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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">An excellent point to bring up, and one
I've struggled with in the past as well.<br>
<br>
Short answer: read <a
href="https://www.hamwan.org/t/tiki-index.php?page=Constitution&structure=HamWAN#Article_0_Mission">Article
0</a> of the <a
href="https://www.hamwan.org/t/tiki-index.php?page=Constitution&structure=HamWAN">Constitution</a>.
It describes HamWAN's mission.<br>
<br>
Longer answer with rationale for HamWAN's mission:<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NinjaTel_Van">ham-phone</a>,
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. :)<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Phew! I'm out of words. There's so much work ahead it's scary.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMU0tzLwhbE">Recruiting
recruiting recruiting recruiting</a>! There's no way I can
implement the entirety of this vision for the future alone.<br>
<br>
--Bart<br>
<br>
On 2/12/2013 9:16 PM, Rob Salsgiver wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Ok….. time for more questions, now that the
marathon meeting is over <g>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ll stop with this one for now, rather
than continue to show my ignorance and unfamiliarity
<g>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rob<o:p></o:p></p>
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