[digitalradio] DV Equalizer
All, Does anyone know of a good audio EQ program similar to the Romac 10 band EQ? Need one that can use different sound cards for mic / speaker input / outputs. An open source program would be ideal. The Romac 30 hour trial we're using to experiment with digital voice is about to run out. Thanks Tony - K2MO
Re: [digitalradio] DV Equalizer
On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:43:48 -0400, Tony [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: All, Does anyone know of a good audio EQ program similar to the Romac 10 band EQ? Need one that can use different sound cards for mic / speaker input / outputs. An open source program would be ideal. Take a look at the JACK audio server: http://jackaudio.org/ In particular the jackdmp version for Windows: http://www.grame.fr/~letz/jackdmp.html There are various JACK-aware applications that can do EQ, and even things like compression and filtering. A long list can be found here: http://jackaudio.org/applications JAMin is pretty powerful, as is gAlan with the LADSPA plugins. Just about all of the listed programs are Free Software and run on Linux, and some may have been ported to Windows. The Romac 30 hour trial we're using to experiment with digital voice is about to run out. Never used Romac, but I'd be very surprised if there isn't at least one Linux program with the same functionality. Asking a developer nicely may be all you need to do to get a Windows version. Or maybe get the DV ported to Linux instead? ;-) Thanks Tony - K2MO 73, Stelios, M0GLD.
Re: [digitalradio] DV Equalizer
Tony, I am using VE3NEA's Voice Shaper for SSB, with good results. I have not used it for DV. I am using a cheap earphone / mic combo, also a good performer. I do not know the Romac EQ, and I doubt I'll try it if it is time limited. 73, Jose, CO2JA --- Tony wrote: All, Does anyone know of a good audio EQ program similar to the Romac 10 band EQ? Need one that can use different sound cards for mic / speaker input / outputs. An open source program would be ideal. The Romac 30 hour trial we're using to experiment with digital voice is about to run out. Thanks Tony - K2MO
[digitalradio] Rigs that isolate rear connections for digital modes
If you have a choice in selecting a rig that will also be used for digital radio modes, you would want to give some strong consideration to the ones that support such connections. And it may not always be easy to find out from the casual specifications. I have mentioned this before, but to recap, especially for new group members. In the late 1980's my main digital rig was a Kenwood TS-440SAT with a Break out Box from the 13 pin DIN that allowed me to key the rig with VOX, or use the PTT keying line. This worked with a number of different Kantronics, AEA, and HAL products. A miniature SPST switch was installed in the BoB and positioned to the side of the rig so that I could easily flip it to turn on the microphone mute circuit that Kenwood rigs provided. Later on I used a Ten Tec Pegasus which works well with digital modes although a bit cumbersome to have rig control going on plus the digital software programs. It has a front 5 pin DIN plug, so not very esthetic, but you can select the audio source to mute the microphone circuit. More recently, I have been using an ICOM 756 Pro II which is clearly the best rig that I have found for my casual operating style. It has the ability to switch into D mode -- press and hold the SSB button to toggle. This turns off the microphone circuit, turns off the compression, and slows the tuning speed to one fourth. It is also one of the few rigs that can perform ALE scanning without relay operation. In the past I had a problem with Multipsk/DX Lab Commander where any movement of the thumbwheel of the mouse switches you out of the D mode, but there is no way to activate D mode. The programmers were not able to determine the cause, but Ham Radio Deluxe's Digital Master 780 digital sub program has solved that problem when operating with most of the popular digital modes. And it can toggle the D mode directly from the rig control. I would no longer consider any rig that did not mute the microphone when operating in digital modes, unless perhaps modifying it as Bonnie suggests. Our new ICOM 7000's did concern me as there appeared to be no D mode. But after reading the recent comments about the 6 pin DIN plug muting the microphone when the PTT is activated, prompted me to decide on using this connector in lieu of the 13 pin DIN (which uses different pin outs from the Kenwood 440 which I still have). Perhaps others may comment on Yaesu and other rigs and how well they work (or don't) with digital modes. 73, Rick, KV9U expeditionradio wrote: There are other rigs that have the same issue. I encountered this problem on an Icom IC-718. When the rear ACC port is used for audio and PTT, the microphone is live. Most ops using this rig simply disconnect the microphone while operating digital modes. That is cumbersome and eventually wears out the microphone connector. The philosophy of the application I'm using (ALE) is not only to use digital data/text mode, but also SSB selective calling and responding immediately to an ALE call with SSB voice. So, I modified the Icom HM-36 stock hand microphone. Inside the HM-36 hand mic, the PTT switch is single pole double throw (SPDT). The Common pin of the switch is ground. The Normally Open is PTT. The Normally Closed is connected to the Mic Up/Down switches (so they are inactive during PTT). I cut the line to the Up/Down switches and soldered it directly to the mic ground. Then, I soldered an additional wire to the microphone element +hot ; and the other end of the wire to the Normally Closed pin of the PTT switch (where the Up/Down switches had originally been connected). This shorts the microphone element to ground whenever the microphone PTT button is not pushed. The result is, the microphone is muted, when the ACC rear panel PTT is in use... and the microphone functions normally when the mic button is pressed. 73 Bonnie VR2/KQ6XA Announce your digital presence via our Interactive Sked Page at http://www.obriensweb.com/sked Check our other Yahoo Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxlist/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/contesting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup Yahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 270.3.0/1499 - Release Date: 6/12/2008 7:13 AM
Re: [digitalradio] Rigs that isolate rear connections for digital modes
Rick, I use my TS-2000 with three sets of connections: 1. My KAM + HF port is cabled to the 13 pin DIN connector on the back. The cable is designed to use the pins that mute the microphone when the KAM + keys the rig. 2. My (old) Rigblaster connects to the microphone jack on the front, and the Heil microphone connects to the front of the Rigblaster. There is a single audio cable from the TS-2000 speaker output to the line in on the computer. When the Rigblaster keys the PTT line the microphone is muted. There is a serial cable from the computer to the Rigblaster to allow sound card software to key the radio. 3. There is a serial cable from the computer to the TS-2000 serial connection for rig control. I do not use this much but I have tested Ham Radio Deluxe with it and it is very impressive. One time I needed to set my rig frequency down to the exact Hz and used HRD for that. It even turns the radio on and off if you want it to. Airmail can use this to set the exact frequency for RMSs (PMBOs). I do have another data connection from the VHF port of the KAM + to an ICOM IC-3200A for packet. This cable goes to the microphone jack of the IC-3200A and to the speaker plug on the back. It may be possible to use the TS-2000 for VHF data also but I have not figured out how to do that yet. All of my usage is for MARS. See you all at Hamcom! I am off to Plano! Howard K5HB - Original Message From: Rick W. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: digitalradio@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 9:04:04 AM Subject: [digitalradio] Rigs that isolate rear connections for digital modes If you have a choice in selecting a rig that will also be used for digital radio modes, you would want to give some strong consideration to the ones that support such connections. And it may not always be easy to find out from the casual specifications. I have mentioned this before, but to recap, especially for new group members. In the late 1980's my main digital rig was a Kenwood TS-440SAT with a Break out Box from the 13 pin DIN that allowed me to key the rig with VOX, or use the PTT keying line. This worked with a number of different Kantronics, AEA, and HAL products. A miniature SPST switch was installed in the BoB and positioned to the side of the rig so that I could easily flip it to turn on the microphone mute circuit that Kenwood rigs provided. Later on I used a Ten Tec Pegasus which works well with digital modes although a bit cumbersome to have rig control going on plus the digital software programs. It has a front 5 pin DIN plug, so not very esthetic, but you can select the audio source to mute the microphone circuit. More recently, I have been using an ICOM 756 Pro II which is clearly the best rig that I have found for my casual operating style. It has the ability to switch into D mode -- press and hold the SSB button to toggle. This turns off the microphone circuit, turns off the compression, and slows the tuning speed to one fourth. It is also one of the few rigs that can perform ALE scanning without relay operation. In the past I had a problem with Multipsk/DX Lab Commander where any movement of the thumbwheel of the mouse switches you out of the D mode, but there is no way to activate D mode. The programmers were not able to determine the cause, but Ham Radio Deluxe's Digital Master 780 digital sub program has solved that problem when operating with most of the popular digital modes. And it can toggle the D mode directly from the rig control. I would no longer consider any rig that did not mute the microphone when operating in digital modes, unless perhaps modifying it as Bonnie suggests. Our new ICOM 7000's did concern me as there appeared to be no D mode. But after reading the recent comments about the 6 pin DIN plug muting the microphone when the PTT is activated, prompted me to decide on using this connector in lieu of the 13 pin DIN (which uses different pin outs from the Kenwood 440 which I still have). Perhaps others may comment on Yaesu and other rigs and how well they work (or don't) with digital modes. 73, Rick, KV9U expeditionradio wrote: There are other rigs that have the same issue. I encountered this problem on an Icom IC-718. When the rear ACC port is used for audio and PTT, the microphone is live. Most ops using this rig simply disconnect the microphone while operating digital modes. That is cumbersome and eventually wears out the microphone connector. The philosophy of the application I'm using (ALE) is not only to use digital data/text mode, but also SSB selective calling and responding immediately to an ALE call with SSB voice. So, I modified the Icom HM-36 stock hand microphone. Inside the HM-36 hand mic, the PTT switch is single pole double throw (SPDT). The Common pin of the switch is ground. The Normally Open is PTT. The Normally Closed is connected to the Mic Up/Down switches (so they are
Re: [digitalradio] Keeping connected and tools in the toolbox
It appears that there has been no change to the peer to peer support in the RMSpacket. I know that when I brought this up a few years ago, the programmer was adamant that they not have peer to peer support in Telpacs because it was strictly designed to be a simple internet telnet to packet connection. The concern that others expressed at the time was that most potential or casual users would need to learn several different and rather complicated systems (packet is extremely complicated compared to other modes), and would be very risky for emergency use when you just want it to work. Airmail 2000 has been the program of choice for many who have selected packet as their main VHF mode of data transport and if we ever had enough hams to get involved with packet for emergency use, I would have to recommend that direction for now. The reason some are focusing exclusively on Winlink 2000 is that they want one solution, believe (incorrectly according to my Division Director) that Winlink 2000 is THE solution and no other from the ARRL, and consider the majority of emergency hams to be of limited knowledge, particularly with the large number of new Technician class hams who have a large learning curve and can not operate HF so will only be using VHF packet for digital. But is it possible to have enough radio amateurs who are involved with emergency communications who can actually use all these different modes and systems? I know that in our area it is not possible, but in heavily populated areas you might be able to build a core group. That is how it has been explained to me by some proponents of Winlink 2000. With the advances of digital modes, packet is not very robust and can not tolerate weak signals, thus for those of us looking forward, there may be better approaches such as NBEMS which can work with very weak signals and do it with sound card modes that are low cost. I don't know of anyone in our Section using ALE for signaling but I know of some ops who are using an 80 meter HF packet store and forward system with what seems to be very poor results based upon the number of retries. The ALE modulation, particularly the FAE400 mode, may be a far better choice, especially if a BBS type system were developed as VE5MU mentioned recently. In ALL cases, we must not lose sight of the fact that you must always have phone (voice) communications available in emergencies. Digital data plays a much smaller secondary role. To show you how absurd it can get, in our Section we have Digital Communications Coordinator who actually believes that having hams check in to his Winlink 2000 VHF only PMBO via RF or even via the internet is somehow an emergency amateur radio net. Needless to say, the Winlink 2000 (and earlier Winlink/Netlink/Aplink) systems have been around for decades, so this is nothing new. But what is new are the changing faces of new hams coming in and the loss of others who may have the most experience. So on going activities are never ending. I am very skeptical that using government funding will help a lot in developing networks with active and motivated operators. I really believe that history has shown the reverse. When radio amateurs see a value in a particular mode or system, they will support it as they overwhelmingly did with packet. Even HF Pactor was once popular (as was Amtor) but those days are gone as sound card modes really are the main direction that most of us digital operators have taken and trying to buck that trend may be counterproductive. 73, Rick, KV9U Jeff Moore wrote: If I understand your question, you want to know if 2 or more stations are connected to a gateway if they lose communication if the Internet connection goes down!? The gateways don't (AFAIK) provide peer to peer communication directly. They provide a connection point into the WL2K system to pick up or leave your Airmail. That connection between the gateways (RMS or Telpac) and the CMS servers is usually via Internet, but can also be done via packet (if it's close enough to the CMS server) or via HF/Pactor. That said, the Airmail2000 program does provide one capability that the Paclink MP program doesn't currently -- peer to peer connectivity between packet (and possibly Pactor) stations running the Airmail software. As far as packet goes that can be accomplished with a basic packet station running a terminal program of some kind. With the right terminal program, both keyboard to keyboard chat and file transfer capabilities exist. This is why I believe that the Airmail/WL2K system should be considered just one tool in the bag of Emcomm tricks to be used along with NBEMS, ALE, and other digital communication modes. The trend I see is to put all your eggs in the WL2K basket. I'm not sure that's a smart thing to do. Use the WL2K system, but also practice and use the other modes that are available for Emcomm
Re: [digitalradio] Keeping connected and tools in the toolbox
In ALL cases, we must not lose sight of the fact that you must always have phone (voice) communications available in emergencies. Digital data plays a much smaller secondary role. To show you how absurd it can get, in our Section we have Digital Communications Coordinator who actually believes that having hams check in to his Winlink 2000 VHF only PMBO via RF or even via the internet is somehow an emergency amateur radio net. This is an important point and one of the reasons that we recommend 2 meters for NBEMS whenever it is feasible, because on 2 meters, you can mix voice and data on the same frequency. In addition, although we are improving NBEMS support on HF with a new static-robust mode (soon to be released), 2 meters is still the band of choice for fastest transfers and dependable point-to-point circuits. 73, Skip KH6TY NBEMS Development Team
Re: [digitalradio] HF-to-HF direct relay, and HF SMTP email
Questions: I have often wondered why they are called pilot stations. That sounds like they are the early experimental ones? Or does that mean something else? What is the real difference between using SMTP vs Winlink 2000's network? What does it mean for the users? It would seem that going through the HFLink system and then the Winlink 2000 system would add unnecessary layers of complexity to a very complex system and internet routing. What does it mean when you say according to the needs and availability of the resource? 73, Rick, KV9U expeditionradio wrote: Hi Jeff, The HFN Pilot Stations (Global ALE High Frequency Network) provide HF-to-HF relay of text messages, Winlink two-way text email, as well as SMTP outgoing-only text email, and control-op keyboarding. It is up to the originating operator to pick which method to use, according to the needs and availability of the resource. Bonnie VR2/KQ6XA
Re: [digitalradio] Keeping connected and tools in the toolbox
Skip, I haven't seen any NBEMS postings yet. When the new mode is released I'll add it to DM780. Simon Brown, HB9DRV -- From: kh6ty [EMAIL PROTECTED] In addition, although we are improving NBEMS support on HF with a new static-robust mode (soon to be released), 2 meters is still the band of choice for fastest transfers and dependable point-to-point circuits.
[digitalradio] UK/EU Frequency for FDMDV ??
What is the uk/eu working frequency and usb/lsb for fdmdv ? tnx - G ..
[digitalradio] Re: UK/EU Frequency for FDMDV ??
--- In digitalradio@yahoogroups.com, Graham [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What is the uk/eu working frequency and usb/lsb for fdmdv ? tnx - G .. thats for 1.8 3.8 7 mhz ???
[digitalradio] New release (4.9) of MULTIPSK (DGPS, Packet digipeater, ALE DTM and DBM, ARQ FAE improvement, CHM help files...) + a paper about APRS
New release (4.9) of MULTIPSK RX/TX: PSK10/BPSK31-63-125-250/QPSK31-63-125-250/CHIP (64/128)/PSKFEC31/PSKAM10-31-50/PSK63F - PSK220F + DIGISSTV Run/DTMF/CW/CCW/CCW-FSK/THROB/THROBX/DTMF/MFSK8/ MFSK16 (+ SSTV)/MIL-STD-188-141A (+ARQ FAE)/ALE400/OLIVIA/CONTESTIA/RTTYM/ VOICE/JT65/DominoF DF/DominoEX/MT63/RTTY 45/75/ RTTY 50+SYNOP+SHIP/ASCII/AMTOR FEC/ PACKET 110-300-1200 + APRS+ DIGISSTV Run/PACTOR 1-FEC/PAX+PAX2 + APRS/ FELD HELL/PSK HELL/FM HELL (105-245)/HELL 80/HF-FAX/SSTV/ RX only: AMTOR ARQ/NAVTEX/RTTY 100 to 200/1382/GMDSS DSC/ACARS (VHF)/DGPS DSP: Filters + CW binaural reception PSK Panoramic (BPSK31/BPSK63/PSKFEC31): RX 23 channels simultaneously CW Panoramic: RX 8 or 23 channels simultaneously RTTY Panoramic: RX 8 RTTY QSO decoded simultaneously on 22 channels Programmation of Multipsk reception TCP/IP digital modem CLOCK 1.8.1 (FRANCE-INTER, DCF77, HBG, RUGBY, WWVB, WWV, WWVH, CHU, JJY, GPS, Internet) MULTIDEM 2.1.2 Modulator/demodulator for DSB and SdR transceiver Pour les francophones: la version française de ce message se trouve sur mon site (http://f6cte.free.fr). Il suffit de cliquer sur le lien Principales modifications (courriel avertissant de la sortie de la nouvelle version). Hello to all Ham and SWL, The new releases of MultiPSK (4.9), Clock (1.8.1) and MultiDEM (2.1.2) are on my Web site (http://f6cte.free.fr). The main mirror site is Earl's, N8KBR: http://www.eqth.info/multipsk/index.html (click on United States Download Site). Another mirror site isTerry's: http://www.hamshack.co.uk/ Multispk associated to Clock are freeware programs but with functions submitted to a licence (by user key). The main modification of CLOCK 1.8.1 and MultiDEM 2.1.2 is the replacement of the old help system (based on .HLP files) by a new help system based on .CHM files, this to be Vista compatible. The main modifications of MULTIPSK 4.9 are the following: 1) Decoding of the professional mode DGPS (limited to 5 mn without Multipsk licence) Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) permits to improve the GPS accuracy (down to several meters). It uses a network of fixed ground based reference stations to broadcast the difference between the positions indicated by the satellite systems and the known fixed positions. The DGPS stations frequencies are situated between 283.5 and 325 KHz. See specifications further on. 2) Addition of a Packet repeater function (limited to 10 mn without Multipsk licence) This Digipeater function works in 1200, 300 and 110 bauds. The repeater has a presence signalling function (one UI frame F9XYZ IS READY TO REPEAT ANY PACKET FRAMES per minute). It is reminded that Multipsk has also an APRS repeater in 1200, 300 and 110 bauds. 3) For ALE/ALE400, addition of ARQ DTM/DBM messages, non limited in length. This way to send and receive a message is available on PCAle, MARSAle and several transceivers. The DTM or DBM message can be transmitted either in non-ARQ or in ARQ mode. In ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) mode, there is no error in the transmission of the message. Each frame is transmitted until being acknowledged by the other Ham program. However after 7 retries, the link is considered as broken and the transmission stopped. ARQ DBM is the advised way to send messages. Note: the new ALE frequencies are on http://www.hflink.com/channels Here are several among the proposed ones: 3596.0, 7040.5, 10145.5, 14109.0, 21116.0 Khz 4) For ALE/ALE400, in ARQ FAE, the new protocol 1.5 (in my WEB site) will allow the user to establish a fast link and to exchange with another Ham, still in linked state: * conversation (chat) error-free messages, * mails with ou without files (small compressed pictures, for example), * APRS positions, with automatic display on the APRS map on reception. 5) for ALE/ALE400 in ARQ FAE responder, possibility for the responder to automatically send a pre-defined file. This can permit, for example, by connection to the responder to receive an updated measurements file, the file being transmitted without error. 6) APRS and SYNOP/SHIP maps: a very easy and quick way to do maps matched to the user's needs is to use the WEB application http://www.sailwx.info/maps/shipplotter.phtml. After having prepared the map you want, you have no more that to download the image file (.JPG) and the calibration file (.CLB) in the sub-directory MAPS of the Multipsk directory. Of course the mantissa of both files must be the same (for example: France.JPG and France.CLB). The CLB files will be recognized and taken into account by Multipsk. 7) Replacement of the old help system (based on .HLP files) by a new help system based on .CHM files, this to be Windows Vista compatible. For the ones interested by APRS, I have written a small English paper called APRS_easy_with_Multipsk. In this document it will be found 4 snapshots of Multipsk screen with indications to the how to operate , and which show the basic
[digitalradio] Re: Mail Clients for Emcomm
PSKmail http://pskmail.wikispaces.com/ has quite a few features http://pskmail.wikispaces.com/features including Evolution mail client support, a chat mode and APRS inter-operability. It is also free under the GPL.nbsp; It does not require an Internet connection to function. Robert KB5UPA
[digitalradio] Motorola iBoard
Guys, Has anyone been able to adapt the Motorola iBoard (folding keyboard for the Nextel phones) to use with a Dell Pocket PC?? Rod KC7CJO
Re: [digitalradio] HF-to-HF direct relay, and HF SMTP email
Hello Rick, Your tone makes me suspect this is yet another attack on a system you do not understand or care for, but I'll assume your questions are sincere and try to answer them. :-) I have often wondered why they are called pilot stations. That sounds like they are the early experimental ones? Or does that mean something else? We also used the term anchor stations. Pilot as in guide. Known functional, debugged, available on published frequencies, with operators committed to helping new stations work out kinks in their setup. One of the biggest issues with new digital modes is for people to have a known good station to test against. I've fought this with friends, where you don't know if either of you have it right. ALE usage on ham bands really took off once we had stations available for connect 24x7. I know from past posts you do not believe this, but I see the activity and new stations every week. No deep dark science, the pilot stations idea came out of a conversation Bonnie and I had when I commented it was much easier to get an ALE station running on MARS since there were multiple stations available 7x24. We agreed we needed this for the ham side, kicked around some concepts, and the Pilot station approach was born. For what it's worth, anyone wanting to be a pilot station has to meet several criteria including: History of 7x24 availability, multi-band capability, commitment to participate for N months, Internet access, etc. They also happen to be messaging/bbslink backends and are part of our core infrastructure. Unlike some other messaging systems, we operate on common frequencies. We've also focused on obtaining geographic coverage. Right now we have very good coverage of N/Central America 7x24. We don't need 14 pilot stations in 4 or 6 land, etc. We are actively looking for stations to come on in EU, AP, S America, Africa, etc. There are hams active on ALE in these areas, but other than OZ and HK none have made the commitment to be a pilot station. What is the real difference between using SMTP vs Winlink 2000's network? What does it mean for the users? 1) Redundancy. You can route messages directly via the internet, or via winlink. ISP's can have outages, etc. Redundancy is always good 2) Like it or not, winlink is the defacto emergency messaging system for most hams, and certainly for MARS. So having WL2K inter operation was important, and it allows non-pactor stations to communicate with the EOC's, etc. 3) Like it or not, the WL2K infrastructure is a known, defined, and functional messaging system built around the ham BBS paradigm. At it's heart is the same W0RLI/F6FBB BBS interface, and it's easy to interface to It would seem that going through the HFLink system and then the Winlink 2000 system would add unnecessary layers of complexity to a very complex system and internet routing. See above. Multiple network paths and inter operation/bridges are a good thing. They add no complexity to the users. Accessing the WL2K messaging infrastructure is no more complicated than sending via SMTP, and a very large percentage of the ham HF email userbase is active on WL2K. What does it mean when you say according to the needs and availability of the resource? There were several design objectives to the HFLink MARS ALE bbslink system: 1) Support of HW ALE radios. They are pretty much locked out of pactor, multi-line messaging, etc. You can send, receive, list, delete messages from a HW ALE radio over ALE/BBSlink 2) Some radios/software do not have DBM/DTM capability. Some controllers have it, but it's not quite right in terms of compatibility. So again, we support AMD as a least common denominator while extending into DBM, then HW TNC modes, and ultimately the full suite of mil protocols. On MARS we will extend into the high speed modems as well since they are legal there. 3) Sometimes you need a single line, sometimes more. AMD works great, is available to pretty much all HF ALE stations. We still use it quite a bit even though the multiline modes are available. Have fun Alan km4ba / afa2ns
Re: [digitalradio] HF-to-HF direct relay, and HF SMTP email
Alan, I would have to say that your belief that there is some tone in my message is unwarranted. Everything that I comment on is hopefully as transparent as possible. It is true that many of us don't care for some of the puff and exaggeration that is sometimes promoted. But I know that in talking with you in the past, your responses seem very reasonable and knowledge based. I probably understand the system at least as well as most digital hams and have asked many, many questions, some of them privately. How you can somehow view this as an attack seems over the top, especially for you. (For some others in your group, anything that is not glowing support is viewed as being negative). For the record, I did not find an explanation of the Pilot station on the web site where one would think it would be clearly explained and I appreciated your clearing this up. I do not share the view that having multiple networks is necessarily good if that makes things more complex (increases the potential for failure). These networks do fail and they sometimes have long delivery times, but the promoters tend to gloss over such information and make it sound like there is 100% up time. There up time is very good, but nothing is perfect. If I send a message with one system and the message does not go through, then I suppose I could try another system as an alternative. But would I even know that there is a problem? Probably not until much later, and by then (hours later) the message that was bottlenecked, may be finally getting through. You did not mention it, but isn't the main value of using the Winlink 2000 systems is the ability to route traffic through many different methods, primarily internet, but also VHF and HF and find the recipient at any point in the system, even if they change location? Just like having web based e-mail vs. fixed ISP e-mail. No other system has this feature. By the way, another ham and I have tried to use the HFLink system recently. He had trouble connecting but later in the day was eventually able to do it and I received duplicate messages just short of an hour after he sent them. Not too bad for time, although this was a one line message. He was able to use the ARQ mode and should have been able to send a much longer message. I also tried to connect with several of the Pilot stations, but no luck so far. I have been able to do this in the past. I sincerely believe that it is vital to have many available stations so that you have redundant NVIS coverage as well as longer skywave propagation for those more isolated areas or due to conditions at that moment. Otherwise you wind up being like existing systems which could be very difficult to connect to when you need HF connectivity. Especially if you have an emergency station operating on lower power with mediocre antennas! Many of us are surely impressed with the tremendous dedication it takes to set up and maintain a 24/7 operation. I know that I appreciate this very much. Few hams operate digital modes, but almost none will take on that kind of responsibility. For example, some of us have considered a Winlink 2000 Telpac (Packet RMS) at one time, but did not do it. Setting up an HF system that is constantly monitoring many frequencies on different bands and can suddenly start transmitting at any time, means that personal operation may have to curtailed. One local ham had an experimental Telpac for a while but eventually felt that having a Linux based IRLP node might be better for more practical use. I really don't see much happening in our area with Winlink 2000 on HF, but I know that some hams in the Section do use it for VHF. The tremendous advantage that HFLink has is the sound card access and Winlink 2000 does not. It is that simple. They do not compete since HF Winlink 2000 is simply not available to 99% of hams and HFLink is available to at least a few percent which would include nearly all of us on a group such as this one that has radio amateurs who are interested in digital modes, even if not necessarily emergency use today (but there is always tomorrow:) I knew that you were planning to go to a full blown e-mail messaging system, but either this has not been promoted by your group (which seems unlikely) or I completely missed it. I am not sure how you use these different modes: AMD, DTM, and DBM, or why, but is this automatically done when you connect depending upon the size of the message and whether you have certain kinds of software? I have standardized on Multipsk for any ALE/FAE operation. Does this software work transparently to set up the correct modes? 73, Rick, KV9U Alan Barrow wrote: Hello Rick, Your tone makes me suspect this is yet another attack on a system you do not understand or care for, but I'll assume your questions are sincere and try to answer them. :-) I have often wondered why they are called pilot stations. That sounds
