[Asterisk-Users] civil emergency comms: Asterisk + HAM

[Mike M]

On Fri, Sep 09, 2005 at 09:31:06AM -0400, Mark Phillips wrote:
> 
> Generators require fuel which is always in short supply and batteries 
> die out quickly. 

Fuel and batteries and power efficient systems need planning and
management.  Don't overlook solar panels as an energy source. They 
need to be in place all over the country and tested frequently. 

> Adding Ham Radio to the picture doesn't really add much 
> when you are trying to do something like a * network. The radio gear 
> just isn't designed to integrate with the * server.

It's software. It can be changed and added to.  These things evolve from
ideas in discussions like these.
> 
> Such technologies, whilst legal here in the US, may not be legal 
> elsewhere. 

What about "authorized looting" you mentioned?  Sometimes you have to
take a risk.  Develop and demo where it's legal first.  If it's not
legal than we should ask why and work for change if we don't like the
answer.
> 
> Without question a phone system would be much better than a radio 
> station. 

Well said.
> 
> I guess after all this waffle I'm trying to say that ham radio is not a 
> replacement for the telephone and cannot handle the kinds of load that 
> is required by a phone system.

What is the bandwidth potential?  There are compression techniques from
VoIP that might improve radio bandwidth utilization.  New protocols can
evolve to conserve bandwidth. Load control is a manageable problem.
Radio telephony is not new.  Telephony over ham might be new only
because Asterisk puts telephonyi/voip into the same price range as ham radio
gear.

Maybe HAM is not the best technology.  Maybe wi-fi is what we need.
http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/weblog/view/wlg/448

Grassroots engineering can create an emergency civil communications
system thereby creating some stored luck.

Lucille Ball said, "Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never
banked on it, and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something
else: Hard work -- and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't."