<html><body><div dir="ltr">First, kudos to WA8LMF for his development of VARAtrack. It\u2019s an interesting development (to be mentioned in Zero Retries soon).</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">...</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">
Simply\u2026 the developer of VARA has chosen to release VARA only on Windows.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Yes, VARA HF / FM can be run on other operating systems under Windows emulation. But, many (including me) consider doing so even more \u201coverhead\u201d than running native Windows in a small appliance computer that can be dedicated to VARA, exactly like what WA8LMF has identified.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">As to why use VARA HF\u2026 it\u2019s the most advanced / robust / fastest data transfer mode available for Amateur Radio HF bands (other than Pactor 4 which is only available in an expensive embedded modem appliance).</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I discussed this issue in Zero Retries 0247 - <a href="https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0247">https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0247</a>, in relation to VARA FM, but the broad issues apply equally to VARA HF also.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">One potential alternative to VARA HF is Mercury - <a href="https://github.com/Rhizomatica/mercury">https://github.com/Rhizomatica/mercury</a> but it\u2019s not yet as mature, usable, or as fast as VARA HF.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Steve Stroh N8GNJ</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Apr 19, 2026 at 21:16:07, KF4LVZ <<a href="mailto:aprssigZbr6@acarver.net">aprssigZbr6@acarver.net</a>> wrote:<br></div>
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Given the increasingly hostile behavior of Microsoft against users of <br>Windows, why is this still a Windows-only capability?<br><br>What is special about the VARA protocol that is preventing its <br>conversion to something that could be run using Linux or other hardware <br>solution like an FPGA?<br><br></div></div></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system;font-size:13px">Steve Stroh (he / him / his)<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system;font-size:13px"><a href="mailto:steve.stroh@gmail.com" target="_blank">steve.stroh@gmail.com</a></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system;font-size:13px"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system">For Amateur Radio / Zero Retries / Conference:</div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system"><b>Steve Stroh N8GNJ</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system"><div dir="ltr">Editor</div><div><b>Zero Retries Newsletter</b><br></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system"><a href="mailto://steve@zeroretries.net" target="_blank">steve@zeroretries.net</a></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system"><a href="https://www.zeroretries.org" target="_blank">www.zeroretries.org</a><br></div><div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000" face="-apple-system"><span><i>Radios are Computers - With Antennas!</i></span></font><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system"><b>Zero Retries Digital Conference</b><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system"><a href="https://www.zeroretries.org/p/conference" target="_blank">https://www.zeroretries.org/p/conference</a></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system"></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-apple-system"><i>Discussing and creating new technologies in Amateur Radio</i><br></div></div><div><br></div></div></div></body></html>