SB TAPR @ ALLUS $TAPR916.001 NEWS: Nominations Sought for TAPR Board of Directors Please use BID: $TAPR916.001 Tucson Amateur Packet Radio 9/16/94 TAPR is governed by a 9-member Board of Directors. Each member of the Board serves a three year term. Three positions are up for election. Board members are expected to attend the annual Board meeting held in conjunction with the annual meeting. They participate in the decision-making process and provide guidance to the officers. They receive no pay and must defray their own expenses to attend meetings. Board members should be prepared to be active in the continuing Board deliberations, which are conducted via the Internet. Active participation in TAPR activities by Board members is important to the furtherance of the objectives of TAPR. The officers of TAPR are elected by the members of the Board at the annual Board of Directors meeting. To place a person in nomination, please remember that he or she must be a member of TAPR. Confirm that the individual is willing to have their name placed in nomination. Send that person's name (or your own if you wish to nominate yourself) along with your call and their call, telephone numbers, mailing address, and Internet address. The person nominated should submit a short biographical sketch to be published along with the ballot. Nominations and biographical sketches should be submitted to the TAPR office no later than December 10th, 1994. More details may be obtained by contacting headquarters: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio 8987-309 E Tanque Verde Rd #337 * Tucson, Az * 85749-9399 * 817-383-0000 TAPR@TAPR.ORG /EX SB TAPR @ TAPR $TAPR916.002 NEWS: TAPR 1995 Annual Meeting Please use BID: $TAPR916.002 Tucson Amateur Packet Radio September 16th, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TAPR 1995 Annual Meeting, March 3rd, 4th, & 5th ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TAPR 1995 Annual Meeting March 3rd, 4th, & 5th, in St. Louis, Mo. Hosted by MoAmPS (Missouri Amateur Packet Society) Join some of the brightest and most enthusiastic of today's packet developers/users, with a weekend full of Packet Radio and Digital Communications talks, presentations, SIG meetings, and two SPECIAL Sunday Workshops. In addition an advanced DSP symposium is planned for Friday afternoon and evening for software developers of DSP systems. TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio), a non-profit research and development corporation, works on the advancement of digital communications and education. This year's annual meeting will be the first held outside of Arizona and presents a unique opportunity for those unable to travel to Tucson to attend meetings. An advanced DSP (digital signal processing) symposium will be held Friday, March 3rd. This is for those working with DSP technology currently, and not a session for introductory topics. The annual meeting formally begins Saturday morning with presentations and papers, as well as discussion on other projects of interest throughout the day. Issues concerning packet networking and BBS operation are also anticipated. A banquet will be held Saturday evening and will include a prize drawing. After dinner, Special Interest Groups will meet and discuss issues. On Sunday, two workshops will be held. One will focus on Error Correction Techniques, by Phil Karn, KA9Q, while the second will focus on development of software/hardware for the TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93, by Bob Stricklin, N5BRG, and Frank Perkins, WB5IPM. These are exciting times for digital communications and TAPR. This year's meeting should be a super-charging event for everyone who can attend! Call for Papers Papers are welcome from everyone. Although there is limited time during the weekend, all attempts will be made to allow those present to talk. Deadline for submission of papers is Monday, February 7th, 1995. Contact the TAPR office to request an author's information package. Meeting Place and Hotel The TAPR Annual Meeting presentations, meetings, and workshops, will be held at the St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley. Lodging will be at the Henry VIII Hotel and Conference Center, 4690 North Lindberg Blvd, St. Louis (Bridgeton), MO, 63044, Phone (lots of them): 800-325-1588, 800-392-1660 (in MO. only), 314 731-3040, or FAX 314 731-4210. Rooms rates are reasonable. It is approximately 4 miles west of St Louis Lambert Airport with shuttle service and approximately 10 miles (all freeway) from the college. A block of 50 rooms will be held until February 4th, at which time those rooms will be released for general booking. If you are planning to stay at the hotel, it is highly recommended that you book your room prior to February 4th, 1994. For full details on Registration and Workshops contact TAPR. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tucson Amateur Packet Radio 8987-309 E Tanque Verde Rd #337 * Tucson, Az * 85749-9399 * 817-383-0000 TAPR@TAPR.ORG /EX SB TAPR @ TAPR $TAPR916.003 NEWS: TAPR HF SIG Formed Please use BID: $TAPR916.003 Tucson Amateur Packet Radio September 16th, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Introduction of the TAPR HF Special Interest Group ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Objectives for the HFSIG The purpose of the HF SIG is to serve as a forum for those involved in experimenting, and developing digital applications for HF. Background HF offers unique challenges and rewarding opportunities for amateur radio - it allows for both short and long distance digital communications without the involvement of specialized terrestrial or space-based equipment such as repeaters, or satellite transponders. It allows for one-to-one (keyboard-to-keyboard), as well as many-to-one (networking), modes of operation. These are quite different in philosophy and functional needs. The amateur bands have seen a dramatic increase in diversity in technology as well as increased activity in the use of digital modes. This is due mostly to the availability of TNCs and application of personal computers. Basic technology, however, has not changed much since the 60's and is in great need for innovation to meet future challenges. Development of future technology for HF digital requires experimentation with several topics on communications such as: 1. Bandwidth-efficient modulation schemes, i.e. for increased robustness, speed, and usability. These include various forms of m-ary FSK, m-ary PSK, or QAM using single or multiple carriers. However, other technologies such as spread-spectrum communications also need to be explored. 2. Application of coding theory for error detection and correction for increased reliability. This will require the use of block and/or convolutional codes. 3. Protocols to suit new proposed modulation and coding schemes. Various forms of ARQ and FEC are possible. The possibilities for half and full duplex modes need to be explored. In addition, development platforms for such experimental work will most certainly receive attention. 4. Programmable DSP platforms. Hardware, and software for application development. 5. Host-based software. Typically this includes low-level I/O, CUA/SAA compliant user-interface development, but also a user-contributed software repository for commonly-used algorithms such as frame synchronization, channel equalization, scrambler polynomials, fast CRC calculations, various error-detection/correction algorithms such as Golay (24,12), Reed-Solomon, and trellis/Viterbi codes for example. Getting involved We require talents representing a wide range of topics such as mathematics (coding theory, signals and transforms), software engineering (algorithm development, real-time OS, low-level I/O, host OS), electrical engineering (analog, digital and RF), digital signal processing (theoretical, hardware and software), etc. However, there also is a similar need for technical writers, beta testers, and project management. It is unlikely that this type of experimental work will be using any existing TNC hardware. A general-purpose programmable DSP platform, such as the TAPR DSP-93, a DSP-based sound card, or equivalent would be required as well as a fairly fast 386/486 or equivalent host computer for high-level software development. Besides development efforts, there will be ongoing on-the-air testing to establish how well theoretical ideas are working in practice. It is envisaged that there would be rapid evolution of modulation and protocol development and thus the need for fully programmable hardware. This introductory note is probably incomplete, however, it presents some perspective and direction for the HFSIG. I would appreciate further suggestions and feedback. 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