Re: Internet/Satellite link?

[Rich Mulvey <mulveyr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 23-Jun-98 Phillip Cox wrote:
> So what happens when commercial power fails? 

  A commercial power failure affects the guy with the 100W HF rig exactly
the same way as the guy with the 5W TCP/IP station - if he is prepared, he
will continue to communicate.  If he isn't, then he'll be silent. 
Personally, I have sufficient backup power to run my HF/VHF/UHF rigs and
computers indefinately, using gasoline and solar power.  So do some other
people around here.

>The internet does not run on
> batteries so don't become too dependant on technology.

   You will always have a certain level of dependence on technology, no
matter what equipment you have.  And yes, quite often, the Internet DOES
run on batteries - I was sending e-mail on a daily basis to some friends up
in Northern NY and Canada last winter when it was slammed with a major ice
storm.  Many places lost power for days, not to mention phone service.   
Their school still had backup generators, however, and their net connections
worked fine.  

> Hams will still
> get the message through, even if we use CW. Everything else is practice,
> (FO-29 case in point). When the chips are down, will you be able to
> resurrect these "new fangled" forms of technology; or will you
> re-discover our purpose here according to part 95.

   That's precisely the point that I was making - the hams who are going
above and beyond the "CQ DX" mode of operation are the ones who are
adhering to both the spirit and the letter of Part 95 - they are the ones
who are advancing the state of the art.  They are the ones that can cobble
together a working communications system, while the DX'r is waiting for the
power company to turn his lights back on, because they understand how the
technology works behind the scenes.  

> Also bear in mind that
> with all the "new blood" in our hobby, there will still be a spirit for
> "exploring" The "old" world of communication.

   There's nothing wrong with the "old" ways - I love using CW myself.  The
problem, however, is that the old timers, more often than not, in my
experience, actively stand *in the way* of new exploration.  They seem to
forget that everything, at one time or another, was revolutionary and new.

- Rich

--
Rich Mulvey                                         
My return address is my last name, 
   followed by my first initial, @mulveyr.roc.servtech.com        
http://mulveyr.roc.servtech.com
Amateur Radio: aa2ys@wb2wxq.#wny.ny.usa