[ax25-layer2] General Concept Conglomeration

[scott at opentrac.org]

> along with a USB WiFi card. It is a commercial project I am 
> doing, but I heard you could add a USB sound card to it. I 
> priced out most of the components, and you should be able to 
> do a custom spin for under $60. Right now I'm running about 
> 2.5 watts (500ma at 5 volts)

If someone wants to build a standard package with everything in one box that
you can just plug straight in to a radio, that'd be great.  I'd buy a couple
of 'em.  But the ability to run Linux isn't everything.  Unless you've got
someone putting out a standard distro, and probably standard hardware too,
only those with the techinical knowledge to put the system together
themselves are going to use it.  I built myself a test system with a small
SBC, but it required digging through lots of FAQs, reading poorly written
README files, and a lot of trial and error to get the thing to boot the OS
from flash and work with the APRS stuff I needed.  Just getting AX.25
configured is beyond most casual users.

Say what you will about appliance operators and the decline of technical
ability in amateur radio, but appliances have their place.  There's no
reason an appliance couldn't be built with an SBC, but someone's got to take
the time to do it, and it's not going to be me at this point.

> OK, but don't forget about how much power the laptop draws 
> that you need with that TNC.

Why would I need a laptop with it?  If you've got a laptop you can just run
AGWPE or soundmodem.  I'm building this thing for mountaintops, balloons,
and satellites.  The fact that hams will buy USB TNCs to hook up to a PC
just means I'll be able to sell enough to make it worth doing.  It could
also be set up with isochronous endpoints on the USB interface to give the
PC direct access to the ADC/DAC converters and use it for host-based modes.

Scott