Pilot: Packet radio on a pilot?

[gwilterdink@xxxxxxxx]

        Do we have any HAM enthusiasts on this list? I'm holding my Palm 
     Pilot Pro (PPP) in one hand and my little (and I mean little) Yaesu 
     VX-1R hand (finger!) held transceiver in the other hand wondering why 
     I shouldn't be able to get these two to talk to each other for the 
     purpose of sending/receiving email.
     
        The PPP has the serial port. Not knowing too much about packet 
     communications, I know I would need a TNC (terminal network 
     controller) that converts FSK (frequency shift keying) audio signals 
     to and from the radio into a data stream the PPP can process.
     
        It (the TNC) would require a little smarts in order to "listen" to 
     commands from a special "terminal interface program" running on the 
     pilot that would switch the transceiver between transmit,receive, 
     convert and route the data in the appropriate direction.
     
        Sounds simple enough. The TNC units I've seen so far are large 
     (compared to the PPP and the VX-1R), expensive, and complicated (with 
     their own processors, ROM, RAM, etc.) Picopacket is one that I have 
     looked at.
     
        Anyway, I am curious and look forward to another interesting thread 
     other than Da Vinci "bashing", a product none of us *really* know 
     anything about.
     
     Greg Wilterdink, KF6QEO 

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