• /when web forums are slow and cumbersome

    From Ogg@VERT/EOTLBBS to All on Sunday, June 14, 2020 15:08:00
    Hello Vk3jed!

    ** On Saturday 13.06.20 - 03:06, vk3jed wrote to Dennisk:

    I find web forums slow and cumbersome. It's like trying to wade
    through treacle.

    OK, but using locally installed software, with a simple interface is so De>> much better. Much of the reason I'm using BBS's is that using MultiMail De>> is a pleasure and downloading packets for offline responses which I can De>> do in my own time, using MY OWN EDITOR is great.

    Yeah, I like Multimail, and being offline (and therefore isolated from
    the network) means no network induced lag. While data throughput is
    high nowadays, latency adds up when protocols get chatty, because the
    speed of light is finite. :/

    You guys should really try OpenXP.

    Fetching a download of .pkt files or archived ones only takes two
    keystrokes: N A

    ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
    º º
    º Netcall / All º
    º º
    º This makes a Netcall to all the Servers for which the º
    º field in "Netcall All" has been enabled in the º
    º following dialogue: /Edit/Servers/Edit/Misc º


    Then read to your offline heart contentment.


    ../|ug

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
  • From Vk3jed@VERT/FREEWAY to Ogg on Monday, June 15, 2020 11:35:00
    On 06-14-20 15:08, Ogg wrote to All <=-

    You guys should really try OpenXP.

    Yeah, it's been on my todo list for a while to try. :)

    I did look at SemPoint, which was a great concept and worked well - with the help of WineVDM, on 64 bit windows too, but I found the navigation wasn't quite as clean as Multimail, Bluewave or SLMR. That's often the case with GUI apps that assume you want to use the mouse all the time. They may have keyboard shortcuts, but they often don't "flow" the same.


    ... AACCHHOOO!!! Darn! I see the idiots are in bloom again!
    --- MultiMail/Win v0.51
    þ Synchronet þ Freeway BBS, Bendigo Australia. freeway.apana.org.au
  • From Ogg@VERT/EOTLBBS to Vk3jed on Monday, June 15, 2020 00:06:00
    Hello Vk3jed!

    ** On Sunday 14.06.20 - 21:35, vk3jed wrote to Ogg:

    You guys should really try OpenXP.

    Yeah, it's been on my todo list for a while to try. :)

    OXP is keyboard driven. You will like that.


    I did look at SemPoint, which was a great concept and worked well - with
    the help of WineVDM, on 64 bit windows too, but I found the navigation
    wasn't quite as clean as Multimail, Bluewave or SLMR. That's often the
    case with GUI apps that assume you want to use the mouse all the time.
    They may have keyboard shortcuts, but they often don't "flow" the same.

    I was excited about SemPoint about a year ago when I revisited it about 20 years later. But the navigation was not what I could fully adjust to. However, I am using it for Araknet. I still like SemPoint's database
    style of storing accumulative packets in to squish message bases.

    Some menu commands in SemPoint could be triggered with <Alt> and then
    using the designated letter in the menus. But I don't think it can be
    fully keyboard driven.

    The olr that I really miss is Fleetstreet for OS/2. It was brilliant. It allowed adding REXX scripts to enhance certain operations.

    Anxious to hear what you think of OXP. I never imagined I would settle
    with it, but here I am!

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
  • From Vk3jed@VERT/FREEWAY to Ogg on Tuesday, June 16, 2020 20:08:00
    On 06-15-20 00:06, Ogg wrote to Vk3jed <=-

    @VIA: VERT/EOTLBBS
    Hello Vk3jed!

    ** On Sunday 14.06.20 - 21:35, vk3jed wrote to Ogg:

    You guys should really try OpenXP.

    Yeah, it's been on my todo list for a while to try. :)

    OXP is keyboard driven. You will like that.

    That certainly gets my interest. :)

    I was excited about SemPoint about a year ago when I revisited it about
    20 years later. But the navigation was not what I could fully adjust
    to. However, I am using it for Araknet. I still like SemPoint's
    database style of storing accumulative packets in to squish message
    bases.

    Yes, I loved the idea behind SemPoint, it's a great concept, just a bit GUI oriented for my liking.

    Some menu commands in SemPoint could be triggered with <Alt> and then using the designated letter in the menus. But I don't think it can be fully keyboard driven.

    Yeah, I found it a bit too mouse oriented for my liking.

    The olr that I really miss is Fleetstreet for OS/2. It was brilliant.
    It allowed adding REXX scripts to enhance certain operations.

    Never heard of that one, but sounds neat.

    Anxious to hear what you think of OXP. I never imagined I would settle with it, but here I am!

    I will try and get around to it, but been having too much fun with SvxLink (radio services software that you can use to build repeaters and links with) lately. :D


    ... All wiyht. Rho sritched mg kegtops awound?
    --- MultiMail/Win v0.51
    þ Synchronet þ Freeway BBS, Bendigo Australia. freeway.apana.org.au
  • From Ogg@VERT/EOTLBBS to Vk3jed on Tuesday, June 16, 2020 21:23:00
    Hello Vk3jed!

    ** On Tuesday 16.06.20 - 06:08, vk3jed wrote to Ogg:

    ... but been having too much fun with SvxLink (radio services software
    that you can use to build repeaters and links with) lately. :D

    I watched a couple of yt videos by people who built svxlink + rasp-pi systems. But I don't understand what exactly is this setup is supposed to *do*.

    Is it just some kind of automated voice broadcaster to replace the human voice input over the radio? In one video the person could be heard
    punching something on his handheld radio, and then a robotic voice
    announces a callsign. Neither video really explained WHY would anyone
    need this.

    Can you provide a better explanation?

    Being connected to the internet, you are basically sending commands to
    other computers running svxlink and querying them like they were servers?

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
  • From Vk3jed@VERT/FREEWAY to Ogg on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 15:01:00
    On 06-16-20 21:23, Ogg wrote to Vk3jed <=-

    @VIA: VERT/EOTLBBS
    Hello Vk3jed!

    ** On Tuesday 16.06.20 - 06:08, vk3jed wrote to Ogg:

    ... but been having too much fun with SvxLink (radio services software
    that you can use to build repeaters and links with) lately. :D

    I watched a couple of yt videos by people who built svxlink + rasp-pi systems. But I don't understand what exactly is this setup is supposed
    to *do*.

    SvxLink calls itself a "voice services system", and it's really a bit of a Swiss Army knife of radio communication. Some of the things you can do with it include:

    Software based repeater - just add a couple of radio, duplexer, etc, and SvxLink can act as the controller.
    Echolink node - SvxLink has an inbuilt Echolink client - this was its original purpose in 2002.
    Multiband repeater systems (add more radios!)
    Multi site repeaters - a SvxLink repeater can have multiple transmitters and multiple receivers with voting. Sites can be linked via IP or radio links. Links between existing repeater systems and other software.

    My use of SvxLink is twofold:
    1. To add multi receiver and voting to an existing repeater/Echolink/IRLP system that runs other software.
    2. To use SDR based technology to add input frequencies to the system. SvxLink is capable of driving a cheap RTL-SDR dongle and creating multiple SDRs within the dongle's passband (either 960 kHz or 2.4 MHz, depending on sample rate selected).

    Through my experimentation, I've discovered numerous possibilities, limited basically by imagination. :)

    Is it just some kind of automated voice broadcaster to replace the
    human voice input over the radio? In one video the person could be

    No, though it does have voice announcement, as well as recording and playback modules.

    heard punching something on his handheld radio, and then a robotic
    voice announces a callsign. Neither video really explained WHY would anyone need this.

    Sounds like a poorly explained video. :/

    Can you provide a better explanation?

    Being connected to the internet, you are basically sending commands to other computers running svxlink and querying them like they were
    servers?

    He might have been demonstrating Echolink, which SvxLink supports. Echolink is a worldwide network of radio links, conferences and users. You can connect to any one of those and talk to other people on the other end of that. While this is a primary reason people setup SvxLink, I'm actually not using that capability, because in my setup it's redundant - I already had Echolink capability in my existing system.

    Anyway, hope I've been able to help.


    ... "Hello, World!" 17 Errors, 31 Warnings....
    --- MultiMail/Win v0.51
    þ Synchronet þ Freeway BBS, Bendigo Australia. freeway.apana.org.au
  • From Ogg@VERT/EOTLBBS to Vk3jed on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 22:27:00
    Hello Vk3jed!

    ** On Wednesday 17.06.20 - 01:01, vk3jed wrote to Ogg:

    My use of SvxLink is twofold:
    1. To add multi receiver and voting to an existing repeater/Echolink/IRLP system that runs other software.
    2. To use SDR based technology to add input frequencies to the system. SvxLink is capable of driving a cheap RTL-SDR dongle and creating multiple SDRs within the dongle's passband (either 960 kHz or 2.4 MHz, depending on sample rate selected).


    OK.. wrt voting, you are doing this to support other people using radios while they are on the move?


    heard punching something on his handheld radio, and then a robotic
    voice announces a callsign. Neither video really explained WHY would
    anyone need this.

    Sounds like a poorly explained video. :/

    Yes.. the first ones that I picked were terrible. They were not for the
    1st timer.


    Anyway, hope I've been able to help.

    I found a few sites that describe some of the concepts graphically + a
    good writeup that defines the jargon *before* they go full speed ahead
    with it.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
  • From Vk3jed@VERT/FREEWAY to Ogg on Friday, June 19, 2020 11:49:00
    On 06-17-20 22:27, Ogg wrote to Vk3jed <=-

    OK.. wrt voting, you are doing this to support other people using
    radios while they are on the move?

    ATM, it's just the easiest way to provide multiple inputs, but I do want to do experiments with multiple receivers on the same frequency in a true voting setup. With the terrain here, it could be relatively easy to constrain the coverage of "fill in" sites, so most of the voting would be between one or two well sited receivers and closer ones that fill in gaps.


    heard punching something on his handheld radio, and then a robotic
    voice announces a callsign. Neither video really explained WHY would
    anyone need this.

    Sounds like a poorly explained video. :/

    Yes.. the first ones that I picked were terrible. They were not for
    the 1st timer.

    I generally don't shop around for videos, because it's not a good medium for me for detailed instructions.

    Anyway, hope I've been able to help.

    I found a few sites that describe some of the concepts graphically + a good writeup that defines the jargon *before* they go full speed ahead with it.

    Cool. :)


    ... Morality consists in suspecting other people of not being legally married. --- MultiMail/Win v0.51
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