Hi Tony,

 -=> Quoting Tony Langdon to Peter Coggon <=-
 
 PC> What is happening Holger, is HF links, or HF forwarding of packet
 PC> is going..going...gone.  VHF and UHF linking is also dropping,
 PC> due to clubs and individuals seemingly not wanting to co-operate.
 PC> SO...in the end....with all this radio waves stuff, going...those
 PC> wanting to keep BBS for packet, are going to Internet to forward
 PC> it ... As well to reduce the hassles, with clubs and groups and
 PC> people...repeaters are going also to Internet.

 TL> Well, the Internet leaves HF packet forwarding for dead under normal
 TL> conditions.  Why forward at 300 bps on an unreliable circuit when you
 TL> can forward at 256kbps ++++ reliably 24x7?
 
  The hobby was "radio" and something called "rf".   
If doing it via
radio at 300 or 1200 is the deal then thats the hobby of ham radio.
But then in the last few days due to solar flares, the HF is dead
and final rites are being read.... sort of like it for the hams, as
many just go Internet and give up the hobby.
 

 TL> Which is true.  Spark had to go, because it is essentially
 TL> incompatible with where radio went.  Other modes such as AM and CW have
 TL> persisted, because they CAN still be used, and some (especially CW)
 TL> have a lot to offer, even today - CW's greatest asset is the "bang for
 TL> buck" - no other mode is so effective, when the effort to build a CW
 TL> transmitter is considered.  An FM rig with a broken mic could be used
 TL> as the transmitter (Been done many times on the sats :) ) in a pinch.

   I can remember "spark" demos..and it had to go!    They just didn't
call out a frequency they said go to "**" meters and well they just
covered everything..and was it ever noisey and smelling like something
horrible burning.... There even was a box to muffle the noise...aaah
what memorys.

Now via packet...I hear FCC has dropped CW all the way...
 
 TL> I'm certainly going to be keeping RF alive as long as I can manage
 TL> (hopefully several decades).

Me too...but..well time will tell.
 
 TL> Ahh yes, but look from the other side of the coin.  While radio is the
 TL> most useful in the immediate area, we all know what HF propagation can
 TL> be like, and then there's the increasing urban noise, which makes it
 TL> difficult for HF links to operate in the cities, unless conditions are
 TL> good (and if BPL enters the scene.....).

Agreed...and aah yes the BPL ....

 TL> Now, if we had a handful of strategically located HF systems, AWAY
 TL> from the disaster area, but within RF range, might that be useful? 
 TL> Short of all out nuclear war or widespread terrorist attacks, that
 TL> should be of some use.  I have already done the remote Net Control
 TL> thing, it helps the locals do something important during the night....
 TL> like catch up on sleep so they're sharp the next day. :)
 
Thats if those manning them can get there, before the cause of a 
disaster arrives near them or the site...etc.    Ours were well outside
the city...and well a missle can get to us in 8..so...mmmm
 
 TL> The key is knowing your systems, knowing the failure modes and having
 TL> a fallback position.  Radio can just as easily fail - I have seen 80m
 TL> dead as a dodo in evening prime time.  We had to fall back to VHF for a
 TL> "HF club net" once, using repeaters and some creative
manual linking. 

  Yes 80 is now dead for 2 days... a good point.  But I managed to get
someone on 80 across the lake, and thus he too might also get someone
and then it links from there with info being passed.
 
 TL> Echolink or IRLP were only a step away next in line, but in that
 TL> circumstance, they would have been far more useful than HF.


 TL> I believe in having a range of tools to use.  Use them wisely and
 TL> don't rely too heavily on any single tool.
 
  That is so correct.   Our family learned a lesson in WW1 ... and
were well ready for WW2 and carried out what was needed to keep the
family together...Now all over the globe the same method is used.
Anything goes...just to get or receive what is needed to let others
know something.

   Ok Tony good stuff....I will have to cut you loose...as my
wife and I are on our way to Brasil.      I even sent out the
last card today...to a ham in Australia, well his widow who
we keep in contact with to show our support for her in her loss.
Never met them!  But we feel they are our best friends, and thus
we keep in touch...better or for worse...

73 Peter VE3WBZ

... Be nice to your kids.They'll choose your nursing home.
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