Packet Radio

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TCP/IP (Networking over AX.25)

  • NTTP (Newsgroups / Usenet group mail)

  • POP3 / SMTP (Email)

  • HTTP (Web pages)

  • FTP (File Transfer)

Packet (AX.25) is a medium for networking. A collection of Packet Nodes and Digpeters is a real data network. Just as TCP/IP can be "run" as a networking protocol on Ethernet, Token Ring, Fibre, WiFi links and even two DVBs (Digital Satellite), it can run over AX.25 too.

This means any application or "client" or "server" that uses TCP/IP, on a LAN (intranet) or the Internet, can in theory run "across" the packet network. There are some limitations.

  • The Licence conditions may forbid connection to "Public" non-amateur networks such as the Internet (though Virtual Private Networks linking Amateur resources are often OK).

  • You can't carry data for commercial reward (business use) or non-amateurs

  • Present Irish packet is too slow to be useful for many "ordinary" network applications, but packet CAN be as fast as we like. It depends on what kind of network exists. Amateur Packet networks at 38.4K, 1.2M are common elsewhere and even exist up to 100Mbps. Anything over 28k is generally useful allowing even voice over IP and 1.2M and higher will allow reasonable video streaming!

NTTP (Newsgroups / Usenet group "mail")

This started on the Internet before "Forums", "Chat Rooms" and "Web sites". It worked fine on the 300 Baud modems, so works fine on 1200 baud packet. Programs such as Netscape Messenger or Outlook can Read articles and send new items. NT Servers, Linux and some personal versions of Windows actually have free Web Server software with NTTP server as an option. EI4LRC-2 may be the first dedicated News Server in Ireland for Packet Radio.

POP3/SMTP/IMAP (Email)

Again this predates high speed Internet and Web pages, so if used in "Plain Text" without Attachments, it is quite usable at 1200 baud. EI4LRC-2 can have an Email account for every Experimenter in Ireland. In theory it could interconnect with traditional Packet BBS mail and other Email servers used only by Licenced Amateurs. If the licence condiotns changed it could let you access the Internet Email via a PDA and a handheld. Yes you can do this on many mobile phones, but have you seen your last bill? If you thought mobile Phone Charges are scary, you should see mobile phone Internet access charges.

Indeed SMS text with Email interchange or Packet Radio is also trival, but probabily outside the terms of our Experimenters Licence.

The GPRS Mobile phones (2.5G phones) are in fact a commercial development of the concepts of AX.25 packet radio.

 

Web pages

If they are simple text the speed at 1200 baud is fine. If created with MS Frontpage the speed is very poor, even without pictures. Simple pages are easy to do in Notepad. "WebExpress" is an easy to use low cost web page editor (used for this), not much different to a Wordprocessor or DTP program is use. Colour pictures can take an hour at 1200 packet but fractions of a second on 1.2M packet.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol. The old UNIX method of networking files. It is fine to upload a text based webpage to a packet based Web Server. You need 28K or faster dedicated packet radio, not 1200 baud, for transfering program files.

 

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