I think many people have had time to experiment with ALE 400 in ARQ mode and the feedback about the throughput has been very good. Most people have connected via arranged contacts and the use of the K3UK sked page . Several people have suggested this mode is so effective that it might be useful in emergency communication situations. So, I think it is time to seriously test ALE400 under something more elaborate than arranged contacts and keyboard chats.
I have made not secret of the fact that I think the PC-ALE software has the best capabilities of any other digital software when it comes to locating other stations. The sounding , scan, pause, decode and resume , ability of PC-ALE is amazing. For ALE400 to be useful it must be able to do some of what standard ALE via PC-ALE can do. Since Bonnie has suggested that ALE 400 should not share suggested standard amateur ALE channels, is it not time for ALE 400 users to develop a few suggested sounding and net channels? Perhaps just three, 40, 30, and 20M and begin occasional scans. Should the ALE 400 community also develop a NET CALL protocol and also establish a weekly net? I think the initial experiments have been conducted very well, time to move to the next level and see if ALE400 has any future beyond a geek plaything :>) -- Andy K3UK www.obriensweb.com (QSL via N2RJ)
