Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- national_packet_update_draft [2023/07/02 20:12] – 2e0sip
+++ national_packet_update_draft [2023/09/26 20:08] (current) – 2e0sip
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+====== National Packet Update - September 2023 ======
 ===== Introduction =====
 Welcome to the latest edition of the National Packet Update, where we strive to collate updates on our endeavors to increase packet radio usage and expand its coverage in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and beyond.
-When I started thinking about this months update a couple of weeks ago I thought it was going to be a brief one, but since then at least 5 packet NoVs have been applied for, and 150+ NinoTNC kits have been carefully kitted up, shipped out and the recipients are starting to assemble them. A big thank you to the team that meticulously put them together. When the previous batch of ~50 got sent out at the start of the year there was a big surge in interest, so we can only assume it'll be threefold this time around with more nodes and users popping up.
+I think its fair to say that packet has well and truly taken off and is seeing some exponential growth, with almost 50 NoV'd packet nodes online. Whilst this is great news and an incredible effort from all those involved, it does making these updates a little more challenging to put together. If I've missed a node going live or some other update this month apologies.
+Going forward I'd request that people submit their updates via this [[https://forms.gle/b7et3B2724D1i3JH8|Google Form]]. These could be updates on new nodes, new links, software updates, and general progress or success stories that you want included in the update. These can then be collated into the update rather than trying to manually keep track of everything!
 ===== Progress =====
-Things have been busy in the South West, with Marc MW0NXT and John G4OTJ having both been granted NoVs for a directional link between their nodes in Wenvoe, Wales and Farmborough, England. Kevin M0AHN has also applied for NoV for MB7NEX in Exmouth, and Jules G0NZO for MB7NSC on Bell Hill, Dorset.
+==== Packet Network ====
+The network continues to grow with lots of new nodes and links going up this month.
+In Scotland Andy GM7GDE	has put up MB7UAH near East Kilbride
+In the North East of England, Robin M0JQQ is now operating GB7CNR near Cramlington, and Gregory M0ODZ has put GB7ODZ into service in the nearby Houghton Le Spring. These two nodes are now operational and exchanging packets with one another. Scott M0RWV has also put up MB7UWV near Scarborough.
+In the North West, Neil M0NFI has put MB7NFI into service near Prescot, Merseyside. Neil's also running some custom apps on the node, which are well worth checking out.
+In the Midlands, Dave G1ZEK has put up GB7NWL near Castle Donnington and Jon G7RUP GB7LCN in Lincoln. Andy M1NER has also put up MB7NER near Peterborough.
+In London, Szymon M0GZP has been granted GB7WEM for his Node in Sudbury, and has reliable RF connectivity into GB7CIP in Caterham - one of, if not the oldest packet node still operating and the gateway into the international packet network. GB7WEM also has a good link to GB7NHA in Harpenden, which in turn can reach Milton Keynes and beyond.
+In the west of England, M0ZEN has put up MB7NCD near Coleford in Gloucestershire
+Last but not least, GB7IOW has had a flurry of activity with some 50 users connecting to the BBS from Holland, Russia, Germany and Portugal.
+==== Software ====
+The software world has also been incredibly busy this month. Paula has released Xrouter v502x, available on the [[https://groups.io/g/xrouter/files/|XRouter groups.io]]. It's currently for upgrading existing systems but she's currently working on a new installer and documentation for fresh installs.
-In the South East, Matthew G7HMV has submitted an application for GB7NHA in Harpenden, and M0NCW's node near Aylesbury has been moved to 144.9375 to link GB7NMK in Milton Keynes and GB7WOD in Reading. Linking the two gives us an RF only path from Milton Keynes all the way to the Isle of Wight which is likely the furthest path since the original packet networks started to die out.
+Hibby MM0RFN has also been putting in some hard work to build packages and host packet related software so it's as simple as `apt-get install`. For a list of instructions and available packages see this [[https://online-amateur-radio-club-m0ouk.github.io/oarc-packages/|page]]
-In London, Szymon M0GZP recently raised his antenna and can now reach Matthew 2E0SIP in Watford. Simon M0GZP and Matthew 2E0SIP also presented a talk on packet radio to the Radio Society of Harrow which was well attended, and will hopefully inspire some more radio amateurs to start getting involved with packet in the local area.
+==== Hardware ====
-Activity in Ireland continues to increase around Vic EI5IYB near Rathangan and Ben EI9IUB near Kilbeggan, with more stations using packet and more planned for the near future.
+Jonathan G4KLX and Nino KK4HEJ have been working to add new C4FSK based modes to the MMDVM and NinoTNC respectively, with the hope of squeezing 9600 baud or more out of a 12.5kHz channel, which could also pave the way to similarly increased speeds over a 25kHz channel in future. Nino and Jonathan have also been discussing extending the IL2P protocol to include a checksum to further improve its accuracy.
-Online, Kevin M0AHN delivered an excellent talk on his adventures with New Packet Radio to OARC members which some sparked some interesting conversations and hopes for the future.
+You may recall that last month Nino also added some experimental  [[https://wiki.oarc.uk/packet:ninotnc|BPSK/QPSK  modulations]] to the NinoTNC, intended for use over HF. John G8BPQ has since added these to [[https://www.cantab.net/users/john.wiseman/Documents/QtSoundModem.html|QtSoundModem]] so NinoTNC and QTSM users can test them out.