From gjones@tenet.edu Tue Mar 07 23:59:56 1995 Received: from Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu (Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu [198.213.2.5]) by dingus.n5lyt.datarace.com (8.6.10/8.6.9) with ESMTP id XAA05462 for ; Tue, 7 Mar 1995 23:59:54 -0600 Received: (from gjones@localhost) by Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu (8.6.9/8.6.9) id XAA08494 for tapr-bb@tapr.org; Tue, 7 Mar 1995 23:56:59 -0600 From: Greg Jones Message-Id: <199503080556.XAA08494@Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu> Subject: PSR Deadline Upcoming To: tapr-bb@tapr.org (TAPR-BB mailing) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 23:56:59 -0600 (CST) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 348 The Deadline for the upcoming PSR is March 15th, 1995. Send articles to: Bob Hansen, N2GDE POB 1902 Elmira, NY 14902-1902 Internet: psr@tapr.org CI$: 71121,1007 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tucson Amateur Packet Radio 8987-309 E Tanque Verde Rd #337 * Tucson, Az * 85749-9399 * 817-383-0000 From gjones@tenet.edu Tue Mar 21 19:45:35 1995 Received: from Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu (Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu [198.213.2.5]) by dingus.n5lyt.datarace.com (8.6.10/8.6.9) with ESMTP id TAA08784 for ; Tue, 21 Mar 1995 19:45:32 -0600 Received: (from gjones@localhost) by Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu (8.6.9/8.6.9) id TAA16627 for tapr-bb@tapr.org; Tue, 21 Mar 1995 19:40:00 -0600 From: Greg Jones Message-Id: <199503220140.TAA16627@Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu> Subject: [TAPR-BB:69] PACK*BASH at Dayton (fwd) To: tapr-bb@tapr.org (TAPR-BB mailing) Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 19:39:54 -0600 (CST) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 2938 Sender: jra@ag9v.ampr.org Subject: PACK*BASH at Dayton Dayton Activities Attending the 1995 Dayton Hamvention? Then don't miss out on PACK*BASH! What? A new event for the digitally-inclined ham, featuring: * Buffet dinner (with cash bar) * Nationally-known speaker holding forth on a current topic * Prize raffle * TAPR special interest group meetings * "Bird of a Feather" gatherings When? Friday evening, April 28, 1995 Dinner starts at 7:00 pm Speaker at 7:45 Meetings to begin after the speaker Where? TJ's Restaurant 2462 Dryden Road, Dayton (Dryden Road exit, I75 -- across from the Holiday Inn) How? Dinner requires advance registration and payment BY APRIL 24th, 1995. Seating for dinner only is limited, so register early! The cost is $16.00 per person, tax and tip included. All amateurs are welcomed to attend, enjoy the speaker, and particpate in the meetings, although only those purcashing a dinner can eat. To register, contact: PACK*BASH c/o TAPR 8987-309 E. Tanque Verde Road #337 Tucson, AZ 85749-9399 Phone: (817) 383-0000 Fax: (817) 566-2544 Internet: TAPR@TAPR.ORG Visa/Mastercard Accepted Who? PACK*BASH is co-sponsored by TAPR -- Tucson Amateur Packet Radio, the national leader in digital communication -- and the Miami Valley FM Association, Dayton's packet radio club. For further information, contact TAPR, or email packbash@ag9v.ampr.org or BASH@N8ACV.#DAY.OH.USA.NOAM -- John Ackermann AG9V Internet: jra@ag9v.ampr.org Packet: AG9V@N8ACV.#DAY.OH.USA From gjones@tenet.edu Wed Mar 22 00:56:09 1995 Received: from Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu (Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu [198.213.2.5]) by dingus.n5lyt.datarace.com (8.6.10/8.6.9) with ESMTP id AAA10952 for ; Wed, 22 Mar 1995 00:56:06 -0600 Received: (from gjones@localhost) by Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu (8.6.9/8.6.9) id AAA17085 for tapr-bb@tapr.org; Wed, 22 Mar 1995 00:50:32 -0600 From: Greg Jones Message-Id: <199503220650.AAA17085@Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu> Subject: [TAPR-BB:70] Deviation Meter (fwd) To: tapr-bb@tapr.org (TAPR-BB mailing) Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 00:50:31 -0600 (CST) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 1758 Sender: jebuckwalter@attmail.com (Jesse Buckwalter) Subject: TAPR Member needs help (Please send e-mail to Jesse directly) Re: Deviation Meter I would like from those of you that have installed the TAPR Deviation Meter. I have completed the kit and must acquire a receiver in which to install it. I specifically would like recommendations about which scanners you have successfully used and which scanners I ought to avoid for use with the deviation meter. Thank you. Jesse Buckwalter, NZ3F jebuckwalter @ attmail.com nz3f @ amsat.org From gjones@tenet.edu Wed Mar 22 16:33:21 1995 Received: from Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu (Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu [198.213.2.5]) by dingus.n5lyt.datarace.com (8.6.10/8.6.9) with ESMTP id QAA02632 for ; Wed, 22 Mar 1995 16:33:13 -0600 Received: (from gjones@localhost) by Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu (8.6.9/8.6.9) id PAA11747 for tapr-bb@tapr.org; Wed, 22 Mar 1995 15:11:19 -0600 From: Greg Jones Message-Id: <199503222111.PAA11747@Alice-Thurman.tenet.edu> Subject: TAPR 1995 Annual Meeting Review To: tapr-bb@tapr.org (TAPR-BB mailing) Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 15:11:18 -0600 (CST) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 16571 The following is to appear in the April PSR. There is suppose to be some other articles outlining thoughts on the annual meeting from others. ==================================== 1995 TAPR Annual Meeting TAPR's annual meeting was co-hosted by MoAmPS (Missouri Amateur Packet Society) on March 3rd, 4th, and 5th, 1995, in St. Louis, MO. The meeting took place at two locations. The Henry VIII Hotel and Conference Center was used all day Friday and for Saturday evening's events, with the majority of the presentations and workshops being held at the St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley Saturday morning/afternoon and Sunday. The MoAmPS group did a terrific job in hosting the event and their valuable contribution and dedication to helping organize and manage the meeting was one of the largest reasons for its big success. Since this year's annual meeting was the first held outside of Arizona, the regional sponsors had a lot to live up to. Many thanks to Mel Whitten, K0PFX, and his great group of volunteers. Keith Justice, KF7TP, again collected the papers for the proceedings. Keith did another great job and the proceedings totaled 77 pages of excellent technical papers. Extra copies of the proceedings are available from the TAPR office. A total of 160 people attended the meeting. Past TAPR meetings have seen between 80 - 100 people attend. The organizers were a little puzzled at the lower than expected attendance. We had planned on seeing 200 - 250 people attend the meeting. After some questioning, it was determined that many of the intermediate people that had attended past MoAmPS spring meetings felt that the TAPR meeting would be above their heads. This is something TAPR will work on correcting for future years, since it is very important to get these operators involved with the organization. The weather might have also slightly reduced the turn-out. St Louis had been experiencing nearly spring-like weather the two weeks prior to the annual meeting, but winter returned for the TAPR meeting -- to our bad fortune. The TAPR annual meeting officially began at 12noon on Friday with the opening of the Hospitality Suite and Registration. A majority of participants began to arrive throughout the afternoon and into the evening. The TAPR Board of Directors had arrived the night before (Thursday) and began their board meeting at 8:30am. Full details on the board meeting should appear later in this PSR. At 3pm, the DSP Developers Symposium was held in the Windsor room. This was the first time that TAPR had attempted to hold a Friday session. Bob Stricklin, N5BRG, was kind enough to step in at the last minute for Jon Bloom, KE3Z, who was unable to attend and host the symposium as planned. The symposium was well attended and the discussion covered a wide range of topics. The goal of having actual developers meet and discuss on-going work and development was not achieved - something to be set as a goal for next year. Friday evening the group met in the Windsor room again for the informal Friday dinner. The group attending devoured in short order the pizza that was delivered. We have to make sure we have more pizza next year (grin). After dinner, the NETSIG met (details in the SIG area). The meeting was well attended. During the annual meeting the chairs of the various SIGs (Special Interest Groups) met and it has been decided that a better plan will be implemented next year in regard to scheduling the SIGs -- to reduce conflicts and increase participation. The annual meeting continued early Saturday morning with presentations and papers at the St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley. The sessions were video taped and TAPR will review them to see if a tape can be produced and made available for distribution. 8:30am: Mel Whitten, K0PFX and Greg Jones, WD5IVD welcomed the group. In addition, Tim Childers, KB9FBI (from Illinois) of the ARRL, and Tom Bingham, of the college, welcomed the gathered group. Keith Justice, KF7TP, conducted the morning session. The attendants enjoyed the fact that a packet radio burst was being used to indicate presentation time was up. Session 1 began with a presentation on 'DSP-based Multimedia Sound Cards for DSP Development Platforms: Possibilities and Future Trends' by Johan B. Forrer, KC7WW. Johan discussed the possibilities of low cost PC based DSP-based multimedia sound cards being used in amateur applications. Discussion included general considerations, present status of sound cards, the future directions of work. An overview of the 'TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 project' was presented by Bob Stricklin, N5BRG. Tom McDermott, N5EG, overviewed the 'D93WE Windows Development Environment' for the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93. Both DSP-93 presentations were hampered by the fact that American Airlines had misplaced the baggage with the equipment for the demo. The box was luckily found the following week and returned. Greg Jones, WD5IVD, presented three plaques to some of the development and beta-tester team of the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 that were present: Bob Stricklin, N5BRG, for outstanding contribution as principle designer and co-project manager of the TAPR/AMSAT joint DSP-93 development project. Tom McDermott, N5EG, for outstanding contributions as an alpha/beta-tester and software designer during the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 development project. Roy Welch, W0SL, for outstanding contributions as a beta-tester during the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 development project. The plaques were very striking, since they included both the face plate of the DSP-93, along with one of the beta-boards. John Koster, W9DDD, overviewed the TAPR TNC-95 project. There was mixed response from the audience. Some thought it an old design and did not contain enough bleeding edge technology, while others were looking forward to having it made available as a kit and bare board. In any case, it will be available as the option, as planned, for the DSP-93. After John's presentation, a 30 minute break was held. Session 2 began promptly at 10:30am with a paper on 'Modem Channel Response' by Tom McDermott, N5EG. The technical presentation overviewed the importance of selecting the overall frequency response of the modem plus channel. This was an excellent and concise technical presentation and the overheads in the proceedings are outstanding. Phil Anderson, W0XI, then presented a paper entitled 'A Simulation of the G-TOR Hybrid ARQ Protocol.' Phil outlined what G-TOR was and how he had gone about developing the simulator. The conclusion outlined the simulation results and the expected performance of G-TOR. Glenn Prescott, WB0SKX, concluded the series of excellent technical papers in this session with a paper on 'Considerations for Automatic Gain Control in DSP Receivers and Modems.' The paper focused on automatic gain control (AGC) in DSP technology. Needs related to the requirements of the analog-to-digital (A/D) converter were discussed using DSP techniques. An excellent technical paper. The group broke for an hour and half lunch. The afternoon session was conducted by Jim Neely, WA5LHS. The first presentation was by Keith Sproul, WU2Z, on 'Advances in APRS Technology.' Keith overviewed APRS, what was required, current applications, and where all this technology was going in the future. James P. Kramper, KB0NMT, of the National Weather Service (NWS) presented a paper regarding 'The National Weather Service St. Louis, Missouri Packet Weather Wire.' James outlined how digital communications was being used to enhance the communications from the NWS to the amateur. NextRad and other types of information are being provided over packet radio now and these applications greatly enhance what the amateur weather community has for information. Dave Wolf, WO5H, out going BBS SIG Chair, made a short presentation concerning the adopted recommendations on the BBS Hierarchical Addressing Protocol. Karl F. Larsen, K5DI, presented a short outline on an alternate packet BBS Address Proposal for future consideration. Another thirty minute break was held and the last session of the day was held. Barry Buelow, WA0RJT, incoming BBS SIG Chair, made a short presentation on the goals of BBS SIG and outlined his future directions for the group. Gwyn Reedy, W1BEL, discussed PacComm activities. Brian Lantz, KO4KS, made a short presentation on TNOS and other related activities. BDale Garbee, N3EUA, made a presentation on the current status of RUDAK-U. Greg Jones, WD5IVD, presented a plaque to TPRS (Texas Packet Radio Society) and Robert Diersing, N5AHD, for contributions of $250 each to the RUDAK-U project fundraising. After the short end of day presentations were concluded, two break-out groups were held. The "HF SIG / HF Digital Issues", conducted by Johan Forrer, KC7WW left the theater and met in the Social Science building. The discussion that took place is outlined in the HF SIG report. The breakout session on "Current issues in TCP/IP" was conducted by Barry McLarnon, VE3JF. The central theme of this session was implementing effective TCP/IP-based packet radio networks, and achieving a critical mass of users. Barry enumerated three key steps in achieving these objectives: 1. Build a good foundation at level 1. The rf network performance has to be good enough to show the applications in their best light. A full-duplex bit regenerating repeater at 9600 bps or more is an excellent starting point. 2. Provide lots of useful and interesting services for the TCP/IP users (but don't forget the AX.25 users - give them a taste to entice them!). Examples include DNS, POP, SMTP mail forwarding, convers, NNTP, WWW, etc. An Internet gateway can be a major factor in attracting interest. 3. Give the users lots of help in getting started, using aids such as preconfigured NOS starter kits and installation programs. Explore the various options and platforms available (JNOS, TNOS, Linux, OS/2, etc) for amateur TCP/IP experimentation. Use RIP or RSPF to make routing transparent and painless for the end users. A lively discussion ensued, with many audience members taking part. Some examples where critical mass has been achieved (Ottawa, Seattle) were analyzed. Internet gateways and their security were a hot topic, with interesting commentaries by Bdale Garbee, N3EUA, and other gateway sysops on their experiences. Phil Karn provided an update on the status of his work with NOS, which he assured the audience he was still interested in working on. His main focus will be on making NOS run in protected mode and breaking the 640K barrier, which means getting away from the Borland C compilers. The breakout sessions concluded around 5:30pm and people began to make the trip back to the hotel to prepare for the evening dinner and meetings. The dinner was held at 7:00pm, with a full crowd of 100 people present. The meal was one of the best in TAPR history with lots of seconds for all those who wanted them. We will be hard pressed to repeat the quality of dinner next year. After dinner, several plaques were presented. Since this was the 10th anniversary of the TNC-II, it was fitting that many of the plaques celebrated long time volunteers and participants in TAPR from those early days. Peter Eaton, WB9FLW, for outstanding service from 1982 to 1993 as an officer, board member, and dedicated volunteer on this 10th anniversary of the TAPR TNC-II. Bill Reed, WD0ETZ, for outstanding service since 1983 as an officer, designer, tester and dedicated volunteer on this 10th anniversary of the TAPR TNC-II. Mel Whitten, K0PFX, for outstanding service since 1982 as an officer, board member, tester and dedicated volunteer on this 10th anniversary of the TAPR TNC-II. Ron Bates, AG7H, for outstanding service from 1994 to 1995 as a board member and long time contributor to the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corporation. Awards that were presented to people not present included: * Jack Davis, WA4EJR, for outstanding service from 1992 to 1995 as a board member of the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corporation. * Pack-It, Inc., for outstanding service to TAPR in kit building and parts inventory from 1985 to 1995 on this 10th anniversary of the TAPR TNC-II. * Lou Nigro, KW7H, for outstanding service to TAPR as software librarian and Internet services manager from 1991 to 1995. * Robert Diersing, N5AHD, for outstanding service as an alpha/beta-tester and AMSAT project officer during the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 development project. * Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for outstanding contributions as a beta-tester and software designer during the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 development project. * Frank Perkins, WB5IPM, for outstanding contributions as an alpha/beta-tester and software designer during the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 development project. * Lon Cecil, WB5PKJ, for outstanding contributions as an alpha/beta-tester and trouble shooter during the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 development project. * Mark Hammond, KC4EBR, for outstanding contributions as a beta-tester and software librarian during the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 development project. * Jack Davis, WA4EJR, for outstanding contributions as a beta-tester and helping with parts purchasing during the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 development project. Paul Shuch, N6TX, made a high-energy and very entertaining presentation on SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). Everyone present agreed that Paul entertained, while covering the past history and how the future search should include amateurs in an important role. If you were not there, it is highly recommended that you read his paper in the proceedings. Amateurs can play a vital role in the next ten years in the now independent search. It is simple and easy. You can contact the SETI League via the Internet at info@setileague.org. TAPR was very fortunate to have Paul make this after-dinner presentation. After Paul had finished the prize drawing was held. AMSAT and the SETI League helped to provide additional prizes along with TAPR. Numerous small awards were given. Phil Karn, KA9Q, was drawn as the grand prize winner of a TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93. We are all looking forward to Phil getting his unit, especially with his interest in HF related DSP coding. Congratulations to Phil. After dinner was over, the APRS SIG, BBS SIG, and PCS committee met in different locations. All three discussions will be discussed in the SIG area of the PSR. On Sunday, two workshops were held. The early morning session was on Error Correction Techniques, by Phil Karn, KA9Q. This was an excellent presentation and everyone attending thought they easily got their money's worth. The second workshop covered the development of hardware/software for the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93, by Bob Stricklin, N5BRG and Tom McDermott. The DSP-93 workshop was a little hampered by the above mentioned misplacing of the bag containing the workshop materials by American Airlines. Disks and Workshop materials were mailed to the attendees after the materials were returned to Bob. Luckily Bob and Tom had time Saturday evening to get with Roy Welch to set up the necessary equipment to demo and Bob had his overheads. The DSP-93 covered many of the topics required to understand how the unit worked and how to develop for it. Both workshops were video taped and will be reviewed to see if the quality is good enough to make the tape, along with workshop booklet available for each. More on this in a later PSR. An annual meeting evalution letter will be mailed shortly to all particpants. If you attended the meeting, please take a moment when you receive this to fill it out and return it to the office. This feedback is important to the future of our annual meeting. If you have comments or suggestions on how TAPR can improve the meeting, please let the office know. The 1995 annual meeting seems to be rated as a great success by the many who attened. If you were not able to make it, then we hope to see you in 1996. A location for the 1996 meeting has not been selected yet. Several factors are in play that need closure before a location is selected by the TAPR Board of Directors. Again, many thanks to the MoAmPS group for all their work and effort. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TAPR - Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corp. 8987-309 E Tanque Verde Rd #337 * Tucson, Az * 85749-9399 Phone: 817-383-0000 * Fax: 817-566-2544 * Internet: TAPR@TAPR.ORG ------------------------------------------------------------------------