Pactor or another make of tnc?

[john_morris_uk]

We are preparing the boat for liveaboard so the usual questions arise. I've done a search of the forums, but haven't found a definitive answer to my question. Perhaps there isn't one!

I have a ham license (two in fact) which I don't use at the moment, but it does mean that SSB is well up the shopping list. I will probably buy an ICOM 706 mk 2 or another ICOM transceiver with an AH-4 auto ATU. I will modify it for the marine bands and use it for Marine as well as Amateur bands.

The problem comes when I start to get kitted out for email. The first question I have is why are Pactor tnc's so expensive and why won't a MSJ or other brand tnc at a fraction of the price do for our e-mail connectivity? A lot of the other modems will support 9600 bd and I don't see what the Pactor modem has got that makes it so pricy.

If it is to be a Pactor tnc, then what are the advantages of the lll vs the ll? I've read the blurb and the lll seems to have Bluetooth and remote control of the transceiver from the PC via the tnc, but my gut feeing is that I don't need that - I'd rather tune the transceiver myself.

Any thoughts please and my apologies if this is aired frequently on here - but technology moves on a pace and new things are always being introduced.

 

[Spicemariner]

Can't comment on other modems but we have a Pactor 11pro which gets upgraded to 111 by software, this makes is 3 to 5 times faster than the 11. You can actually see this happening when you connect as the speed changes and the modem gets up to full speed (if you are lucky). Good luck with your plans.

 

[idpnd]

Since you're an amateur (radiowise), you might be interested to know they're just phasing in a software-only system for email, no pactor required

 

[whipper_snapper]

For Pactor 3 you have no choice, you must use a propriety box with propriety firmware.

However, if you can live with the much slower Pactor 1 protocol, then you can use one of a bunch of much cheaper TNCs. I used a Pakrat PK-232 which I picked up for nothing at a radio ham 'junk swap' for a while. They and similar often appear on ebay. It was slow but it worked perfectly well on a recent long passage - it was our only contact with home.


I can't recall off the top of my head what the speed difference is (or what happened to pactor 2!), I am sure google can tell you. And Pactor3 is meant to be more tolerant of difficult conditions, but we successfully connected several times a day to stations many 1,000s of miles away via Pactor 1.

(ps. i forgot to say. The critical advantage to pactor 3 is that you can download attached files. this is essential if you want grb's. If you don't have P3, you can get very nice and very concise text summaries for specified regions, which is what we did, but a grb is much nicer for the big picture)

 

[whipper_snapper]

Since you're an amateur (radiowise), you might be interested to know they're just phasing in a software-only system for email, no pactor required

Sound card-based pactor is the technology of the future - always has been and always will be!!


Forgive my skepticism but ever since I have been playing with these things there has been a system just under test and ready to roll out. Winmor is still far from a functional system as far as I can see.

 

[idpnd]

It's in open beta and I have read some positive reports - giving this a try might be worthwhile to the OP

 

[whipper_snapper]

It's in open beta and I have read some positive reports - giving this a try might be worthwhile to the OP

Sure, not meaning to be unduly negative. If you or the OP have a go and report back I would be very interested. I would love to see it succeed, but there is no way it will provide a functional replacement for the remarkably good pactor-based network of stations in the immediate future.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I suppose that its just supply and demand that makes the Pactor TNC cost more than the radio you connect it to?

 

[Moodyjim]

Or you could use a laptop link to the SSB and run Seatty or Meteo

 

[Bilgediver]

Or you could use a laptop link to the SSB and run Seatty or Meteo

They are receive only......Not much use for sending e-mails to darling dorter

 

[whipper_snapper]

This is exactly what we used for emailing via pactor 1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AEA-Pakratt-P...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item518fed56bd

I would not touch that particular one with a barge pole (it is in Israel, way overpriced, apparently has no cables and they don't even claim it works) but they come up from time-to-time. There are other tnc's that will also do pactor 1.

 

[jeremyshaw]

Pactors do have a pretty good rep for robustness. Ours has been solid for several years. The support is good too - a bit arrogant and techie, but good.

You say you want to tune the radio manually, but having the radio tuned remotely is a big advantage given that one often has to try different stations to find one that's free. I have a log of Pactor connections via Sailmail which shows real world rates if you want to pm me.

 

[Bilgediver]

This is exactly what we used for emailing via pactor 1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AEA-Pakratt-P...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item518fed56bd

I would not touch that particular one with a barge pole (it is in Israel, way overpriced, apparently has no cables and they don't even claim it works) but they come up from time-to-time. There are other tnc's that will also do pactor 1.

Try and get the newest one you can afford especially the mailbox version and then contact Timewave in the USA for the latest details of firmware. There is an additional daughter board or something in the later versions. Time wave added DSP when they took over from the original suppliers.

 

[Auspicious]

Attachments are a function of your shore-based service provider. Winlink and Sailmail both support attachments for gribs.

Speed is an issue for connect time, power consumption, and the chances of your connection dropping. Oh - you're connecting to a shared resource so the longer you are connected the fewer the number of others can use the resource. Rude.

Pactor 1 140 bps
Pactor 2 1200 bps
Winmor 2167 bps
Pactor 3 5200 bps

Pactor (at every level) and Winmor step back on speed as conditions deteriorate. So far Pactor is more robust than Winmor but Winmor is making real strides; it is still in beta test and is unlikely to be in full production for a while yet. Even then you will be dependent on volunteers buying kit to provide the shore-side infrastructure. Not there yet.

When I pushed off in 2006 Pactor III (an SCS PTC IIpro with Pactor III firmware) was a no-brainer. I'd make the same choice today although I have been experimenting with Winmor. It just isn't there yet.

With either an SCS Pactor modem or an good external soundcard like a Tigertronics Signalink for Winmor you can get weather fax (the real deal, not just gribs) and Navtex in addition to e-mail.

See Frank Singleton's outstanding information here.