But APRS totally killed packet :'( Now it's just a dumb positioning service that nobody interacts with, they just leave it on auto mode.
I wonder if APRS hadn't happened, would faster packet modes have continued to be developed? The problem was that 9600 was fast enough for APRS so nobody cared about making a faster mode.
But some people really loved it and in my area in Europe it absorbed all the buzz around packet. At that point the internet had already been around for a while but packet was still being used. I guess it depends on the region too.
These days there is actually a movement to provide a high-speed backbone microwave net independent of the internet with emergencies in mind. The idea is for it to replace all the internet-based repeater links for DNR, Brandmeister etc It's called hamnet and it's pretty active in the Netherlands and Germany.
Yeah, you can drive around and show the world where you are, but using it to write SMS messages when cell reception doesn't exist is awesome.
I don't know about everyone, but if I'm driving around with it on it is so I can see where I get coverage and where I don't. I have to use and test so I know it works when I want to communicate, but overall I'm not a ham to be social.
I wasn't involved in packet before the internet, but I was involved in amateur radio back then. From my view, the internet and mobile phones displaced a lot of general interest in this hobby.
Absolutely. The whole "You can talk to people all over the world with this" lost a lot of shine when the internet happened :)
I recall in Texas there was some ham repeaters that patched you into the local phone network using DTMF, but can’t recall exactly what it was called. Phone calls in Australia at the time were costly so it was really a novelty.
Packet was really multipoint packet switched like the internet using AX25 which was an adaptation of the X.25 protocol. Pretty similar to TCP/IP. You could even run TCP/IP over AX25 using various "NOS" programs. I used JNOS but most of the time I just used plain AX25 with SP.
It's slightly sad that there isn't a similar ESP32 or Arduino-based stand-alone TNC out there with BBS capability. I know I could dedicate a rPi and direwolf for that purpose, but those feel much more heavy handed than a simple appliance - have to patch the OS, know more about the whole machine etc.
I know that there are KISS-TNCs out there that are pretty good (for APRS), but that's not quite enough for BBSs.
Not many radios have it, but the IC-9700 does have support.
The ARRL is so incompetent, overly concerned with their own elections and never interested in pursuing changes that would actually allow for the hobby to grow into the 21st century. Proud non-member.
Though like I said in another post something started up that is not really for end users but more a backbone high speed network: https://hamnetdb.net/map.cgi
And yeah I also tend to not join the national radio associations. I often don't agree with their decisions and they're often more about old guys infighting and resisting change. I'll join the local radio clubs wherever I live for fun meetups but I leave the politics out of it.
The FCC recently considered an over-reach, naming removing the limits on signalling rate, which would be a technically incompetent move.
The ARRL is working with Congress to require the FCC to replace the signalling rate limit to one which would use a 2.8 kHz bandwidth, same as SSB.
This was discussed here a short time ago, "Rep. Lesko Introduces Bill to Replace Symbol Rate Limit with Bandwidth Limit"[0].