Ham Radio Basics: Packet Radio. What is it, What Does It do?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2024
- I had a fan ask me if it was possible to use Packet radio on the CB band. (Not in the USA) I realized that it had been many years since I last played with the BBS's of the airways, and set out to see if anyone was still out there. It turns out that with the help of modern fast computers setting up or connecting to a Packet BBS system is easier than ever!
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The ham radio packet network is where I got my first email address. I ran a packet BBS in the early 1990's on both the 2 meter (1200 baud) and 20 meter (300 baud) bands on an old 386 (25 Mhz) PC running the JNOS software. Where I was located, we did have 9600 baud networks that were essentially backbone line of site networks on the 70cm band.
I had a BBS that I still run- not many people log in
Yep, bbs's are still alive and well, for us Vintage guys. I run two, Enterprise that runs on a Commodore 64, and Terran Empire, that runs on Mystic.. Just thinking about using one of my commdores on packet with a TNC, and nostalgia myself to death..
Go for it! I had a C64 that I ran GEOS 2.0 on with a REU. It was actually a decent system for it's time.
Thanks for this introduction to Packet. Here in the UK Packet is enjoying a resurgence with a growing network which is hoped to cover the whole of the UK. The speeds are getting faster too.
Glad to hear it. It's another way to bypass government controls on free speech. I'm all for it!
Thanks!
Believe it or not, I have engaged in the very first type of data transmission over CB radio band. On 27.405, I have tapped away using Morse code using a homemade oscillator and someone answered back in Morse code, likely using an oscillator as well. This is, of course, data over CB band. I would have never thought that my longest Morse code QSO would be over CB band.
That's crazy! Thanks for sharing!!
I'm happy you featured this topic. When I did a search, I knew you would explain it simply and concisely.
Thanks! I tried to make it as simple as I could. It's a cool trick and one that we may need to turn to at somepoint.
Thanks Eric! I am the one who emailed you.
I'm in Watauga County. Where in the mountains are you?
more south towards Asheville
Erik, I love your presentation and showmanship. It's just what is needed and comfortable to learn from. I want to address packet radio as a specific topic. There was and is much more to packet radio in the USA and here in NC than you mentioned. I realize it's kind of an obscure subject so no problem there. I'd like to educate you as to what NCPACKET has been doing and especially about the TARPN group has been doing. Here's a little intro. I'd work with you personally if you are interested in knowing more.
Packet radio as a concept has become part of many common elements of everyday life in cable modems, cellular phones, alarm systems and wireless computers, i.e. WiFi. A small group of us, about 330 hams so far, has decided it would be a pretty good thing if we used the old-school concept of packet radio over ham radio to introduce digital communications to anybody who wants to learn about it. At the same time we'll create a fun social media network that is entirely on ham radio.
We can do the same old BBS stuff you talked about but we can also do live conferences using something which looks like Internet Relay Chat but is entirely over ham radio. We came up with an architecture and shopping list to buy, build, and implement a medium distance chat/social network. The chat comments you might type will be relayed through other stations and find its way to every station in the network.
Right now NCPACKET is has a contiguous reasonably fast network in Alamance, Orange, Durham, Wake, Granville and Chatham Counties in NC.
We're specifically NOT using Internet for log-ins and chat. It's entirely ham radio. Being off the Internet is attractive. Doing it with our own hobby equipment is also attractive. In some ways it's all about being interesting enough that we get hams to build out the network and to participate. Internet may be better, but we dont' get to run the Internet. Ham radio lets us fiddle and explore where the Internet is a little bit fiddle-proof.
The hardware/software details are on the TARPN web site. What we're doing so far in North Carolina are on the NCPACKET web site. There's also quite a bit here on youtube which may give you a flavor for what we've accomplished so far. The NCPACKET idea is somewhat new. TARPN itself is 6 years old. TARPN has gotten big enough to design and sell their own TNC hardware called NinoTNC. Check it out. Our entire recipe is far cheaper (1/8th to 1/10th) than it was in the 90s. The only thing that is just as expensive as it ever was is coax and antennas.
73 de Tadd, KA2DEW, Raleigh NC.
I’d assume the only reason this doesn’t have replies is because it’s pretty long, but this sounds amazing. My thing is decentralized communication. That’s a big part of what brought me to radio in general. Of course very recently we’ve had the AT&T outage. Having a lot of things reliant on a single system isn’t wise, and it’s this sort of stuff that can solve that problem.
Hi Eric, a million thanks for posting this. For me, I think it is amazing to be able to take old school tech and be able to resolve modern day issues. Your example of line of sight CB data communication is a perfect illustration. Thanks again!
With some of the news coming out of the EU yesterday I'm sorry to have to admit that this old school tech may once again find use. Glad I could be of help!
You are a wealth of information sir. Thanx again👍🏻
My only concern is that if CB in this guy's country is 27 MHz, then the transfer rate will be REALLY slow, unless it's just plain text. 2M packet radio for example caps out at 9600 BAUD. If you want to transfer larger files, ham radio operators can use the ARDEN to transfer data at WiFi speeds using commercially available WiFi modems.
Nice video thumbs up like your CB radio stuff
Hi Eric
we used to use packet back in the 80s/90s on 2 meters and RTTY/SSTV on HF in Europe but now it seams it's only FT8 now on both on the Ham bands and Cb.......... 73s
Nice vídeo sir!
Hi from Brazil.
I just bought a baofeng
Liked. I ran a BBS for a dozen years though for the last three or four were pretty dead as the Internet became more accessible. Was always curious about packet radio though I let my HAM license expire a few years ago.
I'm an old BBS Sysop myself. I ran, or sort of still run "The Midnight Cafe" a old school dial up BBS running off of WWIV 4.24a.
Would be something cool to play around with
Packet radio exists.
Thanks for the video. AGWPE is a windows based soundcard tnc program that's still available. CB packet is an interesting idea, wish we could run it here. Winlink is another program to check out
I'm now looking into packet radio again after learning the tcp/ip can be run on it as well.
@@FarpointFarms back in the nineties I used JNOS and had anything :) The only thing that was required was that you had to run QEMM in a special mode (to get rid of the reserved video memory), because it needed more than the 640k in DOS. After that I could use the telnet, ftp, netrom node and BBS :)
You mentioned the ability to send a private message. What type of security, if any, is there around packet radio that would allow a message to be private?
You sign up at the packet BBS with a personal account. This account is just like BBS's you can Telnet to. In those message bases and emails you can send and receive messages. Take a look at my video on BBS's to see what I mean.
I don't think its illegal to run packet on cb,but its my understanding there isn't enough bandwidth.I thought about building another interface for my Yaesu and give it another try
after all these years
I'd like to learn more about this... wonder if we (armature radio guys) could set up some sort of nation-wide text-only back-up to/for the internet... cool idea, thanks for the infor -- bring on mre if you have it!
I honestly think that in the next 20 years we will have to do something like this. It won't be text only, it will be some type of web hybrid. It will be low bandwidth (at first) but much more modern than BBS's of the old days. I feel sure that someone somewhere is working on it right now.
56k modems had up to 56kbit/second download (in really often 35-50kb, depending on how good your phone cable to the provider is) and 33.6kbit/s upload speed.
It's been a while since I thought about "Dial up speeds"!
@@FarpointFarms And disconnecting after maybe an hour because of 1) the phone bill and 2) mum can't reach you as the phone is busy! ;)
Eric, how are you enjoying that Uniden 980? I've been toying with the idea of trying the Ham radio route, but it is sooo expensive.
The 980 is a great modern SSB radio. You won't regret owning it.
North Carolina 😌 it’s a simple state honestly. Maybe one day I’ll move back.
I'd recommend he contact the commsprepper channel hes all over this stuff.
I'll check him out!
you can buy a kit for 2 meters they are still using them but I don't know the frequency it was changed not to long ago but you can look it up
Ship to shore?
I used to run WWIV. Is yours telnet? Address?
I still run dial up. It's now over a Magic jack line, but it works. I run "The Midnight Cafe" BBS using WWIV 4.24a. It's a closed system for family and friends, but I will eventually make it public again. I've been meaning to make a video of it for ever!
Farpoint Farms mine was 14.4 single line dial up , mostly a l.o.r.d. server and downloading shareware! Long gone but had much fun
Are older radios compatible?
Yes, This tech reaches back to the 70's at least.
Farpoint Farms,
I should have probably been more specific but, I meant vacuum tube type. But since you said 1970’s I’d assume that’d discount them then right?
You could do 300baud on a CB, but not faster as the bandwidth is not there. You also might want to turn the power down as the data will work the radio's PA very very hard. On 4w radio I would reduce the power to 2 or 3 Watts.
In Europe we have no problem with 1200 baud at channel 24 (27.235mhz) FM.
Wouldnt it be AMAZING to to start a network of bbs's with todays technology. I really think its a very feasible idea. I have a base and a ham/cb would LOVE to try this. Get away from the censorship and commercialization of the internet.
I think there will come a time soon that there will be a alternative to the intranet. Small at first and likely something that gets made in Europe. From there it will spread as the censorship grows, and in 10 to 15 years it will be here as well. Something like a BBS, but with a web interface.
I can envision a small local network of independent computers that send packets to each other much like the old BBS relay networks did, but at much greater bandwidth. Each hub holding it's own individual backup in case one or more other hubs goes offline.
The biggest hurdle at this point is how it travels. Not over broadband as we have today as it will be controlled to the point of uselessness, but most likely something wireless and cobbled together. Some version of a wifi repeater modified to increase range? I'm not sure, but I am sure that it will someday be needed.
Jim Dandy networked packet radio BBS’s are alive and well. Thousands of systems are interconnected.
What do you know my bbs menu is on one of your splash screens in this video. I run the EMCOMM NY telnet bbs which is also interconnected to my packet radio bbs node Kc2mha. The packet bbs is linked to dozens of other systems via the internet. The radio ports for the packet radio are on 2 meters and 20m hf, so it can be connected to via radio locally and across the country.
You can theoretically setup a packet radio node on cb, however that’s not legal in the US as per fcc. The data speeds on HF/cb would be in the 300 baud rate. It is quite popular in Europe where it is legal on cb bands.
Thanks for video and the plug. You can telnet to my bbs at telnet://emcommny.synchro.net
Very very cool!
Hi Eric, That was a great video. What's your opinion of using a raspberry pi as a PC along with an AEA Pakratt 232 and a radio of course? I sure would like to see this TNC of mine back in action. It's in mint shape and even has the Timewave DSP daughter boards installed. Thanks a lot. Mike k8MB. Apache Junction, AZ.
Do you know anything about nutsack radio?