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Re: Is Simplicity Possible?
David Clark
Jeff
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Thanks so much for a clear answer. I'm sorry i'm such a dunce on this. I've been a CW man all my ham career and this stuff is not as well documented as I'd like even tho it's been around for a long time.
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Thanks for answering what the "client" needs also. Somebody upstream mentioned a HP refurb tho I think most will have a computer
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The question of data over gmrs is a question -- it seems that FCC has said "a little is ok" type of thing.? We are in a rural area and I doubt there's been any signal ever before in history over GMRS in our area aside from me and my wife. So I'm gonna risk seeing if it will work.
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the callsign thing -- as you may know you cannot download winlink without an active callsign and from what I know the winlink system actually verifies when you want to download.?
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I have tried fldigi using a callsign on one end and a first initial and last name on the other, and that works. Dont know if it will work with easyterm but intend to find out.
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Maybe I shouldn't talk about it.
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Anyway, I intend to try to find something that will work so my neighbors won't be stuck with nothing like a couple of friends in NC were the first week of Helene. It almost literally drove one friend crazy, an older recent widow, who stilll hasn't really recovered from not knowing anything but what she could see for a week (and what she saw was pretty bad).? I just saw her last week and she is still quite shook up from the experience and it's been 2 months. She says you just cannot imagine how bad it is to see damage and injury and reach for your phone and have nothing over and over and over.
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I'm all for following regs, I pay my taxes, etc and operate within the guidelines in my life. But there is such a thing as "the radio community" and if we know (and most of us do know) that radio gets through when all else fails, then we have a great opportunity to view making some of this stuff work easily and maybe-not-regulation just in case we need to use it. I guess we just can't talk about it, but we still need to do it, because anyone paying attention to western NC and Helene has seen that hams contributed mightily up there to search and rescue (still are I believe).
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I know Mt Mitchell repeater did amazing work. I was involved for a short period one afternoon on an impromptu Health and Welfare net looking for people, us taking requests on HF, relaying via 2m to Mt. Mitchell, them relaying to hams with handhelds in the disaster area, and various hams going and putting eyes on people and reporting back to Mt. Mitchell, who then called the worried family members. Pretty amazing to be part of that and really got me thinking about my own area.
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Not all the helping "hams" were licensed, but we all know the regs state that anybody anywhere can use any radio any time if it involves life and property. So it got used for that, and people were helped. We have to acknowledge that was a good thing, I think, no matter how much we obey the rules.?
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Meshtastic. I really really want to like this platform. The mesh network idea (much I believe initially fleshed out by Zigbee) is something I have followed pretty close, tho haven't actually done it. Too much fiddling still to do to make it work. Also my area of interest is say a 5-7 mile radius with lots of pine trees and slightly rolling hills with the occasional fairly large hill. I don't see any way mestastic will work in its current mode even if you could buy an off-the-shelf unit that works, which I'm not sure you can do (except maybe a LilyGo T or similar, and last I checked they didn't have a damn case for it).?
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I've put up a GMRS repeater on my farm with the intention of getting as many of my neighbors using as possible. Shouldn't be hard to do --- we have recently begun building a neighborhood group (people love to cook and eat together), and Hurricane Helene was heading straight for us and veered off at last minute and went 20 miles east. It destroyed a lot of south and east GA, and all of us have seen the damage and most know somebody affected badly (or killed) by it. We all know it could have been us, and it got everybody's attention pretty well. I just started a month-long weekly technician license class at church 3 weeks ago, and we had 14 people show up from 3 different counties. Everyone in the class knows somebody in NC affected by Helene and it got their attention. Our little county has currently 3 hams who know how to operate, the rest have died off. So by New Year's Day we should have another 10 or so, and I'll begin another class the next week.
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The initial goal is get as many as I can on GMRS and some of those will become hams, and I'm planning accordingly. We will attempt on GMRS, knowing it will work on ham freqs.?
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Really appreciate the input. Maybe the conversation will lead to other people in other areas figuring out how to get their neighbors fixed up. We know how easy it is to lose comms, and we know that nobody is coming to help us but ourselves. With that in mind, we've all got plenty to think about and do. We have a lot of collective brainpower, thanks for sharing it.
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Really appreciate this conversation and the space to have it in. Perhaps it will have far-reaching effects.
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DC
W4TRJ |
Re: Is Simplicity Possible?
Easyterm's BBS will do what you want, as far as a single BBS server.?? Everyone connecting to your BBS would be using Easyterm and Soundmodem on their end along with their own radio, antenna, etc. . so now it's getting less simple.? Then everyone connecting to the BBS would need their own amateur radio callsign, which sounds to me like it's game over since it would no longer be simple.
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There may be a way of legally sending AFSK data without a license or callsign though, using Part 15 devices, but you'd have to research that.? I think packet would not be legal with FRS/GMRS, and it's definitely not legal with CB or MURS.? You can't even do store-and-forward voice with MURS.? (I say "AFSK", because that's the sort of 'default' and by far the most common data mode used with packet radio.? )
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I think I remember seeing some hacks done to pagers, maybe that's an option?
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Maybe Meshtastic is the simplest method of legally texting over radio without a license.
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Re: Is Simplicity Possible?
David Clark
I loaded Easyterm and within moments had what appears to be a bbs screen.
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I loaded bpq based on some recommendations from others but as my original (probably too long) message said -- after an hour of reading setup guide and getting no logic from it, I closed it without having increased my knowledge at all. As said I'm a Mac guy and have 30 years experience with installing software and having a working application with no fuss except for minor config stuff. I cannot tell that my install of bpq accomplished anything other than wasting an hour and a half. I'm not criticizing -- I realize I'm the idiot here.
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I have heard all the "but Macs ain't really that good" arguments for 30 yrs. My windows experience is very limited and after having wrestled with bpq I can remember why that is so. Not criticizing, I'm sure it's great, but I have zero interest in being a windows guru. I want to use the tool, not mess with the tool.?
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I appreciate the guidance from you guys so far. I'm afraid this is not a "community build" project. This is not a "learn linux and give everybody a raspberry pi" project.
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This needs to be "I set it up, connect to radio, show a few people how to login at their place and move on" project. I'm not dealing with computer geeks here. I'm dealing with housewives, little old ladies, etc
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No doubt bpq will do what I need and all I would hope for, but if I cant get the damn thing to function at all without what appears to be hours of effort then that is not a path I am willing to take.?
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Which created my question of whether or not we could do 1989 level BBS in 2024. I should have said with 1989 effort also, which was very little.
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The focus is on simple.
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I looked at kantronics item recommended. Probably would work but maybe too simple given the reservations stated by KI0BK above.
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1.? For those recommending Easyterm -- will it actually be a working BBS that people can log in to and use for simple messaging and bulletins? It appears so but would like actual experience saying so.?
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Also need to know what the user needs to be running. Not clear on that. Easyterm I guess?
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2.? For those recommending bpq -- is there a sensible idiot's guide to installing and making it work? One that doesn't assume you already know how to do? it? If so, I'd like to know a link to it, please. I'm willing to try again maybe but I want to read it first. I mean idiot level, like:
? ?Step 1 - do X
? ?Step 2 - do Y
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Or is there some installer app that just sets the thing up and all one has to do is fill in config data? I saw no evidence of that, just a folder full of apps. To be fair, at least it loaded. Several others I tried would not load on my machine.
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Also. I live in the rural South. We don't have taxicabs here. I know we're backwards, but we drive our own vehicles.
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I greatly appreciate all the responses. Please see those numbered questions above and share insights.?
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Thank you for y'all's trouble. Also thanks for letting me poach onto the bpq's audience - was hoping somebody could point me to how to make bpq actually work so if that's possible I'm all ears for that also.
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DC
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Re: Is Simplicity Possible?
Wow.? Red Ryder BBS by Scott Watson.? I still remember the 'please do not click on my head' message in the 'about' dialog.? ?There's a blast from the past.? I used to run one, as well.? It was indeed straightforward.
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I think I understand what you are driving for.? Given FCC regs about data transmission on the various radio services, you're probably talking amateur VHF / UHF.? So that might be a limiter compared to what you describe as broad, general accessibility.? ?That having been said, the thing I like about BPQ is one can make it as simple or as complex as you want.? BPQ has provisions to allow users to self-register at first contact, and you can simply have all users in a single distribution 'all' group so that they see bulletins on connect.? In the radio world, the end user client is going to be a factor as well.? ?Simple terminal interfaces like VARATerm or EasyTerm as mentioned by others will grant that command-line style access you need vs something like RMSExpress.? ?2m radio and antenna,? small footprint computer like an HP elite mini refurb off Amazon running Windows, sound card interface like DigiRig, VARAFM or UZ7HO software, plus BPQ and you're in business.? ?If you are comfortable navigating Linux, then the linbpq on a pi is a great option, as well.
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73 de Ray KG7AV |
Re: Is Simplicity Possible?
Well I know this is a BPQ group, but I know of nothing as simple as a KPC3+ tnc with its built in ?PBBS, you just need a radio to have a simple bbs system. ?The biggest limitation is the half Megabyte message storage space, but it¡¯s manageable. ?Now for a community bbs, where there are non- hams using it, you would need to assign them a Ham like ID to use to access it using a non-ham frequency. This would be an RF only solution so each member would need to have a similar setup.
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jim KI0BK? |
Re: Is Simplicity Possible?
If you're talking about a single BBS, accessible via radio by everyone else, then UZ7HO's "EasyTerm" software might do the job.? I don't think it gets any simpler than that.? It's not a full-service BBS/Node with node-switching, etc., but it includes a PBBS where anyone can leave personal messages and bulletins.?? EasyTerm's requirements are any computer running Windows (or Linux using WINE).?? And of course a radio, antenna, and soundcard interface.? Screenshot below. ? Easyterm on the left, and its PBBS on the right.
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Re: Is Simplicity Possible?
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýBaofeng is not as easy or as powerful as a $50 surplus taxicab radio. ?Working as a community you may be able to find a local who can get a couple of dozen for the project. ?With patience, your surplus radio guy may find them for much cheaper. ?The Raspberry PI is $35 and makes a nicely reproducible packet radio setup. ? ?G8BPQ PILINBPQ runs on it.? ?There are definitely things to learn while turning this concept into a community project that everybody in the community can build. ?Talk this up locally, and feel free to glom onto global help. ? Local participant-hours are the best, of course.? ? ?? Tadd / KA2DEW ? tadd@... Raleigh NC ?FM05pv North Carolina ham-radio chatRoom Network:? Packet networking over ham?radio:? Local Raleigh ham radio info:?
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Re: Errant WP Updates continue
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýGood point Mark.?I enjoy learning how messages are routed back to me in the network? and therefore connec to to other BBSs to send myself a message so I can examine the header. But not before telling the system i'm connected to my name, qth, zip and homebbs. 73 de Chris ww2bsa -------- Original message -------- From: Mark Taylor <mtaylor@...> Date: 12/18/24 11:42 AM (GMT-05:00) Subject: Re: [bpq32] Errant WP Updates continue I'll give you an example how an errant WP record can be accidentally created.
Perhaps this will cut down on some.
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I see many messages where the subject is "Testing" or "Checking route" or others.
Some of these are BBS operators that want to conduct the test from the view of another BBS, so they
use a terminal and log into a BBS that is not their own, create a message, and send it. Sometimes
it is a bulletin, other times a personal message back to themselves.
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What often happens is that the BBS that is logged into interprets that connection as a local user
and will automatically assume that the HomeBBS for that connection to be that BBS. Therefore,
a user record is created, and the WP database is updated to show the HomeBBS incorrectly
as that BBS.
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To prevent that....
When you connect to a BBS that is not your own please use the HOMEBBS command and
set your HomeBBS correctly.? Otherwise that station will send out a WP message showing
your Home BBS to be something other than your own.
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On another WP Updates note,? I don't think BPQ processes WP messages sent as bulletins. And as I do
a lot of BPQ mail servers are configured to Reject WP Bulletins.? Take that into consideration when
you are configuring your mail server.? (Applies to BPQ as this is a BPQ group. May not apply to others.)
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If I am wrong I welcome the correction....
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73,
Mark, N5MDT
Montgomery, Texas
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Re: Is Simplicity Possible?
works fine. telnet accessible BBS as simple/complex as you wish. 100s of BBS running 24/7 :) i ran one with packet radio enabled as a telnet gateway into my original dialup BBS (TriBBS software) jnos for dos did the same thing now i use bpq32 as the 'front door' to my TriBBS system. if you just want to run a retro bbs like in the days of dial-up, synchro will absolutely work. if you want packet radio access but stripped to nearly nothing, jnos for dos will work very well. jnos for dos does have hardware limitations though. ethernet interface that has dos packet drivers (not ham radio packet, ethernet packet driver) is the most important ne2000 compatible etc. good luck kb0wlf On Wed, Dec 18, 2024 at 10:33?AM David Clark via <cw.w4trj=[email protected]> wrote:
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Re: Errant WP Updates continue
I'll give you an example how an errant WP record can be accidentally created.
Perhaps this will cut down on some.
?
I see many messages where the subject is "Testing" or "Checking route" or others.
Some of these are BBS operators that want to conduct the test from the view of another BBS, so they
use a terminal and log into a BBS that is not their own, create a message, and send it. Sometimes
it is a bulletin, other times a personal message back to themselves.
?
What often happens is that the BBS that is logged into interprets that connection as a local user
and will automatically assume that the HomeBBS for that connection to be that BBS. Therefore,
a user record is created, and the WP database is updated to show the HomeBBS incorrectly
as that BBS.
?
To prevent that....
When you connect to a BBS that is not your own please use the HOMEBBS command and
set your HomeBBS correctly.? Otherwise that station will send out a WP message showing
your Home BBS to be something other than your own.
?
?
?
On another WP Updates note,? I don't think BPQ processes WP messages sent as bulletins. And as I do
a lot of BPQ mail servers are configured to Reject WP Bulletins.? Take that into consideration when
you are configuring your mail server.? (Applies to BPQ as this is a BPQ group. May not apply to others.)
?
?
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If I am wrong I welcome the correction....
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--
73,
Mark, N5MDT
Montgomery, Texas
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Re: Is Simplicity Possible?
David Clark
As additional thoughts to my previous-- Imagine the scenario of Western NC in Hurricane Helene. Imagine a lot of people having a gizmo like a Blackberry (or like a Lilygo T-deck on meshtastic) but was a GMRS or VHF capable radio, capable of voice, with keyboard and small screen for short messages, capable of running low power and lasting a long time on battery as well as being charged by a small solar cell. Would it be helpful? You bet. Maybe it could hit starlink also, tho I'd prefer open access to airwaves like regular ol' radio. All the pieces are there. Take a baofeng uv-5r, ?add the guts of a digirig to a Processor and a tiny keyboard and screen, and youre there. It can be done now with various cobbling but we need something you can hand a 90 yr old woman so she can listen to/read the local emergency info and call for help if she needs it. See what I mean? This seems so obvious as to almost be comical. Everybody is tinkering around the edges of it with meshtastic and packet amd all that. It just needs to be considered with actual usability by normal people in mind. A very capable device to perform a very simple task of keeping comms going no matter what. No national news or stocks or sports or facebook -- just the neighbors keeping in touch. One step above kids playing with blister-pack walkie-talkies. DC |
Is Simplicity Possible?
David Clark
Hello I used to run a dial-in BBS years ago prior to the widespread Internet we now have. When a 1200 baud modem was a huge leap. Local access, light use, simple, effective for a small group. Could have been used widely but mine just wasnt. It was on a Mac back in System 7 days, but I had it configured and running in about an hour and it was functional from then on. Extremely useful for some projects a few guys worked on. Required zero effort after initial simple setup. Why cant we do that now? It baffles me that nobody seeks to see how simple something can be done. It seems the goal is to make it as complex as possible. Not always the right goal, too complex, complexity leads to breakage. ?
When we had the operating system AND your application(s) running on one floppy disc people were doing very amazing things with very little overhead.?
I am not a programmer. I am an electronics troubleshooter working on industrial machines. I have a life and dont want to be consumed by screwing around with computers on my off time because I really dont have any off-time.? I dont want to invent the wheel, I want to roll it. But I just want a basic wheel, not a wheel with the space shuttle attached. I want to setup something similar to my old BBS for my small community. I have a cheap, new, Dell 64 bit laptop. Im not interested in entertaining kids. Im not interested in getting it on the 'net. Im trying to provide a way for fairly small group of adults to get info in a work-related type of scenario. Imagine a neighborhood watch/rural area group that includes firefighters, people checking on old folks, etc I spent an hour puzzling over bpq32. - No closer to having even a slightly remote idea of how to make this work than I was prior to starting. I'll say I'm a Mac guy and if you're a Mac guy and have read through the setup stuff on any of the BBS applications it is mystifying. Not criticizing, just saying there's nothing obvious about how to make a windows box do stuff.? Tried mystic. Wouldnt load. Tried synchonous (or similar name). Wouldnt load. I dont see this jacking around with overly complex software as an effective use of time, no matter how great the end result may be. Can the following be done? (Think of a cork bulletin board in a hallway at water cooler, back when we used pencils and 3x5 index cards to plan projects, where various people cross the path but dont actually see each other. This was the original idea of a BBS. But now implementation too complex, unwieldy.) Intended for very local use. Connect over radio using simple software. No use of internet or cell network. Could be vhf or hf. Could be GMRS (setting aside regulations for sake of this discussion). Goals: Regular non-tech people able to view simple, short posting of news about a given topic, say a power outage or lack of cell service, or a job several different guys are working on. Short and fast because its just data, no overhead of color and video and windows and zephyrs blowing in the corners and stuff.? Able to respond with update about your status. Could be written text, could be a series of questions. Could be as simple as "all ok here". Anyone logging in can view entire posting. Extremely simple -- no games or entertainment. All users are trusted and wont try to "hack the system." Essentially just a running text message window, with ability to have different postings as topics, or simply a page per day or similar. An absolutely minimalist setup, easy to install and make work. Dont care about color or any other whizbang features. If you ever saw an old fido-net bbs very similar idea. Like DOS in appearance. Not "elegant." Pure function. A log cabin with a candle, no draperies or tablecloth. Dark ages. Can this be actually done so that a person who is not a programmer can install and run on an extra cheap computer or tablet? Computer should be a modern model, not requiring a man to find an old xp or similar. Just buy a cheap laptop and install software, attach to radio, and leave it running. Is bpq32 capable of this? Id think so but dont really know. Not willing to spend what appears to be hours figuring it out. Alternatively, is anybody willing to do a setup like I describe for others? Any ideas? Is it possible for the current brainpower to replicate what was done in 1989? Thanks to anyone who gets what Im saying. DC |
Is Simplicity Possible?
David Clark
Hello
I used to run a dial-in BBS years ago prior to the Internet. Local access, light use, simple, effective for a small group. Could have been used widely but just wasnt. It was on a Mac back in System 7 days, but I had it configured and running in about an hour and it was functional from then on. Extremely useful for some projects a few guys worked on. Required zero effort after initial simple setup. Why cant we do that now? It baffles me that nobody seeks to see how simple something can be done. It seems the goal is to make it as complex as possible. Not always the right goal, too complex, complexity leads to breakage. I am not a programmer. I am an electronics troubleshooter working on industrial machines. I have a life and dont want to be consumed by screwing around with computers on my off time. I dont want to invent the wheel, I want to roll it. But I just want a basic wheel, not a wheel with the space shuttle attached. I wanted to setup something similar to my old BBS for my small community. I have a cheap, new, Dell 64 bit laptop. Im not interested in entertaining kids. Im not interested in getting it on the 'net. Im trying to provide a way for fairly small group of adults to get info in a work-related type of scenario. Imagine a neighborhood watch/rural area group that includes firefighters, people checking on old folks, etc I spent an hour puzzling over bpq32. - No closer to having even a slightly remote idea of how to make this work than I was prior to starting. Tried mystic. Wouldnt load. Tried synchonous (or similar name). Wouldnt load. I dont see this jacking around with overly complex software as an effective use of time, no matter how great the end result may be. Can the following be done? (Think of a cork bulletin board in a hallway at water cooler, where various people cross the path but dont actually see each other. This was the original idea of a BBS. But now implementation too complex, unwieldy.) Intended for very local use. Connect over radio using simple software. No use of internet or cell network. Could be vhf or hf. Could be GMRS (setting aside regulations for sake of this discussion). Goals: Be able to view simple, short posting of news about a given topic, say a power outage or lack of cell service, or a job several different guys are working on. Able to respond with update about your status. Could be check boxes or written text, could be a series of questions. Could be as simple as "all ok here". Anyone logging in can view entire posting. Extremely simple -- no games or entertainment. All users are trusted and wont try to "hack the system." Essentially just a running text message window, with ability to have different postings as topics, or simply a page per day or similar. An absolutely minimalist setup, easy to install and make work. Dont care about color or any other whizbang features. If you ever saw an old fido-net bbs very similar idea. Like DOS in appearance. Not "elegant." Pure function. A log cabin with a candle, no draperies or tablecloth. Dark ages. Can this be actually done so that a person who is not a programmer can install and run on an extra cheap computer? Computer should be a modern model, not requiring a man to find an old xp or similar. Just buy a cheap laptop and install software, attach to radio, and leave it running. Is bpq32 capable of this? Id think so but dont really know. Not willing to spend what apoears to be hours figuring it out. Alternatively, is anybody willing to do a setup like I describe for others? Any ideas? Is it possible for the current brainpower to replicate what was done in 1989? Thanks to anyone who gets what Im saying. DC |
Re: Rigcontrol SCAN and beacons
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýKISSHF should beacon. I'll have a look at the code.Thanks, John On 17/12/2024 17:38, N9SEO via
groups.io wrote:
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Re: Rigcontrol SCAN and beacons
Hello John, I have made a workaround that takes some of Lee's idea of logging in via telnet and sending the sysop commands to attach a port, send the radio commands, etc. Then it sends the http POST to the web ui to basically send the form data and click the test button. This seems to work well but that was when I noticed that KISSHF, while DOES allow scanning/freq agility commands, does not allow the beacon/test. So curious if that could be at least added some day. KISS may not do scan, but I guess you could get creative if you have another modem on that same radio (e.g. vara, uz7ho, etc) that does. KISSHF however will do the scan, just not beacon I guess at this time. 73 |
Errant WP Updates continue
Maybe not a significant problem, but I would like to see this fixed.
Regarding WP Updates containing errant hierarchical addresses containing a "#", then a two character state designation, then ".USA.NOAM". Recent examples: On 241215 N3HYM/U @ N3HYM.#MD.USA.NOAM zip 21702 Ray frederick On 241216 KA3VSP/U @ KA3VSP.#DE.USA.NOAM zip ? Brian PasternU ? I checked my logs and I found an instance on August 29, 2024. 73, Chuck |