I see three issues
 
1.  Coverage - Will it work for me?
That's coming along nicely but is far from universal.  Some demos at some events could really make a difference.  If we can hook a couple EOCs together, we'll really have something!  I can get introductions into most any EOC in the area, if we have the coverage to do a demo for them.  Perhaps some loaner units (for a small donation) would be interesting.
 
2.  Ease of installation - How can I play?
The price point is fantastic - about the same price as a 2m mobile radio.  The web site is very helpful but a bit overwhelming for a newbie.  More concise steps of what to buy and how to make it work would be helpful.  Bart mentioned offering preconfigured radios.  I love that idea!  Plug it in, point the antenna and play. 
 
3.  Applications - What can I do with it?
Rob hinted at this with the DRATS suggestion.  DRATS has a Telnet mode that supports chat, file transfer, email and forms - all the emcomm applications in a single package.  Showing someone another network to run Outlook over isn't particularly compelling.  What if Internet access is lost to your mail server?  Well then you can't run Outlook on any network.  We need some native HAMWAN applications.  A "Ratflector" is an easy one, Chat, Video Conferencing, VoIP phone service, what else?  I have some server space at the Everett site with a 65KW UPS and 250KW generator.  We can make that stuff live on the network but need a champion for those services.
 
Scott N7SS


On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 1:10 PM, Tom Hayward <esarfl@gmail.com> wrote:
I'll take a stab at a few of these points and defer the others...

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 12:27 PM, Rob Salsgiver <rob@quailsoftltd.net> wrote:
> 2)      End-users (individual):  We need to get more of our core online and
> well versed in the system.  From those early users we need a few in each
> county or metro area that are willing to do site surveys and interact with
> other potential end users to get them onboard.  We need to focus on our
> marketing, getting the message out (with success stories), and more end-user
> demonstrations – not just the equipment, but from an application standpoint.

I'll come out and do a site survey anywhere in Pierce County.

I'll run a custom propagation model for anyone anywhere. This will
tell you how tall of a tower you need to get HamWAN. HamWAN covers
everything within 100 miles of a site if you have a tall enough tower
;-)

> 3)      End-users (EMCOMM):  We need some served agencies online.  We need
> advocates outside of the ham world.  Hospitals, Red Cross, Emergency
> Management offices, Salvation Army, maybe even a mobile station.  If we have
> 3-4 hospitals, Red Cross chapters, or similar served agencies successfully
> hooked up, we have a working demonstration platform to work from.  Even
> then, basic connectivity isn’t.  We need hams in these locations to
> demonstrate on an applications basis what can be done “when all else fails”
> over HamWAN.  If we can convince 30-50 different served agencies to shell
> out the cost of a single cell phone each month to support a dedicated
> Internet connection that is disaster-resilient, then you have up to
> $2500/month coming in to support the infrastructure.  Demonstrate email, web
> access, and maybe even some specialized goodies targeted at them – use
> D-RATs for a tactical “chat” interface between locations – who knows?  Maybe
> interface with other digital gateways or extend over other RF links
> (D-Star?).

The Snohomish County EOC is online with HamWAN. I'd like to see other
EOCs come online, but we don't have contacts there. HamWAN could be
very useful for EOC-to-EOC communications (sending video, phone,
etc.).

If you have contacts in the EmComm world, talk to them! Or see if we
can schedule a presentation.

Heh, D-Rats is a patch to make D-Star useful. We can just show them
email, "Look, you can still use Outlook!" Service decoupled from
network: awesome.

I don't see Internet as the end goal of HamWAN. HamWAN can facilitate
communications between hams. EOC-to-EOC communication can take place
completely over the HamWAN RF network, until a hole opens up in the
earth and swallows one of our sites. Then we just route around the
outage with Internet; communication continues.

Tom KD7LXL

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