All you care is that the message is there now, when you look at it. Cheap, slow speed data links provide interesting possibilities for new kinds of applications. The entire area of inexpensive radio technology continues to be a fertile field for ham radio experimentation. Interface Voice Ham Radio to the Internet Linked repeater systems are common in North America. In a linked system, one VHF repeater is typically linked to another VHF repeater on a common UHF frequency.
Some systems link many repeaters together full time or at the command of a control operator.
Repeater links over long distance can be implemented using digital audio over the Internet. Wireless Imaging Not much seems to happening in digital wireless imaging in the Amateur community. Packet radio makes possible digital imaging, albeit very slowly at 1200 bps. With the common use of notebook computers and camcorders, you already have the ingredients for a low cost digital imaging system. The Snappy plugs into a Wintel computer's parallel port and is used to grab still images from a camcorder.