[TriLUG] packet radio network now in 6 counties

[Tadd Torborg via TriLUG]

The NCPACKET org is building a Terrestrial Amateur Radio Packet Network using the TARPN Raspberry PI packet switch recipe (based on G8BPQ and NC4FG software) in central North Carolina.  TARPN was the subject of a TriLUG presentation June 2017. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ea8SwhrhMU
Since then the network has become rather more successful. 


AB4OZ organized a hamfest in Raleigh NC this past Saturday and NCPACKET was there with a demo setup linked into the network for live CHAT. 



KI4CFS made a video interviewing me about the project and then posted it on Youtube. 
here it is:   https://youtu.be/y7zsgsXp2e8?t=5



The poster hanging in the background is here:

http://ncpacket.net/ncpacket_info_banner_006-x1920x1920.jpg



NCPACKET's primary application is a real-time chat network which looks a little like IRC, but distributes all content exclusively via ham radio.  We have around 35 stations connected to one another via modem(TNC)-radio-antenna links, where there is a separate link between each pair of neighbors, providing a decent level of performance, easy upgrade path, and no collisions.  A typical network switch/home-station has two or three dedicated radios, sometimes sharing a multi-band antenna, and a single Raspberry PI providing the user interface and the switch operation.  Every station is invited to expand the network and every station has a CHAT network server and a BBS/mail/bulletin/file server. 


Due to the restricted ham-radio-only nature of the system, and the egalitarian everybody-is-on-the-backbone feature, combined with the lively social chat across the entire region, this project is becoming more popular every year.  In the past 3 years the network has grown by 1.7x each year. 



Anybody interested should check out our ncpacket.net website or the tarpn.net website.  Also look for youtube videos under search terms "ncpacket" and "tarpn" 



      Tadd - KA2DEW - Raleigh NC