[drats_users] Email Proposal

[John Davis]

I'm speaking as an avid D-STAR supporter and also an Emergency Coordinator in ARES.  First, some basic facts:

1.       Not everyone has D-STAR (even though I wish they did)

2.       There is a need for email-type messaging, both local (non-Internet) and Internet based.

3.       For non-DSTAR users, Packet has been revived as a way to do data.

4.       Messaging programs such as WinLink have gained popularity and some level of acceptance in the EMCOMM community.

5.       D-RATS is the de facto messaging and data transmission standard for D-STAR users (thank you, Dan).

Having said that, we need a way to link these modes for messaging so that both groups can exchange messages or forms in a timely manner.  Our ARES group is struggling to find an answer.  If SMTP mail over the Internet is the common thread, so be it.  Can there be a relatively simple way through some common platform that local messaging can pass between users and different modes (D-STAR, Packet, Outpost, WinLink)?  Is there some common interface between applications/modes?  Can an app run on a gateway with a TNC and radio attached to bridge the two for local and be an Internet gateway for outbound SMTP messages?

If this thread had the answer, I missed it.

John Davis
WB4QDX

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://intrepid.danplanet.com/pipermail/drats_users/attachments/20091019/78bf2c9b/attachment.html