Greetings,
On Wed, 6 Feb 2002, Bruce Marshall wrote:
> On Wednesday 06 February 2002 13:38 pm, Glenn Williams wrote:
> > If you'd like more information on becoming a licensed ham radio operator,
> > or about ham radio in general, please contact me off-list.
> >
> > </commercial message>
> >
> > 73 de Glenn
>
> Oh help.... next thing you know he's going to propose a linux.nf net net.
>
> :o)
>
> de KJ1B
Glenn (et al),
The Internet was clearly the ruination of Packet Radio. Who wanted to
run TCP/IP across 1200 baud half-duplex radio links, poorly managed
networks, often broken or failed routes, and no dynamic routing? It took
massive amounts of manpower to keep the simplest of Net-44 IP networks
running. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry who had an antenna at 20 feet thought
of himself as the BIG routing hub for his community even though he
couldn't reach more than 10 miles dependably. Everyone was congested onto
one or two frequencies because efforts to build backbone networks failed.
Once you built a backbone, everyone migrated ONTO the backbone freq and
the "hidden transmitter" problem would kill it (heaven forbid directional
antennas and PRIVATE backbones be used). Afterall, we were Hams, Radio
Engineers, we should know how to do this stuff.... NOT! Too much anarchy,
not enough organization, and too many loose cannons...
Yeah, I'm callased now, but I was very eager in the early days. I
started in Amateur Packet Radio in 1982. Worked with Den Connnors (then
President of TAPR *before* the days of Lyle Johnson) and became the Beta
Test Coordinator for S.E. Michigan. We purchased 6 "Beta" boards at $200
each, sight unseen and anxiously awaited their delivery in March 1983
(after a manufacturing flaw resulted in the scraping of all 172 boards).
We tested the Beta's, sent back or comment and problem reports to TAPR.
It was fun and exciting and had alot of promise. It was alot of fun!
Then the TNC-1 board was developed. We learned from the Beta test how
to do it better. Improved modems (Bell-202), improved software, better
state machines. I was proud to have donated my time having produced the
schematics for the TNC-1 (which Heathkit later copied and used in their
HD-4040 TNC kit, with some minor changes) and also helped with PCB design
issues. Community networks were growing, people were pouring onto the
packet channels, frequency coordination groups were assigning spectrum
space. The W0RLI PBBS systems gave use the "killer app". It was great!
The TNC-2 came out. Then licensed copies like the MFJ-1270. And a
number of knockoffs and new TNC's were becoming available. TPRS (Texas
Packet Radio Society) produced their TexNet boards. Truely the BEST
designed routing hub I had ever seen for packet radio networking. And the
Packet Clusters got into the game.
But real "networks" were still a myth. Few networks crossed more than
one state. And even then it wasn't statwide coverage, but a thin ribbon
between two major cities. Sure there were the HF nets on 20-meters. But
those were mainly for moving mail, not keyboard-to-keyboard or for file
transfers.
Then the Internet hit. At first it was a great bonus. HamGates began
to appear. These were packet radio nodes that had one or more radio ports
servicing their local community while also having an attachement to the
Internet. Each HamGate had an IP-IP encapsulation route to every other
HamGate worldwide. This made reaching any major city in the world just
one or two hops away. IP-IP encapsulation also kept unlicensed folk on
the Internet from being able to key up our transmitters. Though we really
didn't have an RF network, we did have connectivity around the world.
But the Internet was a double edged sword. It allowed us to develop a
worldwide backbone, but as ISP's started popping up everywhere people were
finding they could talk faster (MUCH faster) without having to use our
radios. Who wanted to run at 1200 baud when 28.8, 33.6, and later 56k
were available? Sure it was nice knowing you could send data over the
air, but it was tedious, slow, and often very congested. As more Hams
found the Internet they abandoned their packet Radio stations and many of
the community-wide networks fell apart.
I'm guilty here, too. I ran the Merit HamGate (hamgate.merit.edu) from
1992 until 1998. As Packet Radio use slowed I abandoned the HamGate.
Even my home Packet station hasn't been on the air in years. There just
isn't a decent network any longer and there's certainly nothing out there
of interest (to me, anyway) anymore... :-(
No, even in its hay-day, Packet Radio never developed into a feasable
network capable of handling large amounts of data in a timely fashion.
Other than email, usually delivered cross country in 1-3 *DAYS*, it
offered little else than COMMUNITY networks. And even those rarely ran at
more than 1200 baud half-duplex.
So Glenn, though I expect Packet Radio did fair better in Oz, it didn't
do so well in most places. I'm sure it will never be a replacement for
the Internet should MS/TCP come to pass ;-) Nice thought, though...
--- Jay Nugent
WB8TKL
"Those that sacrifice essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin (1759)
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