[GA ARES] Gwinnett County Digital Strategy

[WA4DYD]

To All GA ARES Members:

With the recent discussion about digital modes, I thought it might be
worthwhile to share what we are doing in Gwinnett County.  During the almost
four years of being EC in Gwinnett County, we have explored various digital
options.  Two modes are currently available in Gwinnett County, or you might
say three.  There are two packet digipeaters (LVL and SNELLV) that provide
reasonable coverage of the county.  There are some areas where coverage is
still and issue and opportunities for filling gaps will be pursued as
interest in those areas grows.  Those nodes currently support two different
packet appications.  One is Winlink, courtesy of a node operated by John
Davis, WB4QDX.  The other is a custom application which employs NTS
formatted traffic and will eventually support database applications.  The
third is the ability to use the remaining SEDAN network capabilities.  There
is currently a SEDAN node (LVL) in operation in Gwinnett County.  While the
SEDAN node operates on the designated SEDAN frequency of 145.77 MHz, the
local area net (LAN) for Winlink and the Emergency Service Packet Client
operates on 145.03 MHz.  The Emergency Service Packet Client also supports
SEDAN connections.

Realizing this cpability is limited in the applications supported and that
the amount of traffic which can traverse a 1200 bps network, or even 9600
bps, is somewhat limited compared to what may be required in a county with a
population of 700,000, other technologies are currently under investigation.
Three sites have been identified to install a pilot High Speed Multi Media
(HSMM) network (there is a HSMM working group within the ARRL - info
available at the ARRL website).  This network will is based on an IP
infrastructure, some of which is anticipated to operate at 54 Mbps and 11
Mbps, depending on node vs station placement, using commercial-off-the-shelf
WiFi hardware.  In addition, development is underway on a special network
appliance to provide major IP networking support such as routing, switching
and firewall control.  If successful, and link budget analysis indicates it
should be, this would provide paths which could directly connect, via ARES
operated assets, the networks of two of the four hospitals within the
county.  E-mail between the hospitals' existing systems becomes feasible as
does support of a few VoIP (Voice over IP) telehphone trunks.  The network
could even permit the remote control of HF stations via the IP network, even
possibly providing an alternative path for the County's WebEOC application.
Instant messaging, NetMeeting and other tools also become possible with HSMM
networking.  While there is much to be done in developing such a network,
the options become almost endless.  Is it worth the pursuit?  We think so
and a number of us are investing considerable energy and resources toward
the effort.

One of the major issues after the hurricanes last season along the coast was
the lack of infrastructure.  Articles were written about wireless IP
networks that were put in place by enterprising wireless networking/computer
enthusiasts.  As Amateur Radio operators in ARES we need to be ready to
support any number of options to supply emergency communications.  The more
"tricks in our bag", the better.  I would encourage all the ARES groups to
experiment with all of these capabilities.  All of us have "geeks" (or
perhaps you are one) in our groups who would jump at the opportunity and it
can also encourage the computer enthusiast to get their amateur licenses.

As development continues in Gwinnett County, we would be happy to share our
findings.  The network appliance is being developed as "open source" meaning
the software will be available at no cost and will probably have a lot of
"hackers" contributing to the effort as it moves forward since there is a
very broad application for the appliance.  We're hoping to have some of the
new capabilities in place by SET time so we can exercise the system under
load.  All the available capabilities will be incorporated into the SET
scenario to put it to the test.

One objective of Amateur Radio has always been the "continuation and
extension of the Amateur's proven ability to contribute the the advancement
of the radio art." [FCC Rules, Part 97.1 (b)]  Much of the work in digital
is fully within the grasp of the Technician licensee.  I would encourage all
of you to explore these many options.  Think outside the box.  Explore the
future.  Using Winlink is one step you can take.  The other is to play with
other emerging technologies and perhaps create some on your own.

73's
Stan

Stan Edwards, PE, WA4DYD
Emergency Coordinator Gwinnett Co. GA ARES
President, Gwinnett ARES, Inc.
www.gwinnettares.org

"Preparedness is not an event, it's a continuous process." ~ Dr. Julie
Gerberding, Director CDC


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