[nos-bbs] KLMproxy - Windows TCP/IP without the IP over RF - an oldidea ...

[sv1uy]

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 12:42:26 -0500 (CDT), maiko wrote

> I have to agree here. Years ago we had 9600 activity around here, and
> all of it was done using actual DATA RADIOS - it was great. We even did
> demonstrations were we had a JNOS box running a webserver over a 9600
> bps uhf link to an internet gateway, and showed people how *quick* it
> was from the actual internet side. Very impressive (for it's time).
> 
> One of my colleagues once said, it's not so much the technology that
> is obsolete. It's the BANDWIDTH that is obsolete in packet radio !
> 
> Maiko Langelaar / VE4KLM

Hi Maiko,

Unfortunatelly the only practical 78.600 bps radios available today are the
ones that WWW.GIGATECH.DE which are for the 70cm band, they cost 186 EUROS but
they are only available as a KIT. Many packet digipeaters in Germany use them
and the germans have a great PACKET RADIO NETWORK that works really fast.

SYMEK also sells similar radios, ready made but they cost 1090 EUROS. They are
25 watts output but the cost is really high. Add an extra 300 EUROS for a TNC
with a 78600 bps modem and you are in the 1400 EURO range.

There are also the T7F radios that can go to 19200 bps and they cost 200 EUROS
ready made. This is a good speed for PACKET RADIO.

There is even the ICOM DSTAR system which is a bit pricey due to the need for
repeaters and it works on 1.2 GHZ with a data speed of 128000 bps might be a
better option if the Radio Clubs can manage to find the funds and buy
repeaters, because the mobile radios of the system (ID-1s) can also do digital
and analogue voice apart from data, and combination of the 2. These might
atract the users because they are not only for PACKET but only the mobile
terminals, the ID-1s, cost 1300 USD. Someone will have to fork out the money
for the repeaters that start from 3000 USD and I do not know many sysops that
are willing to do that. You see you can't have 3 X ID-1s make a peer to peer
network. 2 X ID-1s can work happily but more than 2 cannot and you definatelly
need a repeater.

There are many options for high speed and honest I do not understand why we
are still stuck with 1200 and 9600 bps. It might be the quarrel of the NETROM
BARONS and PACKET KINGS? I honestly do not know.  

We also have the 2.4 GHZ devices that many are using for Internet Networking,
including myself, but I personally use these for point to point home base
station links. I am not sure if they work OK in mobile environments and their
range is rather short compared with what you can do with a 78600 bps or even
the ID-1 radios, although we could form a 44 network locally with these as
well if we managed to find other interested hams around our area. I am trying
to gather the old 1200/9600 crown here in Athens but they do not seem too
bothered for PACKET RADIO these days.

I am not sure if we are lacking bandwidth and technology! We have it all, we
just don't use it unfortunatelly.

I think we should all make an effort to revive the interest in PACKET RADIO
and I think that you Maiko are doing a great job with reviving JNOS and our
interest again. 

Now if we only could persuade the old sysops to stop thinking old and the
sickened users to come back to PACKET RADIO, it would be great. I personally
will never stop trying. It is worth it.
 
---
73 de Demetre SV1UY
e-mail: sv1uy at ham.depa.gr
AX25 PBBS: SV1UY at SV1UY.ATH.GRC.EU
http://sv1uy.ampr.org/~sv1uy
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