Is the Internet killing Packet Radio?

It always amuses me when this subject comes up. In the early days of Packet Radio, it was constantly being compared with the Internet, with many saying it should be like the Internet with similar speeds, pretty pictures etc. etc. Packet Radio was never intended to be like or indeed could ever compete with the Internet in terms of speed without using the Internet.

For a start there was and still is the cost factor. The majority of the facilities supplied on Packet Radio i.e. BBS, Dxclusters and Nodes are supplied by individuals. Yes, there are some groups who finance the above but they are few and far between, and where they do exist, it is still only a minority that contribute. However, it has to be said that it's not only Packet Radio that suffers in this way, repeater groups have the same problems.

So, is the Internet killing Packet Radio? If you had asked me that question 10 or 15 years ago I would have answered "maybe". But today I would definitely answer "no". Like most things in life that rely on individuals, Packet Radio has suffered with people having enough and moving on. The cost of running a BBS or node is not cheap in terms of time or money. With so much demand on people's time and with such a vast array of other things to draw their interest, it's not surprising BBS and Nodes are closing. It's a thankless task running a BBS with very little loyalty from users. When was the last time you thanked your SysOp or sent him a Christmas Card?

That being said, rather than the Internet killing Packet Radio it is serving to keep it alive at the moment and, indeed in many aspects, improving the services. Where nodes and BBS have closed and left a great gap in the forwarding network the Internet has been able to fill that gap, often providing a far faster links. Where users have lost their local BBS and Nodes some BBS have been able to provide Telnet access for those users enabling them to continue to use Packet Radio BBS.

But it's not radio some cry! I know it's not all radio but some of it is and without those Internet links there would be no radio at all. So in my mind some is better than nothing. Now the bit I find amusing is; it used to be claimed Packet Radio was slow and mail took ages to be delivered and could not be compared with the Internet. Now with the aid of the Internet mail and bulletins that can be delivered around the world in minutes, there are complaints that it's not radio. It's not the mode of transport that makes Packet Radio what it is but the content and the content remains Amateur Radio no matter how it is transported.

So what is killing Packet Radio and BBS in particular? It's not the Internet, it's not the speed of radio, it's not the lack of BBS or nodes, it's the users. Far too many people now and in the past have simply contributed nothing or very little to the content of the traffic which make it interesting to others. Let me give you an example - I'm now in my 18th year of running a BBS (GB7ESX) and in all those years despite hundreds of programs being downloaded from the BBS files section not one has been uploaded. Most users read SP mail and bulletins but never send anything themselves then complain there is nothing of interest.

Now I know there are some that say I won't contribute because I only get slagged off and there are others who say the so-called bickering drives people away. To those people I say rubbish! The debates (or what ever you want to call them) draw more interest and more contributions from more people than anything else does on Packet Radio. The more heated the debate the more interest there is. To those who say I don't want to get slagged off, what are you a man or mouse? If everybody took that attitude, life would be very dull indeed. If you cannot defend your own arguments then you don't have an argument to start with.

There are other reasons in my opinion for the demise of Packet Radio which I will cover in a later article but for now think on this:-

Amateur Radio is like any other hobby, you only get out of it what you are prepared to put into it. If the BBS network lacks bulletins of interest, then contribute something of interest yourself no matter what the subject. They say England is a country of gardeners for example, but how often do you ever see anything on the subject on Packet Radio apart from how can I keep next door's cat off my grass. In other words don't sit back and wait for others to entertain you, get up and sing a song yourself.

George G1NNB @ GB7ESX

When Istarted a BBS way back here I had an Atari computer running Hank W0RLI and a VE written program.

My only Link to the Packet world was by another BBS in the area. I was to agree not to Forward mail to other BBS's. Over time I got into IBM compatiables and more TNCs, radios etc I then managed to get a Link to the NZ HUB . I also got modem links to USA & the UK as the HF Forwarding was not bringing WW bulletins into NZ at any great rate. Also SP mail form the satgate was going missing and logs provided by another satgate showed that this mail was downloaded and sent on . I was lucky enough to catch a mail exchange and found that certian SP mail was being SWAPPED to another callsign and address .. Of course this was hottly denied but it was proven beond doubt by a UK satgate controller. So while all this was happening NZ was not getting Bulletins and a limited suplly of SP mail , so the modem connects to the USA & UK really gave the packet users here in NZ a wide scope of mail to read.Yes there was those that moaned about all the mail and forwarding but those doing the moaning were the ones at fault. i modem forwarded for 2 years at a cost to me on average of about 600-00 NZ $ per month on toll calls as the internet hadn't hit NZ at this time.

By the time the internet I started to Email forward with about 50 different WW BBS's, this really helped packet here as mail was basicaly going out every hour and replies could be had the next hour, yes the moaners again the HF troop .. So i carried that on with huge amounts of FLAK from the Packet policemen ( HF troop) I did this for another 4 years then the internet arrived in dribs and drabs and then FBB released the Telnet version of FBB so i started Telnet Forwarding and to this day I still telnet forward.

I have a large RF network that I forward to but due to the attitudes of some in NZ there are broken links and RF forwarding is not available so Telnet Forwarding is the only way.

I have invested so many thousands of dollars in to this I hobby I enjoy I would hate to really sit back and add all the dollars up. i have just purchased New 2 Yeasu Radios a FT 1500M and a FT 2800 and yes they are still sitting in the boxes that they arrived in unused !!

I am sick of those that think they have all the right answers going on like a broken record. The fact is you guys don't have the answers or the solutions you are the cause for the decline in packet radio, if you spent 5% of your time that you spend bashing the Backbone of Packet radio world wide and got off your soap box packet radio would be in a healther state than it is now. If that 5% was directed at you setting up 2 Nodes or BBS's then packet would be that much better.

Telnet and Email Forwarding is a product that you have driven BBS operators to because you let the RF network fall to pieces by your editorial actions.

If you have a problem in your back yard then fix it please don't pass judgement on the rest of the world as we can take care of our own yard..

Oh yes .. the HF Troop well 1 switched to Telnet forwarding, 1 passed away and the other 2 just slowly disappeared into the distance..

Please remember the other Digital services that use the internet to share data around the world, they have grown and are still growning and the main reason is that no one has bashed them to bits ..

73 Phillip

Hi George and readers,

Have no fear, I won't carry on here with the land line lid stuff, you get enough of that on packet. (;->)

The ONE new bit in all of this is an age OLD bit, lack of replies and comments from readers. In times past I saw many people reading the bulls here, none replied, not one sent anything but me. Most have drifted away for one reason or another and quite frankly I have kept up with some via Internet e-mail because they no longer have packet stations on the air. Others have moved away and I have lost track of them, but that's another story

The bottom line is these days the M HEARD list is quite short, only a half dozen or so local callsigns can be seen when I connect to the BBS. (A script in Winpack does this.) Others are distant BBSes, that's about it.

Yes, there has been a general and ongoing decline in interest in the packet mode of Amateur Radio for quite a number of reasons, the Internet being but one rather minor one. No, you can read all about it on your local BBS, that is if your sysop hasn't blocked certain callsigns and userped your freedom to read what you will.

Oh, that's another can of worms you can read about if the above doesn't apply in your case. (;->)

Very best of the Christmas season all year round and 73 from Warren, KB2VXA

Well, I have to say that George is correct. Having now been on packet for 14 years, 12 of those as a remote sysop for GB7SEK/GB7RMS for ever changing Sysops, I too have not failed to notice the huge lack of contributions to this, or indeed ANY of the various debates/arguments that have gone on over the packet network, certainly not many of our local users ever put finger to keyboard to have their say!! And George is perfectly correct about the help that internet has given to the radio network.

Here at RMS in it's latest ressurection, without our internet links, provided free by our very enthusiastic Sysop Matt M1CMN, we would have remained a backwater, end of line BBS, with even our radio links under threat of withdrawal, so yes, thanks mainly to internet, we are now thriving again and pleasing our users and accumilating new users, instead of going the way of many BBS's and stagnating to oblivion. In conclusion, Yes, we still use radio, but without the internet, packet here in South East Kent would have disappeared several years ago, now, we are enjoying something of a revival. 73/88's, de Stan, G6ZNW, remote Sysop at GB7RMS.