[pskmail] BBS for emergency communications
- From: Rein Couperus <rein@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pskmail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:06:25 +0100
I have been looking into a BBS for adding to pskmail, to help those who
* have no internet connection for the server
* are forbidden to connect a radio to the internet (France)
* are setting up emergency comms for cases when a large slice of the internet
is down
and there is no possibility to reach an HF gateway with running internet.
Of course I have been shopping for something useable which is existing and
alive.
I have found only 2 cases of BBSes which are still in development/maintenance,
and they are both german.
The rest is either dead or DOS. (The last update of F6FBB BBS was in Jan, 2003).
The best is probably the one from the Baycom group in Munich, called OpenBCM.
But all these are cosmic solutions covering everything, the universe and the
neighbours'cat.
These BBSes are a nightmare to configure, and you need 2 people to run one.
Moreover, the whole infrastructure these BBSes use is dying quickly. In PA0
land the packet backbone has died,
the local city node in Eindhoven has 1 packet link and 7 internet tunnels.
And the group of AX25 users has gone down from 85 to 4.
The main concern I have is that it is all based on a fixed infrastructure, and
I am sure what is needed in an emergency situation is ad hoc. The number of
volunteers maintaining these systems is getting less in numbers,
and the freaks running the infrastructure only talk amongst themselves....
Technical development has stopped.
We are still looking at 9600 bd ax25 links. An on 30m you can hear the wonders
of a full-fledged HF APRS network running with 300 Bd AFSK digipeaters!!!
If we are then talking about voluntary resources, I think we need much more
basic stuff which is
very much automatic and can be set up in an easy but flexible way depending on
circumstances.
I had sworn I would not get involved in all this, but maybe it is worth getting
started up.
I have a nice test bed at the university of Eindhoven, who host a pskmail
server AND a packet BBS (F6FBB).
One of the first things we need to know is, what is the minimum functionality
of such a BBS?
To kick the ball off, I would say:
* Storage of mail not deliverable via internet (immediate delivery in case of
internet connection)
* Store/forward of mail to a destination BBS via a HF link
* User interface via Kmail or Evolution (POP3 interface)
* Capability to send scheduled bulletins
* Built in web server so people can also look at the mail locally (at the
server location, which may be a command post of some sorts) via a connected
LAN with a laptop
This must be especially targeted at the emergency comms, as we have a
satisfying working solution
for normal situations.
Ideas are welcome.
Scenarios are welcome.
Resources are even more welcome.
73,
Rein PA0R
--
http://pa0r.blogspirit.com
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