If ‘COWS’ could fly
Flying cell sites bring connectivity back to the masses post disaster and companies lead the innovation.
Another nail in the EmComm coffin
Savvy products from notable vendors continue the trend of empowering anyone well removed from cell and amateur radio infrastructure with communications capabilities.
FRACK and the SCS Tracker DSP TNC manual
Instruction manuals for electrical devices often take last place in priorities when time comes to actually write them. Such is the case with the SCS Tracker DSP TNC.
Plug and pray Linux USB serial ports
Problems with a failing USB connection to our 30m TNC are resolved, for now, with an ad hoc solution of rearranging where the USB ports plug into the Linux system.
HF packet system or bust
Waiting for a spot on the mountain shouldn’t prevent adding tremendously useful HF access to the VAPN system so that’s exactly what we are going to do in the lowlands.
September 2017 status report
Negotiations for hill top space continue while we consider adding HF to the current 2m prototype.
Final reckoning of several Field Day NTS radiograms
Three months after the 2017 ARRL Field Day, several radiograms are finally delivered to their recipients despite the mystery revolving around moving NTS messages digitally.
The deception of 1200 & 9600 radio settings
Radio manufacturers use digital jargon to obscure the actual analog behavior of FM transceivers thereby misleading users of the MiniDIN data jack.
Passing ARRL Field Day messages the easy way with packet radio
Here is a video of our radio group passing field day bonus point messages off site using packet radio. Gear includes: Kenwood TS-2000 transceiver, but not using the internal TNC as it is not up to the task of regular packet radio use; SignaLink USB soundcard interface; Direwolf software TNC; N9TAX Slimjim J antenna; Outpost … Read more
VAPN available for FD 2017 Virginia area
Two hundred (200) bonus points are available to ARRL Field Day participants who can relay NTS messages off site via RF and VAPN provides this service in the Northern Virginia area.
April 2017 status report
Yes it’s been a while since our last post, but we have been super busy testing the prototype system along with convenient access tools like Outpost PMM, etc. Some highlights include: Testing the 2m port at both 1200 and 9600 bps; Hammering away and posting and retrieving of messages in the BBS; Using the chat … Read more
SCS Tracker in bad mood
VAPN has its first technical hiccup involving the SCS Tracker TNC getting into a strange state where it responds to connect requests with a short blurb and that’s it. Category: TNC – Severity: Block
Amateur radio packet… email?
What would it take to get VAPN connected to Internet email? Let’s examine the points.
VaPN data flow and considerations
This data flow block diagram highlights the high level view of data movement through the VaPN system to include the option of an Internet email gateway.
Going all in for the SCS Tracker DSP TNC
The SCS Tracker DSP TNC wins its way into the overall design of the VAPN.