These are very interesting discussions!
On the (technical) possibility of Sable and St. Paul remoting:
(I've operated from both)
St Paul: No (useful) infrastructure at all. If one was to build a remote
site there, it would have to be solar or wind powered.
However, broadband links to the NS coast are very practical.
Sable: Sable has permanent infrastructure. Their is a weather station on
the island that does high-altitude balloon
measurements almost every day. There is power and a telecom
infrastructure. The Bedford Institute of Oceanography has a house on the
island, and this is where several DXPeditions have operated from. (I was
part of an operation the mid 80s, where we both DX'd and contested (CY0SAB;
The QSL with the seal on the card)).
Getting around the technical issues is certainly possible -- however, there
are lots of other challenges, not the least of which is ensuring the DX
community would ratify such remote activity for DXCC credit.
Imagine -- you've been an avid DXer or contester for years, but never had
the opportunity to operate from a remote location. What a blast to do such
an operation from your shack chair!
On latency:
I use VOIP every day. I find the IP latency is less than 150ms (worst
case), and often less than 25-30ms. (My end is Verizon DSL). Most of the
overall latency is introduced by codecs. There are some pretty good
low-latency codecs around, and even a (freeware) tool to interface them to
ham radio (IPSOUND). Yes, over VOIP circuits using standard codecs, you
are going to have latencies approaching 100-400ms, not acceptable for
contest CW. However, there are ways around these issues.
I know of a bunch of major initiatives going on for remote stations @ DX
locations. Lets hope that contest and (hopefully) DXCC rules will keep
pace. DXpeditions will never stop, but I think you will start to see a
trend towards remote operation across country boundries.
73, Gerry W1VE
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|