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Have a little desire.
You do not have to sign up or commit to a lifetime
contract.
Read some of the material on this web site and on
the web sites noted on the links page ...
http://home.earthlink.net/~bscottmd/ntsd_links.htm
What electronic resources are needed?
A computer and TNC with cables to connect to a
radio. On HF you need a modem which will operate on Pactor I or II.
On VHF you need a modem which will operate packet. In general, the more
recent firmware versions are better (1996 or later usually works).
If you have a sound card system, I do not know of a
good way to get on Pactor. Most use a TNC of some sort.
Can I get on HF? Or, do I have an NTSD HF station within VHF
packet range?
HF access is best and the most flexible.
There are stations on 80, 40, 30, and 20 meters that you should be able to
contact at some time of the day. The more active stations use several
bands.
If there is an HF NTSD station in your area with a
VHF packet port, you may get messages directly from that station. You
may also generate and send messages directly into the NTSD system the same
way.
I don't hear anyone on the frequencies.
Most of the time the frequencies listed do not
have traffic being passed so you will hear nothing. The stations are
quiet until someone calls them. They do not ID like VHF packet stations.
One of the most active frequencies is 7.071 in the morning between 6:30 AM and
8:30AM and the afternoon between 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Because various
TNCs and program combinations cause a variety of frequency shifts, tune to LSB
and tune from about 7.069 to 7.073 MHz. You will hear the sounds of
pactor ...
Pactor I ...
Pactor
II ...
Pactor
III. Tune it in with your TNC and you will see it printing out on
your screen.
I tune it in and sometimes see mostly funny symbols.
Some of the stations use Pactor II. It will
not be readable with a Pactor I TNC. Some of the stations also compress
the messages and send using a binary format to increase speed and efficiency.
You will be able to read the beginning and ending parts of the connections.
Contact someone.
With the above plans in progress, contact one of
the NTSD stations by phone, email, or NTS message. They will be happy to
assist you and fill in the gaps of understanding you may have to become more
involved.
Feel free to connect to one of the NTSD stations
and see what is there. The commands I for information and
H for help
usually will give you some information about their system.
Send a message with Airmail.
Sending is as easy as using a typical email
program.
The subject line contains the city to which the
message is going followed by the area code and first three digits of the phone
number.
The message text uses the common ARRL message
format.
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