SB NETSIG @ TAPR $TAPR507.001 NEWS: TAPR NET SIG @ Dayton Tucson Amateur Packet Radio May 7th, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TAPR Regional Network Speical Interest Group -- Dayton Report ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nearly 40 hams attended the NETSIG meeting held on Saturday, April 30, in beautiful, warm, and sunny Dayton, Ohio. After an initial -- and very interesting -- trip around the room to let everyone describe their network status and problems, the discussion moved away from the four specific NETSIG goals and into a more general discussion of packet networking. Some of the provocative ideas put forward were: 1) Can we build a nationwide RF network in the forseeable future? The concensus was that we probably can't, at least until we have geostationary satellites. 2) As network builders, what are our goals? Vic, K1LT, raised this issue and hopefully he'll be expanding on it in another message. The point is that the network we build has to be based on what we want to do, and that's never been well articulated. 3) How do we get user involvement? First the BBS, and now PacketCluster, could be considered "heavy apps" for packet. But is there another big app lurking that will make packet networking take off? It's clear from the discussion that services like "convers" will lure users into exploring --- and loading -- the network. Several folks thought that the internet gateways may be it. Jay, WB8TKL, called for a challenge to provide gateway access on every local network. 4) Following on from that point, the group agreed that training -- both on using the network, and using the apps -- is critical. 5) And, many felt that the gateways would play a critical role in linking our networks. Lots of other issues came up, but these were the major ones (at least, they were the ones that showed up in the notes!). Let's keep this discussion going, via the netsig mailing list. What do think about these issues? To Join, send Internet e-mail to 'listserv@tapr.org' and put in the message body 'join netsig'. *************** The next meeting of NETSIG will be at the ARRL CNC in Minnesota in August. 73, John AG9V jra@lawdept.daytonOH.ncr.com AG9V@N8ACV.#DAY.OH.USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tucson Amateur Packet Radio 8987-309 E Tanque Verde Rd #337 * Tucson, Az * 85749-9399 * 817-383-0000 /EX SB BBSSIG @ TAPR $TAPR507.002 NEWS: TAPR BBS SIG @ Dayton Tucson Amateur Packet Radio May 7th, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TAPR BBS Special Interest Group -- Dayton Report ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Over 40 people participated in the Dayton meeting of the TAPR BBS Special Interest Group. Those who attended ranged in experience from the just plain curious to the very dedicated. People started gathering prior to the 6:30 PM published meeting time and were eager to begin discussion. One of the co-developers of the hierarchical address method used by packet BBS software, Dave Toth, participated. A member of the ARRL Digital Committee, Bo McLean, also attended. Their input to was greatly appreciated by all. One of the purposes of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for a free discussion of ideas. While a bit chaotic, this unstructured exchange was useful. It permited sysops to hear, first-hand, what issues were important to sysops in other regions of the country. At Dayton, we were fortunate to have input from amateurs in Canada and Great Britain, as well as from most parts of the US. Before discussion got too far along, an exercise was conducted in which the active BBS sysops were asked to list the five most important concerns they had as sysops. This helped to define some issues which needed to be discussed in more detail in order for those participating to feel their time at the meeting was well spent. Message content was the most frequently mentioned concern to sysops. Fear over losing one's license for being tied to a message whose content violated Part 97 was the number one issue with those attending. Also mentioned very frequently were accountablility (a close cousin to fear of losing one's license), the desire for the indentification of a series of standard '@' fields, and the growing amount of what was termed 'junk mail' which might be displacing P-type messages on the busier parts of the forwarding network. Overall, the top-five list exercise and the open discussion indicated that the issues on the mind of most sysops are content-related. Only later in the meeting, with a little steering in that direction, did the focus turn to how TAPR and the BBS SIG might first concentrate on making the mechanics of BBS operation more efficient. While the BBS SIG can't directly impact message content, it is important that participating sysops be given plenty of time to share what they're thinking about. Only at a national gathering such as this would sysops have a chance to find out what sysops across the country are thinking about. Sysops from all over generally agreed that what started out as a means to send personal messages to individuals has increasingly become a forum for the promotion of ideas and 'for sale' messages. Many stated that they were somewhat disillusioned over this metamorphosis. It was further agreed that there probably isn't enough awareness among users that the systems to forward messages have physical limits. It will be worth a try for the sysops to better educate users on this, starting on a one-to-one basis. Sysops of urban boards were especially concerned that the networks for forwarding were going to grind to a halt. No one wanted to inhibit the growth of packet radio, overly restrict users, turn being a sysop into a full-time profession, or go broke, keeping up with increasing traffic amounts. Eventually, discussion turned to how the TAPR BBS SIG could begin to help improve the efficiency of BBS operation. Several of the points made during the Packet Forum presentation on the BBS SIG were among those mentioned during our meeting: @ operational issues (rather than content) are good starting points; @ all of the problems associated with message forwarding can't be solved at once; @ a library of hints and kinks collected and maintained by TAPR would be very helpful. This library could be available as an on-line service and published as a pamphlet or book; @ BBS software writers should be made to feel comfortable to participate in the SIG. It could be a good opportunity for constructive exchange. We depend upon each other (sysops and software writers) to keep doing what we are doing in our hobby. We won't learn anything new and continue to have fun if we don't communicate with each other; @ an (inter)national organization, such as TAPR, is well-suited to transcend regional tendencies to reject ideas not invented locally; Several resolutions were made. One was that the group that met was to reaffirm the use of the two-letter continental designators until the matter could be studied in depth. The group also resolved that TAPR study and issue a list of most-frequently-used 'TO' and '@' fields. Yet another resolution by the group was for TAPR to recommend a common flood bulletin structure. A meeting by a smaller group of sysops on took place on Saturday evening while the NET SIG meeting was held. This smaller group reviewed the discussions of the previous evening. It was agreed that a Request for Comment be prepared and issued. Incorporated into this RFC would be solicitation of input for a proposed set of setup tips for the most popular BBS software in use today. More information on this will be published on the BBSSIG Internet forum as it is prepared. It is expected that the collection of setup tips will be completed in time for the ARRL Digital Conference being held in Minneapolis in August. The next in-person meeting of the TAPR BBS SIG will be held at the Digital Conference. As always, you are encouraged to use the Internet forum established by TAPR to exchange ideas and request help from other sysops. To Join the TAPR BBS SIG, send Internet e-mail to 'listserv@tapr.org' and put in the message body 'join bbssig'. 73 de Dave Wolf WO5H @ WO5H.#DFW.TX.USA.NA (or NOAM) Internet: dwolf@tcet.unt.edu CompuServe: 73427,2246 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tucson Amateur Packet Radio 8987-309 E Tanque Verde Rd #337 * Tucson, Az * 85749-9399 * 817-383-0000 /EX SB TAPR @ TAPR $TAPR507.003 NEWS: TAPR Dayton Report Tucson Amateur Packet Radio May 7th, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TAPR at Dayton ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dayton, 1994 Dayton this year for TAPR was great. Mel Whitten, K0PFX, Dave Wolf, WO5H, Dorothy Jones, KA5DWR, John Bennett, N4XI, John Ackerman, AG9V, Fred Treasure, KE5CI, Bob Stricklin, N5BRG, Shelton McAnelly, KD5SL, and Adam Tate, AB5PO, made working the booth a lot of fun. If I missed anyone, thanks for helping. We were short-handed a number of times, but were able to keep the booth manned with Dorothy and two others most of the time. Attendance at Dayton seemed to be about the same but the weather was awful! It rained the entire weekend and then got cold and rainy on Sunday (snow flurries were predicted!). This was good and bad. It kept the flea market folks inside looking at the exhibit stuff, but then made the in-door convention areas so crowded that it would take literally forever to move from booth to booth. The Friday Packet Forum, moderated by Bob Neben, K9BL, saw a number of TAPR members making presentations. I presented the opening talk on Packet Radio for the Beginner, which saw a turnout with about 50% or a little less novice or potential new users. The TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 Project was presented by Bob Stricklin, N5BRG. Dave Wolf, WO5H, discussed current happenings in the TAPR BBS SIG. Mel Whitten, K0PFX, made a presentation on Interfacing WX Data to Packet, followed by John Bennett, N4XI, speaking on WX Station Interfaces. John Ackerman, AG9V, made a presentation on the TAPR Regional Network SIG and its current direction and efforts. Dewayne Hendricks, WA8DZP, discussed current FCC Regulatory Issues and the impact they might have on digital communications in the future. I hope I didn't miss anyone, but the forum as usual was well attended for the whole time. Another good job this year, Bob. The Friday and Saturday night SIG meetings were a success although the room we had at the Radisson was almost as bad as the weather. The room was hot and stuffy both nights. Friday night the air conditioner was broken and on Saturday night they had it fixed, but turned on the heat since it was supposed to be down to 34 degrees that night -- couldn't win. We made do, but we definitely will want to fix this for next year. I will be working with John Ackerman, Bob Neben, and Robert (of the national packet round table) next year to think about ways we can organize the Friday and Saturday night activities. We have access to space at the Roadway Inn or we might be looking for some place else. Have a few months to get everything lined up. The Saturday evening meal at McNasty's was well attended, but a number of folks believe that a change here is due. If you have an opinion one way or the other please let us know at the office. I think we will look at having a packet forum Friday night along with the BBS SIG. More packet talks or something. Then on Saturday we will look at a possible change in dinner locations which will allow us to hold the NET SIG and different general discussion groups. I would like to still have a place at the Radisson since it is easy for the group to get to and it also allows a common place for people to stay up past midnight to chat. So, will have to think carefully about this. The NET SIG meeting on Saturday had folks up past midnight talking technical issues. I think we can consider Dayton another success this year. If you didn't make it this year, you should plan to come next year. Dayton is a lot of fun and TAPR plans to do more packet activities next year. Till then! --- If you wish to join the tapr-bb mail list, send Internet e-mail to 'listserv@tapr.org' and place in the message body 'join tapr-bb'. TAPR sends out various bulletins via this mail group. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tucson Amateur Packet Radio 8987-309 E Tanque Verde Rd #337 * Tucson, Az * 85749-9399 * 817-383-0000 /EX