jwb@mcnc.UUCP (Jack W. Buchanan Jr.) (12/31/85)
There appears to be a price war brewing on TNC-2 contollers. My question is:
Which controllers provide complete documentation ? I would define complete
documentation as everything which was provided with the TAPR kits (except maybe
the board stuffing instructions if they were separate) plus whatever the
manufacturer/distributor thinks is helpful. A related question: Is the TAPR
documentation available separately ? How much does it cost ?
A mild flame:
For some time I have been wanting to try to develop my own TNC using some
(Intel) HDLC chips which are available to me. In spite of the wonderful claims
about info on packet which was going to appear in QST and elsewhere, I have
seen minimal technical information other than the protocol document itself.
I don't want to see "Thrills and Chills of Packet Operating" and "How Wonder-
ful is Packet". I want to see a schematic or at least a block diagram of
typical hardware approaches. I want to see some source code in any language
for any microprocessor and/or HDLC chip so I can get some ideas. I would like
to see the command structure of any working packet system so I don't leave
anything out if I roll my own. I realize the proceedings of the ARRL symposia
have some information, but most of that is how to link digipeaters in Florida
or Georgia. What happened to the homebrew spirit beyond the rank novice in
ham radio?
Jack Buchanan K4FRS
Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
UNC-Chapel Hill
{decvax, akgua}!mcnc!jwb
or " " mcnc!ecsvax!jwb (prefered mail address; ecsvax doesn't
net.ham-radio.packet so I couldn't
post this over there)
ARPA or CSNET: something like jwb.MCNC@csnet.arpa