I am seeing if I can persuade myself that digital communications
protocols run over amateur radio bands might be a good thing for me to
get into. Maybe some of you guys can usefully comment.

My skills, inclinations and circumstances, which I'd probably be
wasting readers' time to go into, make it fairly clear to me that if I
were to get into amateur radio, mostly I'd interested in running an
AX.25 node that talks IP and mostly runs unattended.

So, the obvious question is, to what extent is it legally possible,
and useful to others, to do that? If both possible and useful (but
how? running a local-weather-data server? better connectivity for
everyone through another node being around?), maybe I could do some
good by studying over coming months to get started.

-- Mark

Check around with the local hams, and see if other hams share your interest.
It may be that IP over AX25 is already being done in your area, that you can
hook right up to. Without other stations (hams) to connect to though, packet
is not much fun. Also, if you do not have a well-developed sense of
community, packet will be no good for you. It is a cooperative venture, to
be part of a network of independent amateur radio operators.

The most common "newbee" mistake made by hams interested in IP packet radio
is the "loner" approach, where they do things without even checking with
other hams in the area to see whats already being done and perhaps *join in*
with the local hams in their efforts. - Participate.

Hams are generally pretty friendly. There's no guarantee of 100% acceptance
no matter what you do, but if you make an effort to work "with" the other
hams in your area, I think you will find that they are nice to work with.

Charles Brabham, N5PVL


"Mark Carroll" wrote in message
...
I am seeing if I can persuade myself that digital communications
protocols run over amateur radio bands might be a good thing for me to
get into. Maybe some of you guys can usefully comment.

My skills, inclinations and circumstances, which I'd probably be
wasting readers' time to go into, make it fairly clear to me that if I
were to get into amateur radio, mostly I'd interested in running an
AX.25 node that talks IP and mostly runs unattended.

So, the obvious question is, to what extent is it legally possible,
and useful to others, to do that? If both possible and useful (but
how? running a local-weather-data server? better connectivity for
everyone through another node being around?), maybe I could do some
good by studying over coming months to get started.

-- Mark

Check around with the local hams, and see if other hams share your interest.
It may be that IP over AX25 is already being done in your area, that you can
hook right up to. Without other stations (hams) to connect to though, packet
is not much fun. Also, if you do not have a well-developed sense of
community, packet will be no good for you. It is a cooperative venture, to
be part of a network of independent amateur radio operators.

The most common "newbee" mistake made by hams interested in IP packet radio
is the "loner" approach, where they do things without even checking with
other hams in the area to see whats already being done and perhaps *join in*
with the local hams in their efforts. - Participate.

Hams are generally pretty friendly. There's no guarantee of 100% acceptance
no matter what you do, but if you make an effort to work "with" the other
hams in your area, I think you will find that they are nice to work with.

Charles Brabham, N5PVL


"Mark Carroll" wrote in message
...
I am seeing if I can persuade myself that digital communications
protocols run over amateur radio bands might be a good thing for me to
get into. Maybe some of you guys can usefully comment.

My skills, inclinations and circumstances, which I'd probably be
wasting readers' time to go into, make it fairly clear to me that if I
were to get into amateur radio, mostly I'd interested in running an
AX.25 node that talks IP and mostly runs unattended.

So, the obvious question is, to what extent is it legally possible,
and useful to others, to do that? If both possible and useful (but
how? running a local-weather-data server? better connectivity for
everyone through another node being around?), maybe I could do some
good by studying over coming months to get started.

-- Mark

In article ,
charlesb wrote:
Check around with the local hams, and see if other hams share your interest.

There are, at least, a few other people in my state doing IP-based
stuff over AX.25, though none in my county - indeed, maybe I'll send
some e-mail around. Thanks for the suggestion!

(snip)
The most common "newbee" mistake made by hams interested in IP packet radio
is the "loner" approach, where they do things without even checking with
other hams in the area to see whats already being done and perhaps *join in*
with the local hams in their efforts. - Participate.
(snip)

Right, thanks. What would really make a difference for me is if there
was some useful community venture to which my running of a
mostly-unattended AX.25 node would valuably contribute - really,
that's the deciding factor for me, because it's not like there aren't
plenty of other non-ham technical things that offer social contact and
interesting conversation, but are easier to get into.

So, I guess that the first step really is just to ask some other AX.25
hams in my area what they're interested in. Anything from providing
servers that report local weather, to researching new routing
protocols, would interest me - I'd just be looking for enough stuff
where me providing an extra node could actually make any consequential
difference.

-- Mark

In article ,
charlesb wrote:
Check around with the local hams, and see if other hams share your interest.

There are, at least, a few other people in my state doing IP-based
stuff over AX.25, though none in my county - indeed, maybe I'll send
some e-mail around. Thanks for the suggestion!

(snip)
The most common "newbee" mistake made by hams interested in IP packet radio
is the "loner" approach, where they do things without even checking with
other hams in the area to see whats already being done and perhaps *join in*
with the local hams in their efforts. - Participate.
(snip)

Right, thanks. What would really make a difference for me is if there
was some useful community venture to which my running of a
mostly-unattended AX.25 node would valuably contribute - really,
that's the deciding factor for me, because it's not like there aren't
plenty of other non-ham technical things that offer social contact and
interesting conversation, but are easier to get into.

So, I guess that the first step really is just to ask some other AX.25
hams in my area what they're interested in. Anything from providing
servers that report local weather, to researching new routing
protocols, would interest me - I'd just be looking for enough stuff
where me providing an extra node could actually make any consequential
difference.

-- Mark