From: pdsmith@nsf.GOV
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.packet
Subject: US Antarctic Program Request for Information
Date: 22 Jul 92 16:25:24 GMT
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

22 July 1992     1530 GMT

To:      packet-radio@ucsd.edu
         tcp-group@ucsd.edu

From:    Patrick D. Smith
         National Science Foundation
         Division of Polar Programs

Subject:  Call for Advice for AX.25 Packet Data Networks for HF and
          VHF Radio to Support Science Field Party Data/Text      
          Communications in Antarctica for the United States
          Antarctic Program

Gentlemen:

I will make this brief so as not to clog the email with a long
treatise, but here's the gist:

The National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs is the
executive manager of the US Antarctic Program.  We run year round
bases at McMurdo Station (77 51S, 166 40E), South Pole Station (90
00 S), and Palmer Station (64 46S, 64 03W) for scientific research. 
McMurdo Station supports a great deal of seasonal field work where
small (3-4 person) to large (15-20) field camps deploy from 20
miles up to 1000 miles.  If you should ever talk to any of our
researchers, they would say that our communications support for the
field researcher is lousy (for voice) and non-existant (for data,
email).  They are right, but I'm working on it.  We are buying new
synthesized tuned broadband HF radios that will be automatic link
establishment capable, installing a remote HF receiver/antenna site
for improved SNR, and developing VHF repeaters that can be used to
cover some extremely mountanous terrain.

Concurrently with this, at McMurdo, we are installing C-Band
commercial digial satellite service, and we expect to have a 128
kb/s direct Internet link.  This will be interfaced to a base-wide
Ethernet multi-protocol routing LAN, and we plan to implement full
email service via the Internet with a MHS interface with the LAN
DaVinci Mail system.  We want to extend the SMTP email service out
to the remote field user, plus attempt more advanced services such
as FTP and Telnet.  The end goal would be enabling the remote field
researcher to interchange email and files with any Internet user.

The Antarctic Program does not have an unlimited budget, and the
environmental and logistical issues dealing with doing anything in
the Antarctic are significant (it's a big deal to have a 386
notebook computer operate successfully with a field party who is
ski-dooing around the Antarctic, living in tents, and supported
from a little 500 watt Honda gasoline generator, all at -20 deg C,
for up to 1-2 months).  Our concept is to try to keep things as
simple as possible, and to leverage off as much developmental work
done by others as possible.

So, the intense activity of the amateur radio community, and as
subsequently picked up by the commercial sector, has led me to post
this notice asking for input from the community as to what
techniques, packet hardware, packet software, protocols, network
operating systems, etc, are currently available and at such a state
of maturity that the US Antarctic Program could take these
components and test bed a prototype field party data network.

I would appreciate any and all commentary or assistance that the
community has to offer.  Please send all replies directly to:

Internet:     pdsmith@nsf.gov

Fax:          (202)357-9422

Thank you.
  
Patrick Smith, Electronics Engineer
Operations Section
Division of Polar Programs
National Science Foundation
1800 G St, NW   Room 620
Washington, DC   20550