Good morning and happy Sunday! Time for an update! AREDN is up and running and stable. NA0D-AR-Supernode is hooked to my "local" NA0D-home node and will try to build a wider mesh as time permits. I am probably going to also build some "island" meshes at some spots and backbone them back so others might have something to try and connect to for wider coverage. This will be a process, but I am going to set up some 2.4 GHz access points at some various places that will backbone back for a wider area using 5Ghz as a backhaul. This will come along with some antenna work at various sites that will occur once the weather warms up a little bit. I, like you, am ready for winter to be over!
I like all things digital and feel there is a use for amateur radio digital communications. The mix of AREDN and VARA/Winlink is an obvious course for me. Now, WINLINK is exactly that; a Windows-based-link, and thus has to run on Windows. Well, with Windows announcing that they are going to stop supporting Windows 10 come October of this year, I have some decisions to make. With WINLINK, VARA and all the fun stuff, it takes computers to run. I've been fortunate over the years to be able to cobble together equipment that runs relatively well at low cost. These computers, unfortunately, are not "upgradable" to Windows 11, and thus I will need to not only purchase 5 or 6 (or even more) new computers, I'll have to rebuild several VARA nodes from scratch again. I'm not afraid of that as much as I am the price tag of 6 or so new computers. Now there are these relatively inexpensive mini-computers that will run this stuff for 170-200 each. That's somewhat tolerable over a time and it's not like come October everything just drops. So, I either buy computers OR I move the existing equipment to Linux and change my output to perhaps BPQ or some other digital form. In all honesty, I do like Linux a lot more as its stable, doesn't require reboots and updates almost daily and is far more reliable. And there are ways to run WINLINK in shells in Linux. I do, however, want to keep VARA-FM up and running because I really believe, in a pinch, most hams can send a VARA message or documents with minimal effort over something perhaps more complicated. There is a learning curve with Packet and VARA in general, so its key to remain consistent while people learn how to use the stuff. But I digress....
Sprng comes and antenna work will commence. I am going to replace something at the Brentwood site with a newer antenna, Fort's antennas will get above the trees and those two VARA sites should be in good shape then.
GMRS Repeaters: I will be moving Forts' GMRS Repeater antenna up finally to a decent spot. I am pondering whether or not to take Mena down off the air for lack of use and distance to get there as a result. I do pay for things there that I simply don't need anymore and it's probably going to come down. I am not sure yet. Baxter GMRS repeater is working fine, but I may put an external controller on it to bring back some courtesy tones, voice ID's and other fun things. Same with Brentwood/Winslow.
It is a never ending process. Right now, I am focused on getting AREDN up, keeping my ham radio system in good shape, and getting VARA/Winlink to an increased usable status to wider areas. I am going to test BPQ and see if it makes more sense to move in that direction and/or what kind of integrations I can do. Winlink will also become available on my AREDN system when I am done. The idea is to mesh it all together so if you use AREDN or VARA-FM/Packet/BPQ, you can get into WINLINK and use it all together in one spot.
Anyway, if you have an AREDN Mesh or just one node, and want to connect to NA0D Supernode or my local mesh, send me a message. II'll get you added to my home system where I will have some services available including Citadel. I know a few of ya are out there so let's do this!!
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