New AX.25 packet radio station in CT

I’ve been trying to decide what to do with my Amateur radios and modems of late.  They had been collecting dust for far too long.  I decided what I would do is run a packet node/BBS/network system.  I think that I could help with providing connectivity in the north part of CT.

So here is the setup:

I have a server running CentOS 5.5 with RAID1 SATA disks for redundancy.  I’m running JNOS 2.0h.  I have a 50 watt commercial radio running on 145.01 MHz.   I do not have emergency/backup power except for a UPS.  We are on a pretty stable power grid that normally doesn’t go down much, or is back on before the UPS gives out.

The eventual purpose of the system will be to provide a bridge to the Internet and ways of sending emails in case a mobile station needs connectivity.

Right now, there is telnet capability into the CentOS server, which will allow a user to do most anything on the UNIX command line.  I’ll be expanding some of this so that email can be sent, or possibly other services can be provided.

While any amateur user can connect to the BBS via the call KD1ZD-4, the telnet access is restricted until you ask for it.  If you live in the Western MA/CT/NY area and can reach the W1SP nodes, you can connect to me from there.

If you have any ideas on how to make amateur packet radio more useful in the CT area, please send me a note at the email listed on this blog.

Updates may be posted here, but the main website for the packet system will be http://www.rtcubed.org/kd1zd