The Packet Years (1986-1996)

An early experiment with amateur radio data was using RTTY on 2m with the Newcastle group of friends. A couple of them decided to write a RTTY emulator for the Acorn Electron computers they owned. I had a Sharp MZ-80K and thought if they can do it on an Electron then surely I can do it on my Sharp. After a week or two I'd written what I thought was needed, but the only way to test it was to try it on air. I wired it up and put a call out. A station from Bishop Auckland replied and I explained that it was my first test. I was interested to know how it was working from his perspective. He replied to say that he wouldn't have know it was the first test. The only thing he saw wrong was that every time I typed 'T' he saw 'M'. That was an easy fix and I was on RTTY regularly after that.

Some time around 1986 I heard about AX.25 aka packet radio. As a computer geek this intrigued me so it didn't take long before I was able to use it. My first TNC was an AEA Pakratt 232. This was more than just an AX.25 TNC, it could also be used for RTTY and other modes. My main interest was AX.25 and I quickly started to explore the network of digipeaters and BBSs. I also dabbled with TCP/IP over AX.25 and at one point, probably in late 1986 I used the IP address 44.131.1.6. This was many years before the WWW appeared so internet use was pretty rare back then.

I soon became interested in the non-IP network and decided that Blackpool needed a BBS of its own. I applied for a Notice of Variation (NOV) for my licence to allow me to run an unattended BBS. To get an NOV was fairly complex with approvals needed from various organisations. You also needed a group of named 'keepers' who could be called at any time of the day or night to shut the station down if requested. In my case this entailed having a new electrical spur run up to the loft where the BBS and radio equipment was set up with a secure box on the wall the the keepers could unlock to power everything off.

Over time access on 2m and 70cm was set up, along with 70cms links. With the assistance of the North West Packet Users Group (NWPUG) I was loaned two 23cm transceivers and long yagis to implement more robust links to the south and north.

I'm sure I'll return to these packet years in future posts. My packet years ended in around 1996/97 when my first son was born. Running a packet BBS wasn't really something I had time for with, at first, one new baby, and in time a second baby.