Members may have seen the Newsletter receive a glowing testimonial in the May 2003 edition of RadCom, in the "WWW" column written by Jeremy Boot G4NJH, who said... well, read it for yourself!
"The first step was the question of deviation and I came across a useful article in the Wyrepak Packet Group 'Newsletter'. Not a recent article, but no less useful for that. There doesn't seem to have been any publication since spring last year. A pity. I thought it was very well written."
Why, thanks Jeremy, and we think your column is well written too. Thanks must also go to Richard G0EWH, who contributed the article on deviation, and to Paula, who put the Newsletter on the web. The RadCom article also published the URL for the WyrePak Website... how many extra hits did we get as a result, Paula? As a result of Jeremy's comments about publication, I've asked Paula to put all the other Newsletters on to the website as well, and also e-mailed Jeremy the full set of Newsletters from No 1 onwards.
Meetings are being held every six to eight weeks, and this seems to be a good balance between keeping up to date with events, and having too much business to transact each time we meet. Meetings this year so far took place on January 21st, March 4th, May 20th and June 24th and it is likely that "the third Tuesday of every second month" will become the norm. So pencil in the following dates in your diaries: August 19th, October 21st and December 16th with the AGM sometime in September. A reminder will be broadcast via the List Server to all members a few days in advance of each meeting to confirm.
Love it or hate it, the List Server provides members with a quick and easy method of communicating with other WyrePak members.
Up to now, it has been necessary for individual members to re-subscribe every few months (there is no charge, of course) but recent modifications by Paula will allow a single, permanent list of all WyrePak members to be created. Any member will soon be able to distribute a private message to all other members by simply logging on to the BBS, typing "SP LSTSRV" and entering a subject and message in the normal way. The message will then be sent to all other members as private mail.
If any member wishes NOT to receive mail from the List Server, please let G4SPZ or G8PZT know.
Meeting attendances still average around 6 members, which is over 33% turnout - better than the local electorate - and the latest news from the Sutton Arms is that the new manager has installed brand new handpumps! The beer, which was always good, is now excellent, and what better reason could there be to drag yourself out of that comfortable armchair in front of the TV and join us at the next meeting?
May 2003 - new member Ellis Oakes, G7JWL from Areley Kings, joined G4SPZ, G8PZT, G0EWH, G0HTF, G3KFD and G0MBG. The meeting discussed the planned summer jobs at G8PZT which include lightning conductors, the remote shutdown switch, a new Ethernet cable, cabling to the new 23cms antenna and re-routing the Internet link cable. The Group now has 16 members, many of whom are also joint Fourpak or KDARS members.
June 2003 - the meeting on the 24th was the biggest ever, being attended by no fewer than eight members - G7JWL, G3KFD, G0MBG, G0HTF, G4YUD, G4SPZ, G0EWH and G8PZT. The meeting discussed the modifications to Key PMR radios for Packet use, X-net, and how to encourage regular users to join the Group or otherwise contribute to the Packet network.
The intention of this section of the Newsletter is to summarise the relevant information, which is made available at the WyrePak meetings. I have tried to avoid duplication and to omit items which are out-of-date, whilst providing readers with a good impression of what happens in a typical three or four month period. Contributions to the Newsletter are still invited, please contact G4SPZ - Ed.
Time-out seems to be an intermittent problem. This should be as reported in the last Newsletter but G8BKL has reported that on occasion the link times out more quickly, sometimes in less than 30 seconds. G4SPZ has seen it happen in the time it takes for the BBS to report "...none found" and the message "*** Timeout!" has been seen. Paula has investigated, and reckons it could be due to two possibilities. Firstly, an intermittent fault on the node receiver. This is an elderly Dymar ex-PMR radio, the IF stage is believed to be susceptible to strong signals on 10.7MHz. Paula is working on this problem, and in due course intends to try a different Bosch radio set up by G0EWH. Secondly, changes to a particular file had not been copied across to RAMDISK and the system was, on occasions, applying the inter-BBS timeout to user connects. This has now been fixed. In the meantime, users are asked to continue to report the problem if it recurs.
As a general rule, the KIDDER node polls connected stations every 7 seconds checking for activity and, if no response has been received after ten polling calls, disconnects the user.
G3KFD reported very slow links to GB7DXC, which is routed via GLOS, and Paula will investigate in conjunction with Fourpak.
MB7UV, Maxpak's APRS node, is still re-broadcasting US information.
G4SPZ and G3KFD reported again on the over-deviation on GB7BHM and the aggressive settings used by some stations such as M1EFQ when downloading files, which render the channel virtually unusable for long periods. Paula reckoned that G1WXA, SysOp of GB7BHM, has now reduced the deviation. If the problem is seen again, G4SPZ will write to the offending station(s) to ask them to behave in a more gentlemanly fashion. At the June meeting it was reported that the deviation at GB7BHM appears to have increased again.
The links to Malvern and GLOS were working OK now, as was the 23cms link to Maxpak in Wolverhampton, although reduced signal strengths and increased retry rates are anticipated once the leaves grow back fully on the trees, leading to greater path loss.
A new location for the BRUM node on Darby's Hill will mean better access to large parts of Birmingham. BRUM's user access port is on 144.900MHz and will link to KIDDER. SysOp is Robert, G1LOA.
Internet links from corporate firewall-protected computer systems, such as the Internet access terminals in the Public Library, are now working fine thanks to the new access methods devised by Paula and reported on in the April Newsletter. Links from Paula's home page at http://g8pzt.ath.cx provide quick access to the Fourpak, WyrePak, KDARS, Wyre Forest Repeater Group websites, as well as the KIDDER node and the BBS.
A new part-time Internet link is being established with GB7LUN in Glasgow, providing a route to Scotland and the far north. A further link is planned to Plymouth, providing access for stations in Devon and Cornwall into the Packet network after a long period without links.
At the last count, KIDDER had 36 ports and, due to the memory requirements, Paula is proposing to "split" the node into two halves, one serving RF ports and the other Internet ports.
The new 23cms antenna for the link to WV is fitted and awaiting the connection of the new Heliax feeder (see later).
In June, a fault in an X-net node caused the nodes tables at Internet-connected nodes like KIDDER to fill up with foreign nodes, all without aliases. With the X-net protocol, failure of a link can cause all the other nodes in that network to broadcast several hundred node details, which get rapidly distributed via the Internet to all UK nodes. At KIDDER, Paula has limited the size of the nodes table to 250, and the system accepts the highest quality links. Many of the Internet-derived nodes were of higher quality than the domestic RF-connected ones, so these were pushed out of the table, leading to temporary loss of links. The original X-net node which crashed and caused this worldwide problem originated in Canada, and is no longer active. The problem has been resolved at KIDDER, but several other UK nodes are still affected. This is a growing problem with so many nodes on the network - several thousand at the last count - most linked via the Internet.
Paula confirmed that mail directed to inactive or non-existent callsigns was held at the BBS for 6 months unless manually deleted earlier.
Access via the Internet is now working well and the following methods are available. http://g8pzt.ath.cx provides access to the KIDDER node, GB7PZT BBS, WyrePak website, Fourpak website, plus Paula's Place and About G8PZT. http://www.pzt.org.uk takes you to the same place as the old http://www.g8pzt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk but without so many keystrokes... there, you'll find PZT Software and the new Wyre Forest Repeater Group website, in addition to the node, BBS, WyrePak and Fourpak websites. If you haven't got a password yet for access to the node and BBS, please e-mail Paula direct. Paula reported that someone has managed to work the Internet-linked BBS interface using a WAP mobile phone!
The Maxpak group were selling off their modems at the Drayton Manor rally at very cheap prices... just £20 for the BayCom clone, ready-built 1200 baud modem, and £40 for the PAR96-type 9,600 baud unit. Strangely, Maxpak were not represented at the Elvaston Castle rally in June. The current price is £30 including postage, packing and VAT and AGW software. This is still a good price, and probably the cheapest and easiest way into Packet, particularly if you would like to try portable operation as the Max-01 1.2k modem is powered direct from the serial port, making a very simple compact station. To order one, contact Chris G0CNG @ GB7MAX or ask G4SPZ for Chris's home address.
BayCom have developed a Packet modem with a USB port connection, but it was reported not to be compatable with Windows XP yet. See the BayCom website for details.
G3KFD has found some strong 9,600 baud Packet signals on 144.975MHz. Paula denies being the source! Can anyone identify the originator of these high speed signals?
The NO44 Packet space satellite can be heard on 145.850MHz if you know when to listen. Passes are short. Derek, G3KFD can provide more information to interested stations.
The Malvern Hills Repeater Group has some nicely-constructed 12-volt distribution boxes available. Fitted with three pairs of 4mm black/red terminals and 150mm of 2-core cable terminated in a car-type cigar lighter plug, they cost £5 each. For details, contact Dave, G4IDF (g4idf[at]aol.com)
A very-high-speed amateur Packet network proposal, based around commercial wireless LAN transceivers tweaked to operate in the 2.4GHz amateur band, is receiving attention from Paula and others. This equipment is relatively cheaply available and can be fitted with small, high gain antennas to provide useful signal strength.
The 2003 Packet Conference is scheduled to take place over the weekend of September 13th and 14th, the two-day agenda covering both "packet" and "internet linking" topics. Anyone interested in attending should contact Paula for further details.
The Fourpak group has some cheap, high performance 25kHz 2-metre radios available. These "Key" radios, KM-series model 150L and 150H give 30 watts output and are ideal for single-channel operation as they are without front panels. More details are available from Steve, G4FPV, Fourpak Chairman, or from http://www.superiorsignals.co.uk/keyradio.htm. The radios cost £10 each. Richard G0EWH has researched these sets and has also obtained some front panels from the trunked variants of the same radios. This makes possible the conversion of the "H" variant to 40 or 80 channel 2-metre 25kHz-channel radios. The "L" models originally was designed for 12.5kHz channel spacing, but appear to have been modified by filter replacement to 25kHz duty. The trunked sets, bought by Richard for the front panels and spares only, have 12.5kHz filters in them and it should theoretically be possible to make a 12.5kHz rig using these, for repeater use or Packet. They have no CTCSS as standard but can deliver RF power from 2.5 watts up to 40 watts. Richard G0EWH can provide further information and Paula G8PZT can supply EPROMS suitably blown for the amateur bands.
The Internet router at KIDDER is now running Xrouter software in DOS on a 486DX2 66MHz computer. Windows is not involved and reliability should be improved, including re-starting after a power interruption.
At the WyrePak meeting in May, the group discussed and agreed the following list of maintenance and other work that was needed at GB7PZT this summer.
If anyone can offer help in any practical way, please contact G8PZT, G4SPZ, G0EWH, G3KFD or G0MBG.
We are pleased to reproduce a transcript of the paper that Paula presented to members of the Kidderminster and District Amateur Radio Society on 1st April 2003.
Over the last few years, certain aspects of the Packet Radio hobby, with the exception of APRS, have gone stale. The basic technology has remained unchanged for 15 years, whilst the rest of the datacomms world has moved on. Data communication is no longer a novelty, it is commonplace, the Internet providing far more than Packet, both in terms of speed and content.
Most of the lifeblood of Packet Radio community has drained away to the Internet. The Packet pioneers of yesteryear now spend their time designing websites, and trying to get Linux to work... The BBS network lost users, and therefore its critical mass, resulting in yet more users giving up. With no users, and almost no mail, many BBS's have closed down, and the remainder struggle to fill the gaps and keep the mail flowing.
When BBS's close, their associated nodes are lost too, and this causes other nodes to close because they no longer have any traffic to route. With fewer and fewer users on a crumbling network, there is little to attract anyone to Packet Radio!
Yet, in the commercial world, Packet Radio is growing tremendously. Vehicles, vessels, aircraft, munitions, animals and people are tracked by forms of Packet Radio. Mobile and satellite phones use Packet Radio to carry digitised speech and pictures. There are mobile data terminals in ambulances, delivery vehicles, police cars, and even on policemen's belts. Spacecraft use Packet Radio, as do Bluetooth and wireless LANs, digital radio and television. The utility companies use it for telemetry, the list is endless.
So, what's the problem with amateur Packet Radio? I think there are basically 3 problems, speed, reliability and content, although there are other issues, such as the fact that it's a hobby system with a range of skills and equipment, a lack of co-operation, and a reactionary attitude. We're stuck with 1200 baud because it is "plug-and-play". Packet in general will never go faster until cheap, higher speed data equipment is readily available. Five hundred pounds is a lot to pay for a 9600 baud TNC and compatible radio. [But £40 for a PAR96 BayCom modem and £150 for an FT1500 is not so bad - Ed]
Pure Baud rate however is not as important as the reliability problem. Most Amateur Packet Radio links are unreliable, due to packet losses. Some of these losses are due to weak signals, mismatched and badly adjusted equipment, de-sense, QRM and badly adjusted link parameters. We have to accept this, because it is a self-training hobby, we are not all experts, and we don't all have the equipment or knowledge to set things up properly.
The other main cause of packet losses is the shared nature of the radio channel. There will be packet collisions because some of the stations cannot hear each other. The regulatory authorities are partly to blame for this, because they confine data operations to small portions of the bands, and impose unnecessary restrictions within those bands. Thus we are not encouraged to develop full duplex cellular topologies as the commercial people have done.
These problems are not insurmountable. We can press for new data allocations, we can use bands which allow greater frequency splits, and we can devise better protocols than AX25.
But even if we solved the speed and reliability problems overnight, there still remains the problem of content. There's just not a lot you can do with Packet radio. Ok, so you can have a keyboard chat across town. You can watch pretty icons on your APRS map. You can watch the DX spots on the DX cluster, or read pointless argumentative bulletins from an increasingly foreign user base. You can write private mail, or you can struggle through a crumbling network to drop a message in someone's PMS. None of this is very attractive.
Although I have painted a very gloomy picture, I still believe that Packet can weather the storm and have a bright future, but it needs a radical change of emphasis.
In my view, the future of Packet Radio depends more on the content than the technology. We've long passed the stage when the technology itself was the novelty. Without content, there is no reason for the technology. Conversely, when there is desirable content, people will invest in the technology to access it.
The obvious source of content is Packet's arch enemy, the Internet. Instead of trying to compete with the Internet, or viewing it as an evil monster which killed Packet, we can instead exploit it to our advantage, and this has been the main focus of my work with Xrouter and Xserv for a number of years. These programs are designed to sit between the Internet and Packet Radio, blurring the boundaries between them.
I believe that we should take the Internet experience, that is the Web, Email, FTP, Newsgroups, global connectivity, peer-to-peer etc., and make that experience available via Packet radio. There may seem little point to this, as most of us already have the Internet, but Packet Radio has two Unique Selling Points - it is wire-less and free of charge.
You can operate Packet Radio from a vehicle or vessel, on the beach, or atop a mountain. There are already handhelds which comprise a complete Packet station, and the technology will get better, smaller and cheaper, providing there is a demand for it. To generate that demand, we must provide attractive content.
Of course there are ethical and licensing issues, so we must perform the interconnection of Packet and Internet in a responsible manner, screening out undesirable and illegal material, and preventing unauthorised access. The technological challenges are not trivial, but neither are they insurmountable.
We have already begun linking individual Packet networks together via the Internet, to form what will effectively be a global AX25 network. This improves the end user experience, firstly by providing more content, that is more systems to explore, more diversity of system, and more hams to communicate with, and secondly by providing faster, more reliable connections.
This is stretching NetRom beyond its capabilities, but I have already created and tested a new protocol called Globalnet, which will ultimately have the capability of linking anyone to anyone, wherever they roam. Globalnet facilitates the development of new applications, but I don't want to reveal too much about that at this stage.
A greatly under-used facility already provided by Packet radio is the chat server, which allows far-flung groups of amateurs to conduct real time and semi-real time keyboard chats. I haven't so far invested much time in promoting the system, but as more servers get linked and more users come on line, I believe it will become an important application for Packet radio. I have made new friends on other continents, and had many enjoyable chats via this system.
As well as making the Internet available by Packet radio, we are also doing the reverse, that is making Packet systems available via the Internet, in a careful manner of course. This allows hams to access mail, bulletins, information and chat from any Internet connection, such as during a lunch break at work, or an Internet cafe or library when away from home. It also allows SWL's and ex-Packeteers to see what's going on, and I have received several reports of people being enticed into, or back to, the Packet community, having accidentally discovered these systems on the Internet.
The present text-based user interface, where users have to remember lots of cryptic commands, is seriously outdated, although it still remains the best method for slow radio links. I have implemented browser-based interfaces to the node and BBS, which can be used via the Internet, but these won't really become viable by radio until we have faster links.
I believe that, in order to meet the demands of the future, Packet radio must use full duplex, and I hope to provide a high speed full duplex service from KIDDER soon. I realise that, at the moment, not many people have full duplex radios, so I plan initially to provide several uplinks on different bands, to allow the choice of in-band full duplex, in band half-duplex, or cross band full duplex.
It is possible that the new wireless LAN cards, operating spread-spectrum on 2.4 GHz, might feature prominently in future Packet systems, when they become more readily available. They will of course have limited range, perhaps a couple of kilometres line of sight at best, so they will not replace 2m and 70cm systems.
The raw AX25 protocol is not particularly well suited to error prone RF links, and TCP/IP is even worse in that respect. I am actively developing a new link layer protocol, based on the use of error correcting data blocks, to increase the throughput and reliability of Packet links. Forward error correction is in fact used on one of the links we were using for the demonstration to the Kidderminster and District Amateur Radio Society on 1st April 2003.
I hope I have given you a rough overview of recent and planned developments in Packet radio. There is much more that can be done, but I don't want to bore you any further...!
Copyright (c) G8PZT, 1st April 2003
Incorporating notes for new users by Richard, G0EWH and Phil, G4SPZ
Graphic Packet is a fairly long-in-the-tooth Packet terminal program which has the advantage that it will run on virtually any low-spec computer. Excellent results, in colour, have been obtained using 386 machines which are now being given away. GP will also run with a TNC or a BayCom modem, and will in fact run on computers that won't run BayCom's own terminal software. This is a useful feature.
Initial Set-up: - The first thing that the user must do is to edit the file "CONFIG.GP" with any text editor to enter the user's call sign against the "Mycall =" parameter. Also, edit the line for system time "UTC =" to either 0 for GMT or -60 for Summer time, if the PC clock is running normal time. The logging frequency for line "QRG =" should be set to your chosen frequency being used.
Start Graphic Packet by using the appropriate batch file, such as GP1TFX or GP1TFPCX (use GP2... if COM2 is the serial port to be used) depending on your choice of either TFX or TFPCX drivers.
Once GP has loaded, press
Pressing
If the Autorouter is not required or does not work, make sure that you Disconnect before trying again, in other words make sure the Connect Icon and not the Disconnect icon is shown, then proceed as follows.
The following notes are intended for those new to Packet... Click on Connect icon (or
To read any mail: - If you have mail you will be taken into Area 10 and shown the mail, unless Expert prompt is being used. Enter "R nn" where nn is the message number. It is possible to read more than one at a time by entering, for example "R 97,100,223". Note the absence of spaces after the commas. It is also possible on GB7PZT to omit the "R", just type the number; this is not the case on all BBSs.
To reply to mail: - Type "SR nn" where nn is the message number. If you wish to reply to the LAST message read, then just type "SR". No title will be asked for, as a REPLY will use the original title prefixed by "RE:"
It is possible to do multiple connects by selecting different channels. It may be that someone local sees your call and connects to you, this will then ring the PC and you will be told that a connect has been made on which channel. Change channels by using the F1 to F8 keys.
The Autorouter: - Details of this can be found in the manual, paragraphs 3.6 & 10. A typical "NAMES.GP" file is shown below and is a simple Text file.
N>KIDDER Kidderminster NODE B>GB7GLO Gloucester BBS N>KIDDER B>GB7GLO B>GB7PZT KDRBBS; N>KIDDER B>GB7PZT B>G4YUD-2 Nigel's PMS N>GB7DXC DXCLUSTER; N>KIDDER N>DXCHEL N>MLVN Malvern T>G4SPZ Phil's Packet
Many thanks, Richard. Phil, G4SPZ still has one AST Premium Exec 386SX/20 monochrome laptop available for sale to any member interested in getting started on the mode. This machine has GP installed, courtesy of Richard G0EWH, and will drive an external VGA monitor in full colour. [Contact G4SPZ @ GB7PZT for details - Ed]
Members may recall a comment in the Spring 2003 edition of WyrePak Newsletter when it was reported that running GP on a computer with Windows installed caused the clock to fail to keep correct time. No problems have been seen at G4SPZ where GP has been in use recently. In fact, the program displays a nicely-visible analogue clock face as well as the digital time display.
The following letter from G0EWH was also received at the editorial offices.
"... I don't agree with the comments about Graphic Packet (GP) and Windows on a PC with timekeeping. I know it was brought up at one of the meetings... I used GP with BayCom for a long time when I first came to Packet, and ran it on a Windows 3.11 PC, yes, under DOS but with Windows installed on the PC. I never had any problems with the PC clock and time shown on GP. I have done a lot with GP and its drivers, and did my own install disk (as on my files) and it was at version 1.63 (Y2K compliant).
I have also set it up for others, even with Windows 95, booting down to DOS and then back to W 95 via the desktop icon, and the clock was always OK. Perhaps the version of GP that gave this timekeeping problem was somewhat earlier than 1.6x..."
It was decided that the most appropriate way to recruit more members was for the Secretary to write individually to stations who were seen to be regular users, inviting them to join the Group. Phil G4SPZ will draft a suitable letter, on WyrePak headed notepaper, for approval at the next meeting. A copy of the latest newsletter will also be included. This invitation has to come from WyrePak, not G8PZT, to comply with BR68. Phil will initially write to one such station, Arthur G4VZH in Worcester who is a regular user but not a member of WyrePak nor Fourpak.
For those of you with an interest in what goes on "behind the scenes" during a Packet contact, the following describes the unnumbered and supervisory frames which you may see referred to by the following abbreviations in the "headers".
There are six types of unnumbered frames:
SABM "Set Asynchronous Balanced Mode" - Initiates a Connect between two packet-radio stations.
DISC "Disconnect" - Terminates a connection between two Packet-Radio stations.
UA "Unnumbered Acknowledge" - Receives and accepts the SABM and DISC frames described above.
DM "Disconnected Mode" - If the packet station is busy and unable to accept a connection at the moment, it rejects the SABM frame by transmitting the DM frame. A DM frame is also sent as a response to a DISC frame.
FRMR "Frame Reject" - Indicates that the source station is unable to process a frame and that the error is such that re-sending the frame will not correct the problem. This frame is rarely used.
UI "Unnumbered Information" - Allows data to be sent from a source station without a connection to the destination station. This type of frame includes beacon messages.
Supervisory frames are used to control the communications link:
RNR "Receive Not Ready" - Indicates that the destination station is not able to accept any more Information frames because of a temporary "busy" condition.
RR "Receive Ready" - Indicates that the destination station is able to accept more Information frames. Usually followed by the sequential number of the frame expected next by the receiving station.
REJ "Reject" - Used by the destination station to request a retransmission when an out-of-sequence frame is received.
Council Flat Complaints
These are (allegedly) genuine clips from British Council flat tenants complaining to the Council about problems with their accommodation...
"My bush is really overgrown round the front and my back passage has fungus growing in it."
"He's got this huge tool that vibrates the whole house and I just can't take it anymore."
"It's the dog's mess that I find hard to swallow."
"I want some repairs done to my cooker as it has backfired and burnt my knob off."
"And their 18 year old son is continually banging his balls against my fence."
"I wish to report that tiles are missing from the outside toilet roof. I think it was bad wind the other night that blew them off."
"My lavatory seat is cracked, where do I stand?"
"I am writing on behalf of my sink, which is coming away from the wall."
"Will you please send a man to look at my water it is a funny colour and not fit to drink."
"Our lavatory seat is broken in half and is now in three pieces."
"The man next door has a large erection in the back garden, which is unsightly and dangerous."
"Our kitchen floor is damp. We have two children and would like a third so please send someone round to do something about it."
"I am a single woman living in a downstairs flat and would you please do something about the noise made by the man on top of me every night."
"Please send a man with the right tool to finish the job and satisfy my wife."
"I have had the clerk of works down on the floor six times but I still have no satisfaction."
Senior Managers
A man has spent days crossing the desert without water. His camel dies of thirst and he's crawling through the sands, certain that he has breathed his last, when all of sudden he sees an object sticking out of the sand several yards ahead of him. He crawls to the object, pulls it out of the sand and discovers what looks to be an old brief case.
He opens it and out pops a genie, but this is no ordinary genie. He is wearing a Senior Manager's ID badge and a dull grey suit. "Well" says the genie. "You know how this works, you have three wishes." "I'm not falling for this!" says the man. "I'm not going to trust a Senior Manager." The genie replies "What have you got to lose? You have no transport, and it looks like you're a goner anyway!"
The man thinks about this for a minute and decides that the genie is right. "OK...I wish I were in a lush oasis with plentiful food and drink." There is a puff of smoke and the man finds himself in the most beautiful oasis he has ever seen, surrounded by jugs of wine, chilled beer and platters of delicacies. "OK kid, what's your second wish?" asks the genie. "My second wish is that I were rich beyond my wildest dreams."
There's another puff of smoke and the man finds himself surrounded by treasure chests filled with rare gold coins and precious gems. "OK kid, you have just one more wish. Better make it a good one." After thinking for a few minutes, the man says "I wish that, no matter where I go, beautiful women will want and need me." He is turned into a Tampon.
The moral of this story? If a Senior Manager offers you anything, there's going to be a string attached...
Phil, G4SPZ became GM4SPZ/M for a two-week caravan touring holiday in the far north of Scotland and Orkney this summer, and took the usual mobile packet station along. Following some of the guidelines from Eric, G8BKL, Phil attempted to connect back to the Kidderminster area using the packet network. He reports:
This was quite an interesting exercise... the first thing to note was how little packet activity there can be in some parts of the country, especially the less densely populated areas of the Scottish highlands. There were simply no packet signals audible at all in many places. I tended to leave the rig scanning between 144.850 and 144.950MHz whilst driving around, in the hope of hearing the recognisable squawk, but nothing. Secondly, when you do find a node it is more likely to contain three or four others in its nodes table. We are spoilt somewhat down here with the 200-plus to choose from at G8PZT...
Eventually, during a 3-day stay at Dornoch I found a strong signal on 144.850MHz. Plugging in the laptop showed this to be GOLSPY, the packet node at Golspie just up the coast. This node gave access to GB7NOS, the North of Scotland packet BBS, and a handful of other nodes operated by the HiPak group.
Unfortunately there were no Internet links, and despite trying very persistently I couldn't get a stable connection to all the other three nodes listed in GOLSPY's nodes table. The links were all RF, some actually on 144.850MHz, so the only route home was via the BBS and the mail forwarding system. This worked reliably, albeit slowly, with messages taking an average of three days to make the trip down to GB7PZT. The replies took a similar length of time to make their way back, by which time we had moved further north and out of range of the system. However, thanks to Norman GM4JMB, SysOp of the GB7INV Inverness BBS, the mail was kindly forwarded to me by e-mail after we had returned home!
I had hoped to operate through GB7SDY on the island of Sanday just north of Orkney main island during our stay there. GB7SDY is a direct-access BBS on 144.850MHz and is operated by Arthur, GM4PSX. I had been advised during a packet QSO with Norman that all Arthur's antennas had been blown down in a storm, and that he was either QRT or on reduced ERP with temporary aerials. In the event, no signals could be heard from Sanday.
You really have to hand it to the lads that set up and operate nodes and BBSs in remote locations where the terrain and the weather would keep most amateurs closeted in their nice warm shacks! The northern islands in particular suffer high winds and torrential rain for large periods of the year, and it takes real dedication on the part of groups like HiPak to keep on providing and maintaining the packet network in their area.
Before departure, I downloaded from the RSGB Datacommunications Committee's excellent website the full up-to-date list of nodes and BBSs. What would be a distinct advantage to the mobile packet operator would be a map showing where all the systems were located, a bit like the RSGB's repeater maps in the Yearbook. Any ideas on how one of these could be produced?
(1) Kenwood TS-140S 100 watt compact HF transceiver, boxed, DTFM mic, manuals etc. Excellent condition, little used. Offers based on £350. Also Alinco DR-M06TH 6-metre 20 watt mobile FM transceiver, boxed, mic, mobile mounting bracket and manual. Never used mobile, excellent condition. Offers based on £100. Contact Nigel, G4YUD on 01384 396219 or e-mail g4yud[at]aol.com
(2) Alinco DR-M06TH 6-metre 20 watt mobile FM transceiver, boxed, DTFM mic, mobile mounting bracket and manual. In as-new condition, £120. Please contact Phil, G4SPZ on 01299 403025 or e-mail g4spz[at]aol.com
(3) Wayne M0BRU has the following items for sale:
For further details please contact Wayne, M0BRU at m0bru[at]endurance.fsworld.co.uk
A quick update for those interested in voice modes... Paula now has an EchoLink gateway operational. Covering the Kidderminster area, the gateway operates on 434.500MHz and is accessed simply by transmitting an FM signal into it. Just call CQ and see what happens! Operating hours are limited as the NoV stipulates "attended operation". Reports would be welcomed to G8PZT.
EchoLink gives users the option of routing their calls to a distant node using standard DTMF tones. To use this facility, one option is to purchase or construct a hand-held DTMF encoder to inject audio tones into the microphone of your radio. Another, probably cheaper, option is to use a computer program to generate the tones. Such a program, 'Internet Link DTMF Player V2', is included in the comprehensive CD-ROM supplied by Maxpak with their Baycom modems (see earlier).
Well, that seems to be your lot this time, guys and gal. Thank you for your continuing support for WyrePak, G8PZT/GB7PZT and your local Packet network. Thanks to our contributors and don't forget, we're always looking for comments and contributions for the WyrePak Newsletter... please contact the editor, Phil G4SPZ at g4spz[at]aol.com or G4SPZ @ GB7PZT, 01299 403025 or pnharris[at]iee.org.
WyrePak Newsletter is compiled, edited and published by Phil G4SPZ. This issue (c) 11th August 2003