[HamWAN PSDR] Facts about ham fundraising

[Scott Honaker]

I see three issues

*1.  Coverage - Will it work for me?*
That's coming along nicely but is far from universal.  Some demos at some
events could really make a difference.  If we can hook a couple EOCs
together, we'll really have something!  I can get introductions into most
any EOC in the area, if we have the coverage to do a demo for them.
Perhaps some loaner units (for a small donation) would be interesting.

*2.  Ease of installation - How can I play?*
The price point is fantastic - about the same price as a 2m mobile radio.
The web site is very helpful but a bit overwhelming for a newbie.  More
concise steps of what to buy and how to make it work would be helpful.
Bart mentioned offering preconfigured radios.  I love that idea!  Plug it
in, point the antenna and play.

*3.  Applications - What can I do with it?*
Rob hinted at this with the DRATS suggestion.  DRATS has a Telnet mode
that supports chat, file transfer, email and forms - all the emcomm
applications in a single package.  Showing someone another network to run
Outlook over isn't particularly compelling.  What if Internet access is
lost to your mail server?  Well then you can't run Outlook on any network.
We need some native HAMWAN applications.  A "Ratflector" is an easy one,
Chat, Video Conferencing, VoIP phone service, what else?  I have some
server space at the Everett site with a 65KW UPS and 250KW generator.  We
can make that stuff live on the network but need a champion for those
services.

Scott N7SS


On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 1:10 PM, Tom Hayward <esarfl at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'll take a stab at a few of these points and defer the others...
>
> On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 12:27 PM, Rob Salsgiver <rob at quailsoftltd.net>
> wrote:
> > 2)      End-users (individual):  We need to get more of our core online
> and
> > well versed in the system.  From those early users we need a few in each
> > county or metro area that are willing to do site surveys and interact
> with
> > other potential end users to get them onboard.  We need to focus on our
> > marketing, getting the message out (with success stories), and more
> end-user
> > demonstrations – not just the equipment, but from an application
> standpoint.
>
> I'll come out and do a site survey anywhere in Pierce County.
>
> I'll run a custom propagation model for anyone anywhere. This will
> tell you how tall of a tower you need to get HamWAN. HamWAN covers
> everything within 100 miles of a site if you have a tall enough tower
> ;-)
>
> > 3)      End-users (EMCOMM):  We need some served agencies online.  We
> need
> > advocates outside of the ham world.  Hospitals, Red Cross, Emergency
> > Management offices, Salvation Army, maybe even a mobile station.  If we
> have
> > 3-4 hospitals, Red Cross chapters, or similar served agencies
> successfully
> > hooked up, we have a working demonstration platform to work from.  Even
> > then, basic connectivity isn’t.  We need hams in these locations to
> > demonstrate on an applications basis what can be done “when all else
> fails”
> > over HamWAN.  If we can convince 30-50 different served agencies to shell
> > out the cost of a single cell phone each month to support a dedicated
> > Internet connection that is disaster-resilient, then you have up to
> > $2500/month coming in to support the infrastructure.  Demonstrate email,
> web
> > access, and maybe even some specialized goodies targeted at them – use
> > D-RATs for a tactical “chat” interface between locations – who knows?
>  Maybe
> > interface with other digital gateways or extend over other RF links
> > (D-Star?).
>
> The Snohomish County EOC is online with HamWAN. I'd like to see other
> EOCs come online, but we don't have contacts there. HamWAN could be
> very useful for EOC-to-EOC communications (sending video, phone,
> etc.).
>
> If you have contacts in the EmComm world, talk to them! Or see if we
> can schedule a presentation.
>
> Heh, D-Rats is a patch to make D-Star useful. We can just show them
> email, "Look, you can still use Outlook!" Service decoupled from
> network: awesome.
>
> I don't see Internet as the end goal of HamWAN. HamWAN can facilitate
> communications between hams. EOC-to-EOC communication can take place
> completely over the HamWAN RF network, until a hole opens up in the
> earth and swallows one of our sites. Then we just route around the
> outage with Internet; communication continues.
>
> Tom KD7LXL
>
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>
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