This blog was started 2004-03-20 as "Advanced Digital Amateur Radio" - see my original description. I still like that name, but SuperPacket is a better, pithier description of what I want to write about in the big picture of (mostly US) Amateur Radio.
That's in contrast to what I should be writing about in my other Amateur Radio blog, N8GNJ.org, which is to discuss my personal experimentation in Amateur Radio.
Here's an update of the original description, adapted for 2021. It's incomplete - I'll be writing a "manifesto" for SuperPacket in the coming weeks. But this is the same description, minus the most dated bits.
Why? Here? Now?
This blog is something that I've hoped to find. My absolutely favorite reading in all of Amateur Radio was the late and very lamented Packet Radio Magazine, and Bdale Garbee's Bits In The Basement column in TAPR's Packet Status Register Newsletter (PSR). There's a dearth of discussion about "Advanced" Digital Amateur Radio, especially on the web, probably because much of the advancement in Amateur Packet Radio predates the web, and a lot of knowledge didn't get ported to the web. So... at some point... one is faced with "If it's to be, it's up to ME!"
"Advanced" First... a bit about what I mean about "Advanced" Digital Amateur Radio. I find it easiest to explain with a comparison. Connecting to a Packet Bulletin Board System (PBBS) via a Simplex or Digipeater Link @ 1200 baud doesn't meet my (admittedly subjective) definition of "Advanced". Connecting to a Linux system using TCP/IP via a full duplex bit regenerative repeater at 9600 baud or faster is "Advanced", in my opinion. Or, a more personal explanation is that the "Advanced" activities are sufficiently interesting and non-mundane that they continue to stimulate my personal interest in Amateur Radio.
Not So Advanced... That said... (warning - severe contradiction ahead...) I believe (it's been amply demonstrated to me) that there is tremendous value in "non-Advanced" or "trailing edge" Digital Amateur Radio systems - good old, boring, 1200 baud AFSK AX.25 connectivity beats no digital connectivity at all. Similarly, PBBS' have their use in the right situations (and general purpose message exchange isn't one of those right situations. Digipeaters have their place too; they're wonderfully simple, easy to construct and maintain, and if built and used with full understanding of their (numerous) limitations, they're a real boon to communications. So... despite the "Advanced" in the title (I had to call it something techy), expect to see coverage of plain old "boring" 1200 baud, AX.25, PBBS', Net/ROM (and its derivatives), digipeaters, etc.
Relevence of Amateur Radio What's "wrong" with Amateur Radio these days, in a nutshell, is that it's largely perceived as being irrelevant in this century. We have cell phones and Nextel pocket supercomputers, the Internet, and easy person-to-person International communications. At best, many (most?) Amateur Radio activities are, at best, trailing edge, if even relevant. At worst, many of Amateur Radio's activities are seen as irrelevant in this century. For the purposes of this introduction, I'll refrain from offering any examples, but "relevency" is a theme we'll touch upon regularly.
News and Reference The "news" portion will be this blog. I think that blogs are the most amazing and important tools we ordinary people have for conveying information to each other. This is especially important in Amateur Radio where so much information is "institutional knowledge" and we simply do not have a good channel for documenting the "Advanced" aspects of Digital Amateur Radio. When there is enough knowledge amassed here, perhaps a book is in order.
The "reference" portion will be a (static) web pages hosted on this blog.
Truth be told... there's far more going on in Advanced Digital Amateur Radio than most people realize; amazing software developments, interesting new hardware, and so much progress it's amazing at times. I'll be telling those stories here.
Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA