dna@dsd.UUCP (David Altekruse) (12/04/84)
M 12710 Tom Clark (W3IWI,2976) 11/27/84 11:30 PM L:20
KEYS:/VADGC DIGIPEATER INFO/
TO: (Group 95)
Last week I put out the announcement that we (AJ9X,W3GXT and I)
believe that we know have the magic Cap'n Midnite Decoder Ring that
makes bullet-proof digipeaters out of VADG TNC's. I have confirmed
that AJ9X would be willing to supply the code on 8" SSSD CP/M disks
for assembly with MAC.
Also, we have located a small stash (about 10) VADG bare boards (they
were on consignment to Steve, W2FPY). This weekend, we took possesion
of what we believe to be the last remaining stock on the east coast
(including documentation). The cost is $25 (which has to find its way
to Steve since he bought them out of his own pocket!) plus shipping.
The person to contact is:
Mike Bruski, AJ9X
5488 Wild Lilac
Columbia, MD 21045
If you want Mike to clone the software, send a diskette and a postage
contribution to the same address. I'm hoping that we will get W3GXT
to write up his nifty watchdog timer and W3IWI will provide a hint on
using 2716's as fast pseudo 2708's.
Tom
C2970 CC8 Tom Clark (W3IWI,2976) 11/27/84 11:34 PM L:55
KEYS:/EASTNET (MD-DC-VA-NJ-PA DIVISION) NEWS/
EASTNET News de W3IWI
Thought you all might be interested in recent activities from the MD-
DC-VA-NJ-PA part of the East Coast packet radio network (a.k.a.
EASTNET).
On Sunday, Nov. 25 about a dozen active packeteers from MD (Balto/
Wash), southern NJ (Camden/Phila) and south-eastern PA (Harrisburg)
met at a rest stop on Interstate 95 near the MD/DE border
(approximately equidistant from the three centers) for the purpose of
coordinating EASTNET activities.
One of the major topics was a discussion of the various digipeaters
we now have available. The critical "hub" of communications for
inter-center communications is the WB4APR-6 digipeater located at Elk
Neck, MD (at the head of Chesapeake Bay). This remote system has been
a bit ill for the past few weeks (it's receiver was about 7 kHz high)
but it is now back in full action following a freq-tweak party.
Reports were given on local digipeaters on the EASTNET 145.01
frequency in the 3 areas. W2FPY-7 is now operational from Hopewell,
NJ to serve as a relay northward in NJ. A Camden,NJ location has been
picked to serve the Philly area better. In Harrisburg PA, WA3KXG is
now operational. In the Balto/Wash area, WB4JFI-5 (primarily for DC
area) and W3VD-5 (near Columbia MD) are operational. W3GXT-5 is on
experimentally in NE Balto. and K3JYD has plans for a southern MD
digipeater that could link to Richmond.
The next topic of discussion concerned packet bulletin board systems
(PBBS). WB2MNF (SNJ/Philly) and W3IWI (Balto/Wash) are running the
latest W0RLI Xerox 820 PBBS software with automatic inter-BBS
linking. In the Balto/Wash area, KS3Q provides backup to the W3IWI
PBBS. WB4APR-5 serves as a gateway to 10 MHz, and occasionally W3IWI
provides a TelePort gateway thru the AO-10 satellite. After sorting
out PBBS user lists, considerable discussion ensued on efficient use
of this linking capability.
It is becoming very obvious that 145.01 is becoming clogged in the
major metropolitan areas. We decided to recommend that users QSY to
145.03 or 145.05 whenever they have simplex paths available. It was
also decided that the PBBS's should continue to operate on the 145.01
"prime" frequency until such time as the PBBS software supports QSY
on request.
The topic of beacon messages and CW ID's provoked a good discussion.
Since the FCC has dropped the CW ID requirement for users, it was
decided that we should recommend that ALL stations cease CW ID ASAP.
There was some discussion (and an action item to review the FCC
rules) to see if dedicated digipeaters really had to have CW ID's --
after all, their call is emplanted in each and every digipeated
packet (albeit in HDLC). It was also agreed that all user beacons be
discouraged except for PBBS/Gateways who need to send "Mail for:..."
beacon messages periodically. It was further agreed that there is no
need for digipeaters to send beacon messages at all.
A lot of hope was expressed that we soon begin implementing 220 MHz
(or higher) links for the "backbone" communications. The long-haul
links could profit from not having to contend with local area users
and also from higher speed data transmissions.
All in all, it was a great way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. All
agreed that it was well worth the 50-100 mile trip to get together
and plan to do it again after the new year.
C2970 CC9 Tom Clark (W3IWI,2976) 11/27/84 11:36 PM L:35
KEYS:/PBBS LINKING/W0RLI KUDOS/
This is an unsolicited "attaboy" kudo for Hank Oredson, W0RLI. Most
of you know that Hank has taken on the task of writing a super packet
bulletin board system (PBBS) which runs on a virgin Xerox 820
equipped with 8" disks with a TAPR TNC.
In the MD/DC/VA/NJ/PA area, we have 3 of RLI's PBBS on the air. Mine
was the first (September) followed a few weeks later by Jon, WB2MNF
(Philly/Camden area) and most recently by my neighbor Dick, KS3Q (who
provides backup support for me when I have to be out of town).
Hank's latest software (release 7.2) is SUPER !!! In release 6.x
Hank added a double TNC gateway capability (W0RLI and K7PYK have used
the gateway extensively). After Jon and I got release 6.2 on, we
realized the need to be able to forward messages between our PBBS's.
After on-the-air discussions with Jon, he wrote a note to Hank which
I forwarded via EIES after adding some additional comments. Jon's
suggestion was for a scheme which would permit scheduled linking
between PBBS's. During the time this link is enabled, all messages
addressed to users of the other PBBS would be automatically forwarded
(each PBBS would maintain a list of the other PBBS's users).
Last week (about 2 weeks after sending him our request) Hank told me
via EIES that he had implemented our suggestions and a disk was in
the mail. WB2MNF and I put the new system on the air over the weekend
and it works!!! The W3IWI/WB2MNF/KS3Q PBBS (ab)users are enthralled!
Therefore thru the PBBS channels we now have a real network being
built. Hank's scheme will work over any number of hops providing that
each node knows the routing to the next node for each possible user.
Thus if I were to send a message to W1AW and knew that a route via
PBBS's A,B,C and D would get it there, and providing that A shows
W1AW in his B user list, B shows W1AW in his C user list, etc, then
the message will be forwarded completely automatically. We have
already tried some triple links between Jon, Dick and I.
For those of you who want to get a PBBS on the air with no hassle
and little cost, contact W0RLI (yes, he is on EIES) -- I think you
will be as impressed as we are.
Thanks, Hank -- keep up the good work!