[HamWAN PSDR] system usage

Wed Feb 13 07:57:25 PST 2013

Short answer - I did read the mission <g>.  

In this instance I had no knowledge of Seattle vs NW Mesh and looked up the
wrong one.

There are will still be the need to make ongoing distinctions though, and
your long answer even can create some situations where the line would be
blurred.   As an example - using hamWAN as an Internet survival backup for
amateur purposes is one thing - i.e. - during a disaster contacting another
ham or looking up information on a website.  Shopping via hamWAN on the
other hand, crosses the commerce line - i.e. - you can't order a pizza on
ham radio.  

I see this as one of those ongoing conversations that will probably be more
of an issue as we get started than once things "firm up".   Once we start
having some demonstrated amateur  uses it will help illustrate the drawn
lines.

Rob

From: PSDR [mailto:psdr-bounces at hamwan.org] On Behalf Of Bart Kus
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 12:06 AM
To: Puget Sound Data Ring
Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] system usage

An excellent point to bring up, and one I've struggled with in the past as
well.

Short answer: read Article 0
<https://www.hamwan.org/t/tiki-index.php?page=Constitution&structure=HamWAN#
Article_0_Mission>  of the Constitution
<https://www.hamwan.org/t/tiki-index.php?page=Constitution&structure=HamWAN>
.  It describes HamWAN's mission.

Longer answer with rationale for HamWAN's mission:

A useful and vibrant computer network is one that allows like-minded people
to communicate together.  In the case of the Internet, we have the ultimate
wide deployment across geographical regions and social groups.  It is
everywhere and provided to everyone.  From there, you see communities
forming around their collective commonalities.  Topic-specific message
boards, mailing lists, IRC channels, web sites/apps, etc.  We cannot hope to
compete with the speed of terabit fiber-optics, or the budgets of global
ISPs to be all things to all people.

I, however, am a nerd.  And I enjoy the company of my fellow nerds.  It is
these nerds that I would like to exchange data with.  I believe that passing
a basic amateur radio license exam is a good filter for the quality of nerd
that I'd like to see on the network.  Such a requirement also broadens the
adoption of amateur radio itself in our society filled with computer nerds,
who would love to play with digital networks, but don't have a ham license.
This is a good thing.  The compu-nerds might learn new things in the realm
of radio along the way.  Voice net check-ins burn at my computer-literate
soul, and the injection of computer-savvy nerds into the amateur radio hobby
will fix these archaic procedures.  So there you have (part of) the
rationale for requiring all participants to be licensed radio amateur
operators.

I'm also a bit of an independent.  Why should I put my communications needs
solely in the hands of large corporations and the Internet?  Most of my
communication is local.  I would be very happy to achieve independence from
the corporate teat for at least my local communications needs.  On this kind
of independent network, WE define the rules.  Comcast wants to charge
$200/mo for a 50Mbit downlink feed.  I think we can beat that if we build it
ourselves.  And make it symmetrical at the same time, so none of this 10Mbit
uplink limit.  Nerds are not just consumers, they're also providers of data
services.  The common Internet services target your typical mom & pop
audience, who are dominantly consumers of data.  I'd love to live in a world
where I can carry around a ham-phone
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NinjaTel_Van> , my car is a mobile
ham-hotspot, and my house is tied into the HamWAN, all at a significantly
lower cost than the for-profit commercial offerings, while being tailored to
my nerdy needs.  And there you have some rationale for "free digital
communication" as a goal.  I can go on for quite a while on this subject.
:)

I'm also a bit of a survivalist.  I like knowing exactly how my
communications facilities work and how to fix them.  Should my Internet or
cell service go down, I like knowing I have another completely independent
system of communication.  The other emergency communications groups share
this attitude, and it makes them great partners in building this network.
These are the driving forces behind the emergency communications part of
HamWAN's mission.

Did I mention I'm a nerd? :)  Doing the R&D to bring this type of network to
life is great fun.  A long focused effort by a group of nerds will (and
already has) produced valuable results.  These need to be published so that
others may benefit from our experience in building their own networks of
this kind.  And there you have mission point #2, about conducting and
publishing R&D.

The publication of this knowledge also ties in with point #4, of educating
and spreading knowledge.  Point #4 is also supported by requiring
participants to pass ham exams.

Lastly, I realize HamWAN will not be in control of all such like-minded
networks.  These types of ideas (both technical and organizational/social)
can spread like wildfire, and independent groups are sure to spring up.
When groups' networks grow and start touching each other, I want to be sure
they are compatible.  For this reason the last sentence of the mission
statement is that HamWAN will act as a coordinator of interoperability.  The
recent decision to go with AMPRnet block registration solves a large part of
the interoperability problem.  But there are other considerations, such as
the universal adoption of the NV2 protocol which would make a roaming ham's
equipment compatible with other groups' networks.  We may also have to
implement an inter-network registration system for roaming hams.  There are
analogous systems in the cellular telco world.  If we develop & establish a
universal system of digital ham identity at least, that would go a long way
even if we fail on the protocol adoption front.  Someone suggested using the
LoTW client certificate, which is not a bad idea at all.  ARRL provides a
rigorous identity verification system in LoTW signup, although I'm not sure
how good they are at expiring said certs in a timely manner should the
registration lapse or be revoked by the FCC.

Phew!  I'm out of words.  There's so much work ahead it's scary.  Recruiting
recruiting recruiting recruiting
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMU0tzLwhbE> !  There's no way I can
implement the entirety of this vision for the future alone.

--Bart

On 2/12/2013 9:16 PM, Rob Salsgiver wrote:

Ok... time for more questions, now that the marathon meeting is over <g>.

A number of times I've heard potential uses that seem to blur the line
between amateur and commercial, so my question is - how do we draw the line?

As an example - connecting to the Seattle MeshNet.  As I read it, the
MeshNet is non-amateur.  Are we looking to be a generic carrier grade ISP?
If so, then this will work, but we won't be able to use amateur frequencies
to do it.  Similar question for connecting firehalls down south - if we are
sticking to strictly amateur uses, then the usage by laptops and other
devices at a firehall would be limited to amateur related uses - i.e. - no
non-hams using it.

It may be that I'm just missing a big concept here, but I see a lot of
blurring of the lines in conversation, and I think it needs to be better
spelled out before we get in front of too many folks.

I'll stop with this one for now, rather than continue to show my ignorance
and unfamiliarity <g>.

Rob

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