaps seek an experimental license to explore
and invent a new service.

You might try the following:

http://www.marinenet.net/

http://www.cruiseemail.com/locations.html

http://www.sailmail.com/

http://www.yachtcom.co.uk/SSB-email/

http://www.shipcom.com/email.htm

http://www.hfradio.com/

http://www.rodgersmarine.com/links.htm

http://www.globewireless.com/

These are a few URLs that may point you in the right direction. Much of
this is aimed at the casual sailor on a small sailboat or yacht with
modest power (100-250 Watts) and a vertical whip antenna, so it is
pretty basic stuff.

73, Dave

Dave Williams - K7HMP

= = = = = = = = = =

Richard Hosking wrote:

No doubt this is an easy question, but is there a way of interfacing to the
web via HF SSB/data?
I want to be able to do this from a remote location portable/backpack with
no mobile phone access and low power. The nearest infrastructure could be
several hundred km away
I could use amateur bands or possibly a commercial solution if available.
What would be the data format and where would I get more info on this?

Thanks
Richard

Richard,

I don't know if you ever got the response you needed on this. In my
quick scan of the responses, I did not see any references to the very
common use of HF/SSB as a transport for E-Mail in the maritime
services. Of course, I'm not sure how picky they are about your station
being on a floating platform, so that may be a problem. That said, I
believe INMARSAT started out as a tool for the high seas and is now used
by everyone and everywhere. If that does not work, check out the
available equipment and perhaps seek an experimental license to explore
and invent a new service.

You might try the following:

http://www.marinenet.net/

http://www.cruiseemail.com/locations.html

http://www.sailmail.com/

http://www.yachtcom.co.uk/SSB-email/

http://www.shipcom.com/email.htm

http://www.hfradio.com/

http://www.rodgersmarine.com/links.htm

http://www.globewireless.com/

These are a few URLs that may point you in the right direction. Much of
this is aimed at the casual sailor on a small sailboat or yacht with
modest power (100-250 Watts) and a vertical whip antenna, so it is
pretty basic stuff.

73, Dave

Dave Williams - K7HMP

= = = = = = = = = =

Richard Hosking wrote:

No doubt this is an easy question, but is there a way of interfacing to the
web via HF SSB/data?
I want to be able to do this from a remote location portable/backpack with
no mobile phone access and low power. The nearest infrastructure could be
several hundred km away
I could use amateur bands or possibly a commercial solution if available.
What would be the data format and where would I get more info on this?

Thanks
Richard