John, We have gone over some of this a number of times, but perhaps you missed it. The Winlink 2000 programmer abandoned further work on the SCAMP mode because there is mostly one programmer as they don't work with many other hams on this. The have a closed view of the system and has been told to me, they can not allow others to know too much of the details because a malicious person could take the whole system down. Thus the security.
The programmer had to work on the huge job of redoing the CMBO (Central Mail Box Office) into the new CMS (Central Message Server) to increase the redundancy of the system from two in the U.S. to two in the U.S. and one in some other country with a potential for a total of 8 CMS's worldwide. Now they are redoing the PMBO (Participating Mail Box Office)'s into RMS (Radio Message Servers) but I am not sure how things are going on that change. The programmer did indicate that he planned to release SCAMP as a GPL. It appears that he is legally bound to do so two years ago, but I hope that he will want to do this to advance the radio art, rather than keep this away from others. The main issue is to replace or add to the RDFT protocol with another protocol that can run well for different conditions. The SSTV folks abandoned RDFT after OFDM modes were developed as they work slightly better, perhaps 3 db or so with similar throughput. If you are on 3585, you are in the automatic area of the band, so you might expect some competition there. Even if a SCAMP replacement is developed for Winlink 2000, it is not going to replace P modes any time soon, since P modes are still likely to outcompete anything that can be developed by the amateur programming community. And there is a huge investment of $1000 modems that are not going to be abandoned unless something else proves to be better. There is no Winlink 2000 organization that you can work from within. It is basically a closed group of maybe half a dozen (at most) owners. They dictate all the terms to the amateur community and tell us how we are to use their system, who can have a CMS or PMBO, etc. There aren't that many SCS modems around. Some areas have invested in them, but most have not. P1 can be used for emergency use with some HF PMBO's and they will lift the 30 minute time limit for using their system in some cases. The ARRL proposal was not accepted by the FCC. For some reason, there are folks like you who seem to suggest that ARRL was behind the recent FCC changes. They were not. Their proposal was much more modest than the bizarre decision by the FCC to make things worse for the new modes. Hope to work you again on the digital frequencies if and when I get my Linux system running anything digital:( 73, Rick, KV9U John Bradley wrote: > Hey I'm one of the first to complain about WINLINK knocking out a QSO, > and it is usually during a DX contact that it happens > > What I can't understand is the constant complaining about big bad old > winlink, with the arguments going around and around. > I don't have to operate in the middle of the automatic stations. I > have a VFO and can go down below 3590, and find good > QSO's between 3580 and 3590, or go to a different band. > > I know that I have the right to operate digital modes where I please, > but common sense also says why fight QRM? > > WINLINK is not going to disappear, and any new ARQ mode to replace > Pactor 2 and 3 will have to supported by the WINLINK folks > Nobody really seems to know what happened to SCAMP, maybe the P3 modem > builders made him an offer he couldn't refuse? > There are authors out there quietly woking away on new stuff, like > 141A and RFSM2400 which show some promise and deserve > support from the digital community. > > If I were a US ham right now I would want to do several things: > > * Instead of trying to burn winlink at the stake, work from within the > organization to try and reduce the frequencies used on 80M > Honey always works better than vinegar. > * Mount a concerted campaign with local Homeland Security offices, > talking about the lack of data frequencis for emergency use, > especially for all those > fancy P3 modems that they bought. Point out how much better it > would be with another 25 or 50 kHz of bandwidth to 3650. > * Another campaign with the politicians, same argument, but pointing > out how the federal bureaucrats (FCC) have put the US at risk. > *ARRL? they know not what they do. Not much to do except plot a > revolution and/or run for office. > > The thought crossed my mind as I went through the 75 or so emails over > the past few days as to how many of the authors actually > use digital modes on the air........... > > John > VE5MU > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.8/714 - Release Date: > 3/8/2007 10:58 AM > >
