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ARRL Reviews Digital CommunicationsWinlink Development Team Member Chairs Committee
Winlink is working on the cutting edge of digital communications. The data transfer protocol that it supports is probably the world's most advanced. Its pioneering work in the interconnection of amateur radio with the Internet has made great strides forward and has rekindled for many the interest in amateur radio. This innovation was possible because of the support of ARRL (the equivalent of the Wireless Institute of Australia - WIA) and the enabling environment that was established by the US Federal Communications Commission (the equivalent of the Australian Communications Authority - ACA). The positive directions that were given at the recent World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-3) and the initiative by ACA to now undertake the Review of the Australian Amateur Radio Service, augur well for obtaining official support and recognition in Australia of the services rendered by radio amateurs. It is sad that the drive for reform, at least in part, appears to be due to the deteriorating international security situation and the way that this affects national concerns. These concerns are well understood in Australia. It is a honor to Winlink that the ARRL Ad Hoc HF Digital Committee was chaired by Vic Poor (W5SMM). Vic is the father of the Winlink system. It was his expert knowledge, interest in amateur radio and sense of public service that brought Winlink where it is today. Another member of the Committee was no less than Steve (K4CJX) - the Winlink Development Team Administrator. The Committee reached a near unanimous decision on a range of recommendations. The ARRL's announcement is totally relevant to the reforms that are currently being formulated in Australia. The covering letter to the report is reproduced in full below: QUOTE ARRL
Ad Hoc HF Digital Committee ARRL Board of Directors Gentlemen: Please find attached the final committee
report from the Ad Hoc HF Digital Committee that was formed at the request of
the Board at the July 2002 meeting. The committee met continuously via email
from December 31, 2002 until it adjourned March 24, 2003. The committee has
tried hard to represent the interests of the amateur community as large as well
as those of digital operators. Digital operation is one of the fastest
growing areas in amateur radio today. It embraces all that the younger
generation considers important, to include the computer, digital messaging of
all kinds, and the Internet. I believe that we are just on the outer edge of
these technologies and these developments may become the mainstay for the future
of amateur radio. These are the modes of operation and interests that will bring
the next generation of radio amateurs into the fold. Change is difficult and our
recommendations advocate change from past modes of operation but we are not the
first to try and face these issues. I would like to quote from Lyle Johnson,
KK7P, and the former president of TAPR (from TAPR's "HFSIG" list in
2002: "In 1977 the FCC tried to eliminate modes and make the HF band segments based on bandwidth only. There was a HUGE hue and cry raised by the amateur community, and in the end all we got was approval to use ASCII. When we did packet in the early 80's, we initially just sent text so that packet could be deemed to be ASCII. "In the mid-80's we (at that time I
was on the ARRL Digital Committee) tried to get the rules changed to allow
bandwidth-related modes on HF, or at least in some sub-bands. Once again, the
"old guard" makes a lot of noise. 'That's where I run AMTOR. You're
gonna interfere with my RTTY. Hey! I want to operate CW there...', 'CW is the
most efficient mode of Amateur communications! Etc...' "So, we have the outdated and
hard-to-interpret rules of today. "Hard to interpret? Well, let's say
I have a way to send digital voice in a 3 kHz bandwidth. Do I do this in the
phone bands (it is voice, after all) or in the non-phone segment (it is data,
after all). This is the same mentality that causes people to think that
warehousing valuable spectrum in little-used, 'closed' repeaters is somehow in
the spirit of Amateur radio." Perhaps the time has finally come. We
need rules that are flexible enough to embrace innovation of all kinds and we
believe these recommendations will take us a long way in that direction. One final note: One member of the
committee, Howard Teller, KH6TY, strongly disagrees with much of what the
committee has done and recommends. He has advised the committee that he will
submit his own report directly to the ARRL Board. 73, Victor Poor, W5SMM Committee Chairman March 24, 2003 UNQUOTE To read the visionary and very pragmatic
report visit www.arrl.org/announce/reports-0307/hf-digital.html.
After reading it, click on the "Back" (<}
button on your browser and go to the "Feedback" link on the top of
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