[pskmail] Re: PSKmailservers in the Pacific
- From: John Douyere <vk2eta@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: pskmail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:08:03 +1000
Taking isolated land locations (like we have in some parts of VK) and sea
emergencies as examples I am still convinced that in a real emergency
relying on a complex messaging system of any kind is taking extra risks.
The time factor is generally short, the capacity of the operator may well
be reduced and access to the gear itself may well be impossible and that
assuming that it is in a working condition.
Hence my view that apart from an EPIRB all the other modes of messaging
have a real chance of not being able to be used at all (including a Sat
phone) or introduce extra failure points (like the SPOT concept that relies
on an individual to pass on the emergency message).
Add to the above the unreliability of HF propagation and I see all
communication equipment using such channels are not much more
than convenience rather than real emergency gear no matter the cost of the
solution.
Medical conditions on the other hand may see the Sat phone having an edge
as two way exchanges of information is more important and the time factor
less critical.
So from my point of view it is more a question of how much you value your
life, and how much you understand what is likely to be of real use in an
emergency.
So I believe Per's comments were spot on (no pun intended).
Mind you, in 1492 there was no EPIRB (nor Pskmail nor WINLINK etc...) on
board the Santa Maria and that did not prevent Mr Colombus and crew to sail
into the unknown!
73, John
> Hi Per and group,
>
> Of course you are right that if you want to save your life you need a
> very costly SATPHONE because when you are in a boat, everything else
> apart from a SATPHONE is for passing your time and enjoying your hobby
> really with the exception of P3/P4 due to the extensive WINLINK2000
> network availability, but of course a P3 or a P4 modem is costly.
> Nevertheless many hams use them wordwide especially when they are
> sailing or if they are mobile!
>
> You can also use the PSKmail provided that you can afford to spend
> ample electrical power by trying for ever to connect to the unique
> PSKmail Server in your area whose SoundCard MODEM has not crashed, or
> you can use WINMOR (i.e. Poor Man's Pactor) to connect to WINLINK's
> RMS servers who are scattered all over the world. Better still use
> superfast P3 or even P4 (at a cost) and save on your electrical power,
> which is important in a boat and any kind of moving vehicle, unless of
> course you have an electricity power generator and plenty of time in
> your hands to kill.
>
> Really there is no perfect system Per, it is a matter of
> preference/priorities of each individual, and please don't take it as
> if anyone wants to flame you OM. We are just posting our opinions
> here.
>
> PSKmail is a nice independent radio e-mail system and we would like it
> to be even better. It's a pity that it does not have a better
> interface and it is stuck only to FLDIGI SoundCard MODEM which when
> combined with PSKmail's ARQ FREEZES as I read in this list. I think
> that PSKmail should be written in a way that it can talk to more
> MODEMS and leave the ARQ to the MODEM itself. There are plenty
> hardware solutions out there, Pactor Modems, PACKET TNCs, etc waiting
> to be utilised!!!
>
> --
> 73 de SV1UY
> Demetre Ch. Valaris
> e-mail: demetre.sv1uy@xxxxxxxxx
> Radio e-mail: sv1uy@xxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.qsl.net/sv1uy
>
>
Other related posts:
