Posted: 12/8/2011 5:27:53 AM EDT
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With KB7DX excellent post about setting up a packet station I got my packet drive back. A while ago I had a APRS kick (and still do) I found out that what I was trying to get APRS to do is pretty much packet, odd I know. So I got to surfing and looking up all sorts of packet related articles. This is a visual of my journey..
TAPR > Sound card packet > Linux program for sound card packet > To this gold mine Mostly I was looking at Frankenrouter 2 Here 
I sent the author an email and I am waiting to hear back. Right now the hamster is about to burn up the bearings in his wheel. This is my plan, Using the routers to provide a wire connection to individual computers. From there I would think it would register as a wired network connection and that would give you a place to point a program to. The idea I have in mind is IRC. IRC was used back on the phone modem dial up days so it should be able work fine with the 9600 baud. The router has a built in sound card modem so it would take the binary from the cat cable and turn it into tones to be sent across town to moms basement where the next nerds UHF radio turns the tones into binary and feeds that into your mIRC, xIRC whatever. I know that you can do keyboard to keyboard chat via "_______" and file transfers. However this gives the user a simple chat screen. I was thinking as far as servers go, use an old computer to run a super light linux OS (puppy?) and IRC server. That way the other routers look for xx1xxx-1 and it transmits "wide" (I thinks thats the correct term) to everyone else listening Another adaption I could see is since the router has wifi. you could use your smart phone to connect it and run an IRC client on your phone. Yes it was a slow day so take it easy, but I still want to hear what you all think. |
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I was also was reading up on this recently. I have no experience in packet as of yet, but the whole wrt build is quite an awesome idea. There is a great mod to add sd card hardware support to the router, and then be able to use the internal ram for a bootstrap to boot off of the larger sd, allowing for installation of more packages. I think a single device like that would be a great piece of kit. One could easily get a local area network on wifi, and bridge it via uhf/vhf packet. Well, I'm off to nerd out and read more. Thanks for the site, it is quite good.
Looks like Argent doesn't have the wrt-01 adapter board for the OpenTracker anymore. Guess I'll have to look harder for one. |
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If you read about the second router you can flash it with the sound card TNC that would eliminate the need for the argent setup. You would just need a USB sound card (or a LSB sound card if your using 40, 80, 160 haha)
I a complete n00b about hacking routers. I haven't seen any other projects that make since yet. But then again I haven't been looking to hard. If you were to use a switch you could put a couple of these routers on your server.. -1 router hooked up to 2m for town to town -1 hooked up to a 440 radio for local coverage -1 router with the stock wifii to cover your neighborhood Another possibility is if you plug the internet into your server. Now you have a internet link so you could just log into the server from your hotel, work, ect it would be like Echolink only with chat instead of IRC. then you could link the two servers over the web and chat via VHF in your town over the internet and out on VHF to someone in another state. Im not a huge fan of the IRLP, Echolink, Win system thing (i think its cool) But when I was researching packet I found out about "backbones" it is like your own mini internet (just much slower) I'm waiting for someone to tell me I spending a bunch of time trying to reinvent a dial up modem. I thought there would be a little more interest in this. |
I think what you are doing is great. I don't have any experience hacking routers or anything for that matter, but am interested in the results. Packet used to be a reliable network, but now with the internet and all.. We as hams (and ARFCOMMERS) need a reliable network when and if the SHTF so anything to advance the "ARFNET" is cool in my book.
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Quoted:
I think what you are doing is great. I don't have any experience hacking routers or anything for that matter, but am interested in the results. Packet used to be a reliable network, but now with the internet and all.. We as hams (and ARFCOMMERS) need a reliable network when and if the SHTF so anything to advance the "ARFNET" is cool in my book.Thanks KB7DX. I am by NO means a computer guru. I just happen to have a bunch of time to "study" stuff. I'm still really interested in creating a light, fast, good looking Linux ham distro based off of Mint. But that can't go any farther until I get back to a decent Internet connection. But it's coming. I have had heard about hacking routers but never looked into it. But now thats about all I am researching. what I am thinking is a hub type system. Right now I have one other guy who is 100% on and a true computer guru so that will help out a ton. I will host the server on a recycled computer. This is where I am kinda confused, its about how to set up the packet side. If the router is only hosting a sound card TNC then there shouldn't be a need for any packet protocol. I think it should act like a modem and just turn my signal into sound and send it out. Then whoever is listening would receive it, and if your IRC isn't turned on then nothing should happen your computer would just ignore the packets. Once again Im not claiming to be a network guy and invite anyone who is to correct me. But as I see it now its just a dial up modem being sent over air wavez. And yes it would be great in a SHTF setting. What I see as far as setting it up is; -Router the Asus one used runs about $40 -Sound card (USB) $10 -Radio $50 I plan on getting a hold of a used Motorola that is getting phased out of public service. -Antenna, coax, sound cables, and ect $30 That is about $130 +/- so relatively cheap. even if you go with being a server host for your area you can pick up a decent ghz desktop from CL for less then $100 Then once you have it set up as long as you are receiving you are good. you can be away from your computer and still get the info that is passed. someone could still PM you. From what I have gathered since IRC doesn't provide error correction you are not transmitting for every package received. And once again since the freq is static and everything is preconfigured any computer, phone, tablet, PDA that has a IRC client can connect to the server. |
| Funny, I was thinking the same as this for the last few days...what if the internet went down (SHTF), would there be a RF solution? Started looking at Ham to see if this has been addressed and found this thread. Seems like there would be RF version of LAN/WLAN in the Ham community via RF? Maybe the internet curtailed that expansion. I'm in for testing and helping as best that I can. |
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Look up packet BBS backbone. From what I gathered that was the Internet before the Internet. Also I'm not sure if your a ham yet or not but as a ham you get to use WiFi to its greatest capabilities. You can stick an antenna with some good gain on a router and get some pretty good distance (so far Im tracking the record for a wifi connection is 235mi)
My goal with this is to be able to pass movies around or download p0rn but instead set up a chat system where anyone could operate it. PSK, RTTY, ect are great but sit your wife in front of it and a radio and tell her to communicate. This route if someone can text or you IM they can communicate across the network. Im not sure how much of the packet backbone is still active but Im pretty sure this would be able to tie into it IDK though. Either way you could set up comms with a whole town and the next couple towns over with the right set up. |
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The packet network is alive and well on 20 meters. 14.105 LSB or "Net 105". Although it isn't a full blown "backbone" and no real store and forward BBS's on the 105, it is possible to pass messages nationwide.
Oh, I'm back from the frozen tundra which is Ohio and going to be re-vamping the shack this month to incorporate the two TNC's I have now. |