[OZAPRS] Other uses for Packet (was Re: Melbourne APRS Digipeater Status)
Richard Murnane
Richard.Murnane at internode.on.net
Fri Mar 25 21:29:26 EST 2011
On 25/03/2011, at 8:59 PM, Andrew Rich wrote:
> Can u think of other uses for packet than exist at the moment ?
I don't know if that question was directed specifically at me or the
group... but I'll have a go if it will help prompt more discussion.
But I guess if we generalise the notion of packet radio, we have a box
that can send and receive data over the air, via an attached
transceiver of course. Bob Bruninga derived APRS from that: if I
recall, his initial aim was to disseminate telemetry from remote
locations. Which is one, but obviously not the only, use of packet and
APRS specifically.
We could ponder what other kinds of data would be useful or
interesting to send via packet, though APRS covers many of the bases.
I saw an interesting article on eHam.net yesterday: "Run Your Radio as
WSPR Beacon When Idle" (http://www.eham.net/articles/25593). WSPR is
the Weak Signal Propagation Report Network: it uses RTTY and PSK.
Arguably packet might prove more reliable, at least as far as data
transfer is concerned, though it's not so hot for weak signal work.
As Howard VK4BS has mentioned (while I've been slowly typing my
reply :-), it can be useful for those rare occasions when the phone
network is down.
Interestingly, in the wake of the Sendai quake and tsunami, and the
Christchurch quake, voice networks were down or clogged (possibly
reverting to emergency-only voice traffic), internet connections were
still available, so things like Twitter could be used for other
traffic. If the phone system got really buggered, radio might be the
only means left, though these days you'd have to be talking some truly
serious damage to get to that stage. Still, Twitter is just a short
message service, not entirely unlike packet, where the 1200bps data
rate demands brevity (that's not an excuse to stay at that low speed,
mind!)
The other thing that struck me at Sendai was that people were still
using physical notice boards to post messages about loved ones etc. I
wonder if there was any formal Disaster Victim Registration in place.
For that matter, is there any good packet radio DVR software out
there? Even a smart phone app? I know Google Latitude can help people
keep track of one another, but it's not the same.
73 Richard VK2SKY
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