W.A.P.R MEETING NOTES
As promised, the W.A.P.R. meeting held at the 1986 South Milwaukee Swapfest enacted several changes that will affect all packet operations, to some extent, in the state.
The mesting was called to-order by Dave Boede -WD9ESH at 1:12 p.m. Other members to the Board of Directors present were Gary Gilbertson - WB9SDA and Jack Sides - WB9YLR. 46 persons sere in attendance.
Gary reported that there are currently 88 members of W.A.P.R. with $4.50 of the seven dollar annual dues covering costs of newsletter inclusion in Badger State Smoke Signals. With other incidental costs subtracted, the balance of the treasury stands at $214.50. There is a planned annual increase to $5.00 per subscription for BSSS this fall which will reduce growth of the treasury.
A general discussion, brought up froffl the floor, followed the treasurer's report pertaining to a dues membership increase. The general consensus by the members present - to increase dues from seven dollars to ten dollars annually. An increase to ten dollars would not tax members pocketbooks, would cover all for seeable expenses of the organization for several years to come and, most important, provide funds that can be used to establish and/or subsidize dependable, digipeater networks within the state. A motion was made from the floor that annual dues be raised to ten dollars. The motion passed.
Dave announced that his tenure on the Board of Directors was due to expire prior to the next meeting and that an election was in order. A motion from the floor nominated Dave to another term. A second motion nominated Roy - WA9KEC with a motion to close nominations quickly following. As Roy cited he could not accept the nomination due to time constraints, Dave was re-elected to another term.
Dave also announced that he would be unable to continue editing materials for the newsletter "The Wisconsin Packeteer". He has been doing this work for over a year and it was time someone else took up the reins. He thanked all the individuals that had submitted articles and urged that submissions to the newsletter be increased in order to keep the information flowing. He nominated Steve - WB9ZRE to edit the newsletter. The nomination passed.
A new digipeater - WD9HFT is operating in Chippewa Falls and provides a path from Eau Claire to Rochester, Minnesota. It was hoped that this digipeater would provide a link thru to the eastern part of Wisconsin, but, at this time, the digipeater can only be reached during band openings. A discussion from the floor proposed that W.A.P.R. develop a reliable path to Minnesota, sponsoring digipeaters in critical path areas such as to the western parts of Wisconsin. With the increase in dues, the organization could assist establishing two digipeaters a year within the state. The Board of Directors will consider the proposal and give priority to critical path areas. Members should submit their suggestions to the W.A.P.R. mailing address.
Gary reported that WB9SDA-1 in Brownsville was set up to provide long distance digipeating for east-central Wisconsin. The equipment is all privately owned and he is supplying funding for its operation, In cases similar to his, W.A.P.R. funding is unnecessary and should be considered only for areas that would not have reliable paths unless funding sere received.
Dave reported that only one frequency proposal had been submitted for consideration. The four page outline was submitted by Jack - 889YLR and takes into consideration the plans adopted by Illinois and Michigan. Discussion on the plan lasted sore than two and a half hours. There was considerable input and clarifications froa the sesbers and the plan was adopted on a trial basis lasting one year. Any comments or proposed changes to the plan should be sent to the W.A.P.R. mailing address for consideration. The adopted plan is fluid and changes say be Bade during the trial basis. The plan reads:
WISCONSIN PROPOSAL
"The proposal for a Wisconsin Packet Radio Frequency Plan is. one of great similarity to Illinois and Michigan. We propose that a network of LANs (Local Area Networks) be established in the state, with 145.010 designated for Inter-LAN and Mail Forwarding between BBSs.
A LAN is defined as a self-serving network of stations located in the same general area, served by a single digipeater with limited height and power necessary to adequately serve the packet stations in the designated area. Each LAN will also have a single W0LRI type BBS accessible by all stations located in the LAN. This type BBS would operate on 145.010, regardless of the LAN's normal frequency. Only stations located within the LAN would be allowed to access this BBS. For Intra-LAN message handling, another BBS or MSO (Message Storage Operation) should be established on the LAN frequency. This LAN BBS need not handle auto-forwarding of traffic, and would be established only for use of that LAN's members. In other words, messages to stations within a LAN would be handled on the LAN frequency by the LAN BBS, and messages targeted to stations outside the LAN would be handled by the BBS on 145.010. Additionally, any real-time communications outside the LAN faith the exception of non-digipeated packet simplex) would take place on 145.010.
To better illustrate this plan, the following example shows what a typical LAM would look like:
Consider the greater Milwaukee area as LAN "A", and Madison as LAN "B". Within LAN "A", W9XYZ maintains a W0LRI BBS on 145.010, Likewise, W9ABC maintains a BBS in the Madison area on 145.010. Also located in the Milwaukee area is-W9ZYX who wishes to forward a message to his friend W9CBA in the Madison LAN. Now, it is possible for W9ZYX to hit the Madison LAN BBS direct, but at what expense in congestion? Under this plan, he would leave his message on the Milwaukee LAN BBS to be auto-forwarded to the Madison LAN BBS". Once the message has been put on the Milwaukee BBS, W9ZYX returns to his LAN's frequency...say 145.030 for regular local, real-time communication with other stations within the LAN,
If, however, he wishes to contact stations outside his LAN, he would do so on 145.010, using whatever path and digipeaters necessary to sake the connection. In other words, real-time conversation between stations in different LANs would take place just as they do today, on 145.010, with all the congestion and problems we currently experience....the difference being that all local, real-time communications still be on a frequency-other than 145.010 MHz.
One main ingredient in this proposal is that BBSs WILL NOT auto-forward as frequently as they do now. Auto-forwarding should be done only between the hours of 0100 and 0400 daily (local time- ed.}. This will cut down on unnecessary congestion. BBS sysops sill also be requested to forward info of general interest to all other cellular BBSs in the state. This sill be a start toward eliminating amen of the multi-hop connects made by many operators for the sole purpose of checking to see if there are any messages or files of interest that say not be on his or her local BBS. Naturally, not everything still be everywhere, but its a start.
There are many more items to be taken into consideration in dealing with UHF linking, particularly high-speed linking, and that sill not be addressed in this proposal. It is our recommendation that a technical committee be formed to work closely with CAPRA and PRISM, as sell as organizations from Minnesota and Iowa. Only thru close coordination and cooperation between cells within the state and operators and organizations from other neighboring states will this proposal work. This type of bandplan is currently in place in a number of areas around the country, and has proven to be workable. With proper implementation. it can also be successful in Wisconsin."
INFO.....
As of July 19, WD9DHI has moved his BBS and gateway to 145.090.
My list of active packet stations in Wisconsin puts the total over 112.
Newest packet station as of July 21 is N9BBN - John in Mauston using a MFJ-1270 and a borrowed rig!
W.A.P.R. extends its appreciation to Vern Teske - W9RYA and the South Milwaukee Amateur Radio Club for proving a site for the W.A.P.R. meeting.
That is it for this tooth as I only had a day to made the deadline for BSSS. Many of you packeteers have stories that could be shared with the rest of the state and here is your chance to share your experiences. Just looking at my packet monitor log, I see new calls popping up each week. Additionally, there are many more amateurs out there who would jump in if only they had a little help, and this newsletter could give then that push. Spend a little time to write an article or an idea of interest down and send it in, better yet, I as on 24 hours via WB9SDA-1 or WA9S0U-2.
73 de Steve - KB9ZRE
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