300 baud packet is 30+ years old now and there are many better systems for HF message passing. Suggest you check out VARA HF and the companion app VarAC.
Hi Steve, we're well aware of VARA HF, as well as other modes. But, regardless Packet is still used and it, like CW won't be going anywhere for a long time to come. We have a massive international packet network running nodes on the "old stuff" in the US, Canada and Europe.
I look at it like this, when you still have the equipment, use it. If you have vacuum tube rigs, you're not going to toss those out for transistor operation. It's called "Preparedness" in my book. Knowing how to use a paper map, instead of a cell phone is an example of this.
In my years sailing our ship, people swore by "electronic chart plotters" to the point of causing massive accidents because they didn't bother to use their brain and eyes - or paper charts, and when that lightning strike occurred near by, taking out that expensive chart plotter, they were dead in the water.
As long as the OLD technology works, might as well use it.
Innovation, Steve is indeed at the hands of Hams, and without us, a lot of things would never have happened. But, New ain't always "better".
Rick - Agreed that New isn’t always better. But BETTER is… well… usually better.
I’ll guess that VARA HF (and FM) is at least five years old and many versions improved, thus hardly “new” at this point… just unknown to many veteran packet radio users.
Understood that old equipment that’s still running is familiar, it works, it’s paid for. But, in my opinion (yours may vary) VARA HF (and FM) IS… (a LOT, again in my opinion), better. but BETTER is… well… better.
Put it this way - if VARA HF and VARA FM didn’t have a LOT of advantages over packet radio, it wouldn’t have any reason to exist, and wouldn’t be winning converts in EMCOM to the point of switching entire regions of Winlink users from packet to VARA FM.
Given that you’re in NC you might want to check out https://ncpacket.net and https://tarpn.net/t/packet_radio_networking.html. They’re doing an evolution of classic packet radio, and one of the benefits of their NinoTNC is that it has a built-in Forward Error Correction mode that can sometimes make marginal packet radio links more robust. It also can operate at faster speeds (2400, 4800) that are still compatible with most radios. There’s about to be a plug and play version of the NinoTNC - you can also read about that in the same issue of Zero Retries.
300 baud packet is 30+ years old now and there are many better systems for HF message passing. Suggest you check out VARA HF and the companion app VarAC.
Hi Steve, we're well aware of VARA HF, as well as other modes. But, regardless Packet is still used and it, like CW won't be going anywhere for a long time to come. We have a massive international packet network running nodes on the "old stuff" in the US, Canada and Europe.
I look at it like this, when you still have the equipment, use it. If you have vacuum tube rigs, you're not going to toss those out for transistor operation. It's called "Preparedness" in my book. Knowing how to use a paper map, instead of a cell phone is an example of this.
In my years sailing our ship, people swore by "electronic chart plotters" to the point of causing massive accidents because they didn't bother to use their brain and eyes - or paper charts, and when that lightning strike occurred near by, taking out that expensive chart plotter, they were dead in the water.
As long as the OLD technology works, might as well use it.
Innovation, Steve is indeed at the hands of Hams, and without us, a lot of things would never have happened. But, New ain't always "better".
73
(Apologies if this second reply seems a bit… assertive? I just finished an article in my newsletter Zero Retries exactly about this topic - https://www.zeroretries.org/i/135053626/whats-the-big-deal-about-vara-fm.)
Rick - Agreed that New isn’t always better. But BETTER is… well… usually better.
I’ll guess that VARA HF (and FM) is at least five years old and many versions improved, thus hardly “new” at this point… just unknown to many veteran packet radio users.
Understood that old equipment that’s still running is familiar, it works, it’s paid for. But, in my opinion (yours may vary) VARA HF (and FM) IS… (a LOT, again in my opinion), better. but BETTER is… well… better.
Put it this way - if VARA HF and VARA FM didn’t have a LOT of advantages over packet radio, it wouldn’t have any reason to exist, and wouldn’t be winning converts in EMCOM to the point of switching entire regions of Winlink users from packet to VARA FM.
Given that you’re in NC you might want to check out https://ncpacket.net and https://tarpn.net/t/packet_radio_networking.html. They’re doing an evolution of classic packet radio, and one of the benefits of their NinoTNC is that it has a built-in Forward Error Correction mode that can sometimes make marginal packet radio links more robust. It also can operate at faster speeds (2400, 4800) that are still compatible with most radios. There’s about to be a plug and play version of the NinoTNC - you can also read about that in the same issue of Zero Retries.