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- Reprinted from April 1992 QST Lab Notes
- Copyright 1992 American Radio Relay League, Inc.
- All rights reserved.
-
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- League, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111 (mwilson@arrl.org).
-
-
-
- Lab Notes
-
- Conducted By Steve Ford, WB81MY, Assistant Technical Editor and
- the ARRL Laboratory staff.
-
- How to Locate Amateur Radio Software
-
- Wouldn't you like to put your computer to work in your ham shack?
- So would many amateurs! Finding the right Amateur Radio software
- to run on your machine can be difficult. Jon Bloom, KE3Z, ARRL
- Laboratory Supervisor, is an old hand at software hunting. As Jon
- says, the software you want is probably out there...somewhere!
- WB81MY
-
- Q: I just bought a new computer and I 'd like to use It in my ham
- shack. Where can I get some ham radio software?
-
- A: That depends. What kinds of applications did you have in mind?
-
- Q: Applications? I'm really not sure.
-
- A. Well, you can be sure your problem is not an uncommon one. When
- you put ham radio, with all its diversity, together with the power
- of a computer, the possible uses are almost innumerable! Don't
- feel bad if you hardly know where to start.
-
- Let me see if I can help by categorizing the Amateur Radio
- applications of a computer. The programs you might want to run
- fall into these basic categories:
-
- o Communication -- Computer-oriented communication -- RTTY,
- AMTOR, packet, and the video modes -- is the most popular
- application. Depending on the computer you own, you may need some
- external hardware to fully enjoy some or all of these modes.
-
- o Control -- Computers are often used to control various pieces
- of amateur equipment, such as a rotator for satellite tracking, to
- helping the contest operator run the rig, to...whatever!
-
- o Calculation -- To the experimenter or builder, the computer
- has replaced slide rules, nomographs and look-up tables in
- calculating answers to mathematical problems. Moreover, computers
- now offer applications never before available to amateurs, such as
- antenna-modeling programs.
-
- o Record keeping -- One of the most common programs -- everyone
- with even a smattering of programming ability seems to write one
- sooner or later -- is a logging program. But other kinds of
- records can be accessed, too: on-line callbooks using CD ROM,
- lists of US counties and so on.
-
- Q: I 'd like to do all of those things! Where do I get the
- software?
-
- A: Hold on! You still have a decision to make! Do you want to pay
- for the software? Uh. . .let me rephrase that! Would you rather
- pay for software and get support, or get free software and be on
- your own when it comes to figuring out how to use it? That's the
- major difference between store-bought software and the free
- variety. Authors of free software often aren't interested in
- helping the neophyte. They feel their time is better spent on
- developing even better software. A company that sells you software
- has to be a little more helpful. The software buying public
- expects it, and companies that don't provide adequate support
- don't stay in business very long! So, what will it be?
-
- Q: I guess I will start with the free stuff and see what I can do
- with it. I can always buy a program if I can't find a free one
- that does the job. So, enough beating about the bush! Where's the
- free software?
-
- A: It's all around you. You can either download software from a
- telephone bulletin board system (BBS) via modem, or you can
- contact one of the many shareware vendors to get software on
- disks. (We'll discuss telephone BBSs in a moment.)
-
- First, lets talk shareware, freeware and public domain. These
- terms are not synonymous. Public-domain software is software that
- is owned by no one. That is, anyone can use it, sell it, give it
- away, modify it or do whatever they want with it. Freeware, on the
- other hand, carries copyright protection. Usually, the author will
- provide some kind of usability criteria in the documentation. Most
- often, use of the software for noncommercial purposes is free,
- while commercial users are required to pay a licensing fee.
- Shareware is yet another category. Shareware is not free software!
- It is copyrighted and its use is restricted by the author. Usually
- the restriction takes the form of allowing a brief trial use,
- after which you are expected to register your copy of the software
- by paying a fee. Fees range from a few dollars to hundreds,
- depending on the complexity of the software -- and on what the
- author thinks the market will bear.
-
- You can get public domain, freeware and shareware software from a
- number of companies that sell it. That might sound somewhat
- contradictory, but I'll explain. Usually, these companies package
- several related files -- like Amateur Radio programs -- on a disk
- and sell the disk for a few dollars. (Even though you buy the
- disk, you are still obliged to register any shareware you use from
- it unless the documentation says otherwise.) Many companies
- provide shareware, and most of the bigger hamfests sport at least
- one shareware vendor. You can buy shareware by mail, too. Here are
- a few shareware vendors for IBM PC systems:
-
- Public Brand Software
- PO Box 51315
- Indianapolis, IN 46251 tel 800-426-3475
-
- Renaissance Software & Development
- Killen Plaza
- Box 640 Killen, AL 35645 tel 800-525-7235
-
- Save On Software
- PO Box 2837
- Wilkes Barre, PA 18703-2837 tel 800-962-6107
-
- There are others, of course, but these will give you a place to
- start. I should also mention one noncommercial source of PC
- software. Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR), the group that
- produced the TNC-I and TNC-2, is very much alive and well. As a
- service to their members, they provide recent versions of
- shareware and public domain packet radio software for the IBM PC
- for a nominal per-disk fee. A list of available software is
- included in each issue of Packet Status Register, the TAPR
- newsletter.
-
- Q: That's all fine, but I have a Macintosh!
-
- A: Up until now I assumed we were talking about an IBM PC-type
- computer. After all, over half of the computers owned by QST
- readers are PCs or compatibles. This is reflected in the fact that
- you'll find less software available for computers other than PCs,
- particularly public domain and shareware software. But there is
- some out there! One resource to tap is the large number of
- telephone bulletin board systems. You can download software from
- these systems for the price of the phone call, although some
- "boards" charge a small monthly or annual access fee. (Some packet
- systems have software available, too. The congestion prevalent on
- most packet channels, however, limits the ability to conduct large
- file transfers.)
-
- Here are two telephone BBS systems that offer Amateur Radio
- software, including software for the Macintosh, Amiga, Atari and
- other computers. There are many, many more! Check the telephone
- BBSs in your local area; some of them have ham radio sections.
-
- N8EMR BBS -- tel 614-895-2553
- WB3FFV BBS -- tel 301-625-0817, 301-625-9482 and 301-625-9663
-
- Atari users can also get ham radio software from:
-
- Atari Microcomputer Network
- John Adams, KCSW
- 17106 Happy Hollow
- San Antonio, TX 78232
-
- (send an SASE for a list of available software)
-
- Packet radio software is available for most computers from a
- variety of sources. These can be found in Your Gateway to Packet
- Radio and in The ARRL Operating Manual, fourth edition.2
-
- Q: Suppose I don't find what I 'm looking for in the shareware
- world? What commercial software do you recommend?
-
- A: We don't actually recommend software -- or other products --
- because that would interfere with our objectivity in doing product
- reviews. Also, to be fair, we don't know enough about every
- software product on the market to be able to say with certainty
- which is the best. Most importantly, we don't know enough about
- your software requirements to say which software would work best
- for you.
-
- But we do know this much: We make sure that software publishers
- who advertise in QST respond to customer complaints. Buying
- software advertised in QST is probably your safest bet when it
- comes to commercial software.
-
- By the way, one source of satellite software for most types of
- personal computer is AMSAT. They sell low-cost software for
- satellite tracking, telemetry decoding and accessing the digital
- satellites. Most of it is discounted to members, so it pays to
- join AMSAT if you're interested in amateur satellites! You can
- contact them at:
-
- AMSAT
- PO Box 27
- Washington, DC 20044 tel 301-589-6062
-
- Q: I never see much software for my computer listed in QST. Why?
-
- A: It all boils down to supply and demand. As I said before, if
- you don't own an IBM or compatible computer, the pickings get kind
- of slim. (There are some goodies in the display ads and Ham Ads,
- though.) Here's a brief list of sources for Macintosh and other
- non-IBM computers:
-
- EPO Corporation (Apple 11, Commodore)
- 7805 NE 147th Ave
- Vancouver, WA 98682
-
- Kinetic Designs (Amiga, Apple 11)
- PO Box 1646
- Orange Park, FL 32067
-
- MacTrak Software
- PO Box 1590
- Port Orchard, WA 98366 tel 206-871-1700
-
- ZCO Corporation (Macintosh)
- PO Box 3720
- Nashua, NH 03061 tel 603-888-7200
-
- Dynamic Electronics (Color Computer)
- Box 896
- Hartselle, AL 35640 tel 205-773-2758
-
- Q: I'm really getting into this computer stuff! How can I find out
- more about what's going on in ham radio computerization?
-
- A: There's no single answer to that to that question! One good
- place to start is the subscription on-line services. There are
- several such services, including CompuServe, GEnie, Prodigy and
- others.
-
- Using a telephone modem, you can call the service and download
- thousands of files, including many ham radio programs. You can
- also communicate with amateurs and other subscribers in a
- bulletin-board format, making it easy to get answers to your
- "where do I get . . . " and "how do I do. . . " questions. Of
- course, these are subscription services, so you have to pay for
- your usage.
-
- There is a huge amount of software available for ham radio
- applications, particularly for the IBM PC. If you haven't found
- what you want, keep looking. By the way, if you run across a good
- source of Amateur Radio software, let us know! We're always happy
- to find new software sources and share the information with
- others.
-
- Notes
-
- The Packet Status Newsletter is available from:
-
- Tucson Amateur Packet Radio
- PO Box 12925
- Tucson, AZ 85732. $15/year.
-
- The ARRL Operating Manual and Your Gateway to Packet Radio are
- available from your local dealer or direct from ARRL HQ.
-
- We welcome your suggestions for topics to be discussed in Lab
- Notes, but we are not able to answer individual questions. Please
- send your comments or suggestions to: Lab Notes, ARRL, 225 Main
- St, Newington, CT 06111.
-
- Fig 1 -- AMSAT's InstantTrack is an example of a software package
- that can track satellites and control your antenna system.
- InstantTrack is available at a cost of $50 for AMSAT members, $70
- for nonmembers. Figures not available electronically -- see April
- 1992 QST.
-
-
-