Andrew O'Brien wrote: > --- In [email protected], N2QZ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >>KV9U wrote: >> >> >>>Bob's point is well taken. >> >>Bob's point is without merit. The specifications are public and no > > one > >>is keeping you or anyone else from implementing your own decoder. > > In > >>fact, independent decoders capable of all three PACTOR family modes >>already exist: >> >>http://www.wavecom.ch/downloads/PDF/W61Brochure_internet.pdf >> > > > Thanks for posting this [Nick]. Let me make sure I understand it, are > you saying that PACTOR I, II, and III are not proprietary ? Anyone is > free to make their own "box" ?
I don't have a definitive answer on that. For starters, I'm not a lawyer, so take this reply with a grain of salt. To begin with, I couldn't find a US patent covering PACTOR. There may be an international patent covering it, or a US patent that my search didn't find. If anyone can point me to a relevant patent please do so. Assuming that there is a patent, it likely covers a modulation scheme for encoding PACTOR or some subset of the PACTOR modes. If that's the case, then a decode-only device is likely legal since a decoder does not modulate a signal. Assuming that any such patent also covers demodulation (which my admittedly vague knowledge of patent law tells me is unlikely), you could still legally license PACTOR from SCS. It may be tedious and costly to do so, but it's not impossible. So, it's my uneducated opinion that a third-party decoder would be legal. Certainly the Wavecom device I cited earlier is undeniable evidence that it's possible to do it, given enough motivation. I'm sure the Wavecom folks didn't sit around griping about PACTOR on Internet reflectors, they decided they wanted to decode PACTOR and got down to the hard work of actually doing it. I'm off to Field Day, hope you all have fun! -- 73 de Nick N2QZ Section Traffic Manager, Eastern New York Section FISTS #11469 SKCC #1027 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/XISQkA/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/ELTolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Need a Digital mode QSO? Connect to Telnet://cluster.dynalias.org Other areas of interest: The MixW Reflector : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup/ DigiPol: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipol (band plan policy discussion) Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
