Is it time to create a group managed d-rats.github.com project?
A group managed GitHub project will allow multiple community members to be the administrators of it similar to the [email protected] mailing list.
I have no idea how the groups.io d-rats group is managed, but it seems to work well enough, if they could also do the administration of the GitHub project.
This project would have multiple d-rats related repositories on it.
This could have one or more data repositories with urls or other data that could be downloaded from the d-rats program instead of being hard coded and sometimes out of date like the ratflector list.
The GTK 3 library wants to have the d-rats main be an "application" that has a unique application identification.?? They prefer to use reverse domain name notation, with a GitHub project that would be something like "com.github.d-rats.client".
The reason for adding the ".client" is because we may want the form editor to be able to be run as a standalone program, and the repeater is also a standalone program, so would have different application identifications.
73,
-John, wb8tyw

D-Rats WinLink integration is pretty limited. It can send mail via internet to an internet WinLink account....it acts as an internet email front-end. The email "client" in D-Rats is also a regular internet email client for your POP/SMTP account D-Rats can use to allow other stations to forward internet mail using your account and internet connection---very much the same functionality as WinLink----RF to another RF station, then into the internet email system.?
We use all three main "digital" platforms to train because you never know what is going to be available in an emergency. We have to know all of them. WinLink, in my area, is HF only. We do not support HF for our emcomm here. Our support is local-only (county-wide, with some spillover into adjacent counties). HF can be used in the form of a relay out of our area for some reason, but we'd likely use home stations for this relay. Many of us have that capability. WinLink HF has a very serious throughput limitation....you may want to warn the powers that be about that. There are few HF RMS nodes, fewer you can reach at any given time due to propagation, and it is SLOW (even the fast modes aren't that fast). In a real emergency there is a lot of traffic that will try to squeeze through a very narrow WinLink pipe. AND....WinLink is fixed frequency, no voice, no way to prioritize traffic prior to tying up the machine. These are pretty severe shortcomings. On VHF it can be much better....less traffic, much faster, etc. Less competition for the limited resource. WinLink is popular with agencies (this my opinion) for two main reasons: 1. Agencies see it as a way to integrate fail-safe ham radio into their normal email program. Zero learning curve. 2. There is a MAJOR WinLink lobby present. ARRL drank the Kool Aid (maybe an American reference---Jim Jones...look it up).?
What actually DOES integrate with D-Rats is old-fashioned AX25 packet. Via the "ratflector" or D-Rats repeater. Not voice (that requires AMBE) but data can integrate pretty completely. So an FM radio and TNC (KISS) can exchange data with D-Star serial data via a "ratflector" (D-Rats repeater)...you hook up both a DStar radio and a packet radio to the same computer running the "ratflector"....all data coming in one port goes out all ports in the appropriate mode. I've tried it...works great.?

The past two days the area of Southeastern PA conducted the Limerick Generating Station nuclear power emergency drill. This takes place every two years (same as other nuclear plants). Part of this (a small part) exercise has been ham radio backup communication. We have been training on a few digital modes for emcomm here in Lehigh Valley PA; WinLink, FLDigi and primarily D-Rats. We are lucky to have outstanding DStar repeater support in this area with 5 repeaters in HT range of most of the area.?
The portion of the drill that ran Tuesday night was the "EOC Drill" where many municipalities and counties simulated their procedures. Ham radio manned the "RACES" radios inside EOC and our regular weekly training group formed kind of a net and demoed D-Star and D-Rats to FEMA. We focused on the ability to send email using the radio. We have a full time mail server (basically another instance of D-Rats) connected to one of the repeaters. This provides the functionality of WinLink without a local RMS node (which do not exist in this region) and without the requirement to use HF for WinLink (which we don't really support for emcomm except in a relay situation as required). The Wednesday portion of the drill was the "Shelter Drill" where we simulated relocating people (and pets) out of the impacted area into ours (we are far enough away to be an evacuation reception area only). We mobilized our club trailer and again used D-Star and D-Rats. In this instance we sent email from the trailer (no internet) to the mail accounts of two PEMA and one FEMA observer. The FEMA observer got a formatted ICS 213 form on her iPhone right there and replied, witnessing the whole operation. I believe they were pretty impressed, and were taking notes on the whole thing for their report. So D-Rats pretty much nailed it in an official FEMA/PEMA operation.

One thing that was kind of funny/not funny: BOTH nights the FEMA observer asked if we have any young people in ham radio. They said in their observations the vast majority of hams they see in this kind of thing are old folks. We did summon our "token youth" who was at this drill to demonstrate we will not actually become extinct in a few years.

开云体育