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After installing I-Link on my computer and making a few contacts I fail to understand the recent hype revolving around voice over IP DX'ing.
Re-broadcasting voice over IP from I-Link to RF through local repeaters, from an IT standpoint, seems to be a step backwards. Over the years IT recognized the unreliability of wired networks are now replacing copper & fiber with RF spread spectrum links for LAN and WAN applications.
Repeaters are basically in place for emergency communications when conventional means of communication (i.e. landlines) are not functional - Without landlines there is no I-Link.
Where's the sport of DX'ing when someone in one country is "wired" to the internet with a 6-foot phone cord talking voice over IP and makes contact with a someone in another country residing 2 miles from a local repeater? In reality the effective RF wireless DX distance is only 2 miles.
Basic Amateur practice to not use HF for local chat if otherwise contact could be made on local VHF UHF frequencies. What about the reciprocal? Why should I-Link tie up local VHF/UHF simplex or duplex frequencies when otherwise contact could be made on HF bands via skip propagation?
Bootlegging & pirating is and will always be a problem on the Amateur bands. Adding voice over IP can create total chaos - For example relatives making contact across the globe could possibly violate third party message regulations.
Don't get me wrong I-Link has its purpose however coming from the 'old school" it's not my choice of DX communication.
73's
Peter - AG4RC
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Well, I think if a country allows repeaters to be connected to the internet, they probably have no 3rd party issues. It's a neat new way to talk dx, so what's wrong with it?
The local UHF repeater gets used nightly now instead of monthly now that it's connected to the IRLP.
Andrew
N8ARY
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There's no place like 127.0.0.1
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I have a couple of thoughts on this.
First, although business have adopted wireless LAN/WAN. They are also discovering that it is an unsecured method of networking. The "security" protocols that are in place are extremely easy to hack by someone with a laptop sitting in the parking lot. Also wireless is slower and more expensive than a traditional 100baseT ethernet network. That being said, wireless is not all bad. It allows laptop and palm-held computers to access the corporate network without having to worry about a cord or jack to plug into. Personally, I believe that both wired and wireless networks will be used in business, depending on the application being used.
Although I agree with you that the "sport" of DX'ing is not the same when you have repeaters connected to the Internet, it does allow more Hams to speak with each other over greater distances than a repeater on it's own could provide. This is one of the things that inspired me to earn my ticket. I used an Internet connected repeater to talk with friends several states away as we all commute to and from work. I plan on setting up my own repeater in the near future for this same purpose. I have also met other hams with similar interests to my own that I otherwise would have never spoken to without the use of these connected repeaters. Locally we have one repeater that is used strictly for local communications and a separate repeater for the linked communications.
HF for long distances is fine for those that have the proper license, equipment, and space for an antenna. My feelings are that for general communications linked repeaters are fine, but they should not be used for contests and awards.
73, Brian
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It is not DX. #ILink and the other versions of voice over the internet are just that, voice over wires IE: the internet. #It is not radio. #
I wonder if anyone knows where the term "DX" came from? #It came from the early TELEPHONE days. #I was short for (D)istant E(X)change.
I have been saying this for a long time. #All these new voice over the internet things are not ham radio they are just "Voice over the Internet". #They are really the same thing that has been in existence for a long time. #It was and is known as "Autopatch or Reverse Autopatch". #You simply called a repeater from a land line phone and you were on the repeater talking to mobiles or base stations anywhere in the world exactly the same as these new digital modes. #These new #modes have just made the voice digital instead of analog. #I know, in the computer age that this is seen as really cool and golly gee whiz to new comers, and I can understand that. #But, don't tell me your working DX because you are not. #You are working a distant repeater over phone lines.
I have said in the past, these modes will destroy the incentive for lower class licensee's to upgrade. #They will be disillusioned into thinking they are really working foreign countries without knowing what it is really like to work DX with the work and effort needed to actually do it the real way with an antenna not a modem.
I have also said that sooner or later, users of these modes will be collecting QSL cards and looking for some kind of DX award such as W.A.S and DXCC equivalent and just as sought after as the real ones. #Well it is already happening. #Scary isn't it?
You want to talk to someone in a distant far away and exotic land, upgrade your license class and do it the old fashioned way or, get a phone book, dial a country code and ask for information the Ilink way. #No radios need apply.
Sorry, I am rambling along here. This stuff just really irks me.
K2WH
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This topic has been beat to death. I think it is time to retire this discussion. This I-link thing has been fought out one or twice a month for the past year.
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| Quote (kc8pmm @ June 06 2002,15:09) | Well, I think if a country allows repeaters to be connected to the internet, they probably have no 3rd party issues. #It's a neat new way to talk dx, so what's wrong with it? #
The local UHF repeater gets used nightly now instead of monthly now that it's connected to the IRLP.[/QUOTE]
Well, you aren't "talking DX." You are talking local. Besides that, nothing wrong with it. You can get the same effect from your cordless phone, which is in fact, a two way, full duplex radio, and communicates to your base phone, which then, via wires, communicates where-ever in the world you wish to dial. And no license needed, at least here in the USA.
Of course, the only DX you are working, is the "DX" from your ham radio to the repeater you are accessing. That may be a mile. If that's how you define "working DX," then that's your choice, and it isn't illegal or unethical. And it IS radio, at least for a half mile or so.
Of course, if you are using your computer at your home, to link to a repeater, then the only "dx" MAY be in some foreign country where there is actually a piece of the link done by radio, and not by wire.
In other words, there's not one thing wrong with it. It is just a matter of preference. If you let others do the work for you,like Microsoft, AT&T, Prodigy, Compuserve, etc., and your local/regional phone company, in building massive internet networks, where probably 99.999 percent of them have no idea what ham radio is at all, and only provide wire services, and you use them, that's OK, too. If, on the other hand, you like some personal challenge, instead of just "dial up DX" then you won't much enjoy it.
It's all a matter of choice.
Ed
Ed, CHOP, W5HTW - Novice 1956, General, 1957, Advanced, 1968, Extra, 1969. Keep the amateur in amateur radio, keep the pros, and Part 90, out of it.
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I have a few things that I think you might be off base about Peter. Here they go...
| Quote (ag4rc @ June 03 2002,20:32) |
Re-broadcasting voice over IP from I-Link to RF through local repeaters, from an IT standpoint, seems to be a step backwards. Over the years IT recognized the unreliability of wired networks are now replacing copper & fiber with RF spread spectrum links for LAN and WAN applications.
[/QUOTE]
As the CTO of a small ISP, I can tell you with good authority that almost all companies that give a hoot a security and network integrity use fiber and copper. I have never seen anyone use 802.11 in a NOC.
| Quote |
Repeaters are basically in place for emergency communications when conventional means of communication (i.e. landlines) are not functional -----
[/QUOTE]
Not true. Emergency communications is not our only mandate.
| Quote |
Basic Amateur practice to not use HF for local chat if otherwise contact could be made on local VHF UHF frequencies. What about the reciprocal? Why should I-Link tie up local VHF/UHF simplex or duplex frequencies when otherwise contact could be made on HF bands via skip propagation?
[/QUOTE]
I have never heard that you are not supposed to use HF for local chat. I can't find anything about it in the rules or ARRL's Operating Manual. Can you provide a reference?
I don't want to sound like a nit-picker, but I think some of your statements are incorrect.
-- Terry
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I still say that if you want to talk to another country on the internet, just get Yahoo Messenger or ICQ or something....you'll have a better selection.
I-Link is not radio.
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It's not DX and will never be DX. For those of you who don't have a general or above license have fun, but until you can make the contact to the far reaches of the world Ant to Ant you'll never know the true thrill of DXing. If you want to exchange QSL cards that mean something of accomplishment you need to study code , upgrade and enjoy the thrill of the rare contact and confirmation! Don't get me wrong. I'm all for diversity in forms of mode of operation in the Amateur radio service but I feel there has been to little quality of operation in the new operators of HF phone in recent years (easy no code upgrade from CB). Don't get me wrong on that either, I came up threw the CB ranks as well but because it was a requirement to pass several tests including code, it provided me the time to learn the proper operation and edicate to promote Amateur radio and GOODWILL.This could be our downfall! # #KO4VP
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This is NOT DX #, but #Ham radio operators #have ideas(some of this #idea become standard for profesional comunication) #and #this #experiment #is acording tradition # of Ham radio, # founding some different #and #something new. #