Marrold (2E0SIP) has provided a beautifully written article regarding the up and coming national packet project.
You can see the article here.
Tag: packet
Our first packet net
It’s been talked about for a long time, but we’ve finally set a date for our first packet net; Saturday 17th September at 20:00 – 144.950FM.
With so few of us within simplex range of each other, digipeating will be essential, so please make sure this is enabled in your TNC if you’re taking part. The more stations we can get involved, the better this will work, so if your station is packet-capable, please dust off your TNC and join in.
Stations confirmed so far:
- M0XTF Tony – Bungay
- M0VCX John – Watton
- M1MIT Tim – Norwich
- M5MSX Martin – Gt. Yarmouth
- M7GMT Rik – Attleborough
As this will be the first attempt, we’ll be figuring out who can hear who, and exactly how paths should be configured, but if all goes well, this could become a regular thing, perhaps alternating with a 2m JS8 net. We could call it SaturDATA. 🙂
Packet Radio & New Features
Now that we’ve a second packet node on the air with GB7ZAH, the focus is starting to move towards functionality.
We’ve 2 new features currently in testing on GB7MSX:
- Mattermost integration.. Yes, that’s right! using the MATTERMOST command, you’ll be able to come through to our Mattermost server and chat away (channel #GB7MSX). It’s still under test and allows packet users to converse with pre-approved licensed amateurs in Mattermost to ensure we’re complying with licensing conditions
- We now have a repeater lookup function called RPTSEARCH, just for fun. It’s a simple wildcard search by repeater callsign right now but in the future we’d like to extend this to deliver repeaters within X distance from a location as that’s a little more useful. Stay tuned!
At the time of writing, I’m also messing with a couple of other python scripts I’ve picked up along the way.. One is based on the classic Zork, and another on Eliza.. both very retro, so you may see them active at various points in the name of science & fun.
Both packet nodes are likely to be up and down over the coming days and weeks as we continue to tweak, improve and expand. GB7MSX will be undergoing some antenna tests and improvements, however in the meantime it is accessible from greater distances thanks to the extended range GB7ZAH is providing. Don’t forget to node hop!
We’d welcome any ideas for cool packet node functionality, as we really want to develop out both nodes with unique features and generate some interest in VHF packet radio.
If you have packet capability in your station or are interested in learning more, please join us on the air or via our Mattermost chat.
For now, 73!
GB7ZAH – On air testing
Our second packet station (GB7ZAH) switched on today for full testing. This has been a long time coming and joins GB7MSX in the East of Norfolk. There will be periods where the station may not be available while we change configs in the backend.
A huge thanks to Martin M5MSX for his help with configuration hits, and M7GMT for testing on air.
The next step is to get MB7NAF (M1MIT) node on the air.
If you’d like to use either GB7MSX/GB7ZAH you can connect via 1200Baud AX.25 on 144.950NFM.