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                       GETTING FIDONET TECHNICAL   
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   Proposal: LoRa as a Transport Medium For FIDOnet   
   Alexander von Obert - 2:246/14 (from 1990, node until 2004)   
      
   From 1987, I hosted a BBS on an Amiga 1000. In 1990 I started a   
   FIDOnet node as a communication modem for technical writers, therefore   
   the name TechWriter's Home. In 2004 I had to switch to Internet   
   mailing lists as the spam through my UUCP connection got unbearable.   
   As it will become important later: Since 1973 I have been a radio   
   amateur, call sign DL4NO.   
      
   In recent years I have put much thought in emergency preparedness.   
   One of my concerns is a long, large-area power outage (blackout).   
   An immediate effect is that nearly all electronic communication stops.   
   Especially the civil society loses next to all means to send out   
   any information. Landline phones use VoIP which does not work when the   
   router is down. Cellphones might work until the batteries of the fixed   
   stations run out within a few hours.   
      
   Radio amateurs have helped in many disaster situations. But their   
   means are limited and the problems caused by power outages get more   
   and more common as our life gets more digital.   
      
   So why this article? There is a quite new, very robust but slow,   
   wireless communication technology that fits quite well with what I   
   still remember from my time in FIDOnet. Add that LoRa may be used in   
   unlicenzed ISM bands like 915 MHz, 868 MHz or 432 MHz.   
      
   How does all that add up? Volunteers might distribute BBS systems   
   consisting of a LoRa module, a Rasperry Pi and a solar power supply.   
   With the WLAN hotspot on the Raspi and a Web browser on their   
   smartphones, people in the disaster area can read local messages or   
   read/write private messages. All information is transmitted through   
   LoRa means to a hub. From there the mails are sent to other LoRa hubs   
   or to the Internet. Radio amateurs could even transmit them through   
   the geostationary satellite QO-100.   
      
   LoRa works for many miles with 100 mW of transmitter output power.   
   The data rate is about what I remember from the modems in the 1980s.   
   All LoRa communication systems I know of only send public messages   
   through a single channel.   
      
   I think FIDOnet technology could make a difference to this world.   
   Not only in disaster situations, but in many third-world countries.   
   This is much cheaper and quite simple to erect and maintain.   
      
   As far as I know LoRa systems use a virtual serial interface.   
   If someone writes an interface that can be controlled by the   
   infamous AT commands most modems used, not much changes might needed   
   on the technical FIDOnet side.   
      
   LoRa you can search as well as I can - I am no specialist on this   
   topic. If you wish to examine a working system, search for Meshtastic.   
   As a retired technical writer I could help with technical   
   documentation, but I am no native speaker. As a radio amateur I   
   could help on the radio frequency side. You can reach me as   
   dl4no (at) dl4no (dot) de.   
      
      
      
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