<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p><font face="Arial">After spending nearly the entire New Year's
3-day weekend twiddling TCP/IP settijngs, serial port emulators,
sound card drivers, etc, I now have the VARA high-performance
HF soft-modem working with the UIview and APRSpoint APRS
programs. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">I am using a stack of components from "VSPE"
(Virtual Serial Ports Emulator) to create a serial-to-TCPIP
bridge to connect the serial-only KISS output of UIview to the
network (TCP/IP) KISS connection provided in the VARA
soft-modem. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">For nearly 40 years, HF APRS has used classic
300-baud 200-Hz-shift HF packet (mostly on 30 meters) as it's
transmission method. However, packet is a horrible mode on HF
with poor immunity to noise and HF selective fading. </font><font
face="Arial"> I've been using the "UZ7HO Soundmodem" soundcard
"soft TNC" (arguably the best HF packet TNC - hardware or
software) for this purpose. However, it still falls far short of
modes like MFSK16 or PSK63 for weak-signal data operation. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">For about two years, I have been experimenting
with using FLdigi as a KISS modem for HF APRS on both 30 and 60
meters. 60 meters tends to be a noisy band, putting a premium
on data modes that can perform error-free at low signal-to-noise
ratios. My web site about this is here:</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://WA8LMF.net/FLdigiAPRS"><http://WA8LMF.net/FLdigiAPRS></a><br>
</font></p>
<p>Over the weekend of the 6th and 7th of January , I conducted a
road test comparing the performance of APRS over traditional HF
300-baud AX.25 packet vs APRS using the VARA modem on 60
meters. This was a 500-mile round-trip from central Michigan
(East Lansing area) to west suburban Chicago and back. VARA was
overwhelmingly superior - by least an order of magnitude! <br>
</p>
<p>The full details, including a brief background on VARA, are on a
new page on my web site at:</p>
<p> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://WA8LMF.net/APRS_VARA"><http://WA8LMF.net/APRS_VARA></a></p>
<p><br>
</p>
<hr width="100%" size="2">Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com <br>
Skype: WA8LMF<br>
EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]<br>
Home Page: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wa8lmf.net">http://wa8lmf.net</a><br>
<br>
-- APRS over FLdigi Modes --<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://wa8lmf.net//FLdigiAPRS/index.htm"><http://wa8lmf.net//FLdigiAPRS/index.htm></a><br>
<br>
60-Meter APRS! HF NVIS APRS Igate Now Operating<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14447/"><http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14447/></a><br>
<br>
Flying Digipeater!<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://WA8LMF.net/FlyingDigi"><http://WA8LMF.net/FlyingDigi></a><br>
<br>
11 Copies of UIview in Action on One Computer! <br>
Live Off-The-Air APRS Activity Maps<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://wa8lmf.net/map"><http://wa8lmf.net/map></a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><font face="Arial"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><br>
</font></p>
<p></p>
</body>
</html>