What EWN means to Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio operators have a right to be proud of their historic contributions to emergency communications over the past century. Their relevance has been highest when they have applied their technical ingenuity in providing creative solutions to contemporary communications problems.

However, the revolution in communication technologies resulting from computerization of the world can not be overstated or overlooked. The changes are as significant as the invention of the printing press and have far outpaced innovations in radio. Hobbyists, inventors and communicators these days can explore the cutting edge of communications most readily through computers without the need for a radio license. Maintaining isolation from this torrent of innovation will hasten the irrelevance of amateur radio. Embracing it will quench the hobby with new life.

The EWN uses terrestrial microwave communications much like the early gigahertz experimenters, but using standardized wireless and highly flexible internet protocol and low cost, mass produced, off the shelf components that have lately become more and more prevalent. In this realm, amateur license privileges offer some added capabilities beyond unlicensed usage, but unfortunately hampered by serious limitations, which is perhaps evidence of the antiquation of FCC rules. In specifics, hams are not allowed to secure their communications or use electronic automation to relay traffic for the general public. Particularly for emergency communications, these limitations are defeating.

Until FCC mindset can catch up with state of the art, the EWN project feels is can innovate better in the unlicensed Part 15 realm unencumbered by amateur limitations. Abandoning antiquated amateur limitiations is however not an abandonment of amateur radio operators or their skills or resourcefulness. Though this equipment can be used by the general public off the shelf, the EWN is pushing the envelope of usage in a manner that requires a good deal of RF and electronics know-how well beyond the average consumer and enough to stretch the abilities of hams and excite innovators and experimenters who may otherwise have lost passion for the hobby.

Some ares where we require electronics expertise and innovation:

• Very high gain, weak signal, microwave propagation
• Long distance high speed transmission lines
• Signal measurement and testing
• Off grid self sustaining power systems
• Antenna towers, weather survival, building codes

And in the computer realm, we are addressing problems such as:

• Native IPv6 routing
• IPv6 to IPv4 translation
• Dynamic routing for dynamic networks
• Delay tolerant traffic systems
• Highly redundant media services
• Transitioning from source based traffic to server based traffic.

-- Main.randomandy - 25 Aug 2009