David, The thing that I find particularly attractive about WINMOR is that it is an open sound card protocol and it can be used in three forms:
200 Hz, 500 Hz, and 2000 Hz modes. Putting this capability together with its automatic adaptibility for conditions, it may be the break though of the year for e-mail messaging. It will not require user knowledge of error correction and FEC, etc., since that will be done automatically, just like it was for the SCAMP mode a number of years ago. What it may not have is the emergency features that I see in PSKmail which is peer to peer messaging and chat along with ad hoc server deployment which can never be possible with Winlink 2000. Put the right protocol with the right solutions and you have a fantastic synergy not possible with any other protocol. I don't think that many of us can agree with you about new sound card modes not having a future on ham radio unless they are of a certain type. They just have to be the right protocol that solves an actual need. 60 meters is off the table at this point since you can not even use emergency data modes on those frequencies. What may die is Pactor modes. Having one protocol sourced by one foreign entity is not a good thing. Open source solutions are a good thing. Will many hams use and actually practice using NBEMS? Thus far I have had no luck in my local and regional area. But then again, I can not even get the NTS folks to consider digital messaging other than Pactor, HI. I don't have any interest in NTIA and no one in our area is much involved with non amateur emergency traffic. I suspect that many areas have the same situation. But I appreciate your comments and they are important issues to discuss. 73, Rick, KV9U Moderator, HFDEC (Hams for Disaster and Emergency Communications) yahoogroup David Little wrote: > Skip, > > I use FLARQ and FLDigi on the FT-2000 Data Management Unit, when I > boot it from Linux. > > It allows me to do digital modes without an external computer. The > DMU also is networked via Ethernet. > > I was looking at MT-63 2K with FLARQ when WINMOR was announced, but > since it was a 2K wide protocol, I never gave it any more > consideration, as it would just be treated as the same annoyance, just > with different tonal qualities. > > Winlink has no future on Amateur radio spectrum. > > Anything more complex than RTTY or BPSK has little future on Amateur > spectrum. > > Other than a small core of folks willing to take the time to learn > something about ARQ, FEC, redundancy, error correction, and what makes > up a dependable transport layer - There is little future of any > digital mode with the complexity necessary to be efficient in times of > need. > > I do wish you well. I applaud what you are doing, but you are playing > to a hostile crowd if you expect to deploy any digital mode more > complex than RTTY or PSK on the Amateur Radio Spectrum. No matter > what it is, what it sounds like, what it carries, where it is going, > or where it came from; it is "Automated" or "Common Carrier" traffic. > Even the legitimate traffic on frequencies that amateur radio is the > secondary user of; same thing; always "automated" or "common > carrier". A very intelligent mantra, often used to describe > legitimate traffic by the primary users. > > The Common Carrier and Automated crowd are really having a hard time > dealing with 60m, and the majority of them haven't been able to find > it yet.... > > As I have stated before, I will use the amateur spectrum to do the > radio checks, and the NTIA spectrum to move the traffic. > > At present, I can handle the entire County EOC with one rig and > antenna, while having another rig and antenna devoted to Voice > operations. We have both Pactor III and Sound Card modes there, > multiple rigs, multiple antennas and in the same room as the 911 > operators and dispatchers. the EOC is a 5 second walk away in the > same building, and I can run much of the station remotely from a VPN > within the EOC complex. > > We have similar stations, with similar capabilities purchased for the > 2 hospitals. > > I have a similar (only better) station at home; currently minus Pactor > III, which I sold my SCS gear last year in anticipation of WINMOR. If > I can pick up another SCS controller reasonable, I will add it back > into my portable kit. > > We will have communications with the Air National Guard that will > handle distribution to the POD sites, as well as the NECN (National > Emergency Communications Network) which will give direct contact with > FEMA, the State EMA and all the alphabet soup entities. Outside of > that, traffic can be moved via voice on SHARES to the same entities, > then by voice or digital on the MARS circuit, and locally via VHF to > the amateur frequencies. We have licensed County police radio cars, > as well as portable VHF stations with antenna launching kits to help > with the local stuff until we can get the local amateur volunteers to > relieve them to allow them to return to patrol. The County Police > Chief, EMA Manager and EOC staff are all on board, and have funded the > EOC station out of county funds. We are in the process of further > training to merge their method of operations into the rules governing > the amateur radio license that they must hold to operate one of the > vhf stations. Out of the 50 we licensed last year, some are moving > toward general. I also work with 2 TSA Hurricane Coast Airports in > 2 states, where some of their employees have elected to get amateur > licenses and join the MARS program. > > All the important traffic will be moved in binary format, properly > formatted on NTIA spectrum. > > There is no common carrier or automated when it comes to NTIA > spectrum. They are pretty much beyond that, and tend to concentrate > on draining the swamp. > > I tried it on the Amateur spectrum, and found the alligators to be too > much of a distraction. > > Again, I do applaud you efforts and really wish you the best. For the > meantime, I will be working with the transport layer that is already > in place, on spectrum that allows it to be utilized. > > If the Amateur community embraces NBEMS, we will add that > compatibility into the setup. > > David > KD4NUE > > >
