Ordering A Pizza With A BAOFENG???

[@WaveTalkers]

In the video I show setting VARA FM to WIDE. Further testing suggests that for a BaoFeng specifically, a NARROW setting may results in faster data transfers.

[@richb.4374]

As cool as this is, it's a lot more complicated than back in the phone patch days of repeaters. I remember there was a big controversy about hams being able to order a pizza via a repeater phone patch because some thought it was "commercial" traffic on the ham bands. The FCC finally said, no it isn't because the ham is not making any money by doing that so it is perfectly legal. So once in a while you would hear a ham in his mobile or on an HT bring up the phone patch and order a pizza over the air. It was pretty cool and very simple, all you needed was a rig. Any ham that's been around a while remembers hearing a ham lift the phone patch and call the wife to see what groceries they had to bring home for dinner. LoL

[@WaveTalkers]

A phone patch relay is a good analog to using a winlink email relay. In the case of say a Pizza shop, if they accepted orders via email, then I could have simply sent the message directly to the shop, no real challenge there. The complication in the initial set up is really just that, the initial configuration of the setup. Once alll of the various tools are setup, The wiring of the radio to the computer and sending of any email message is relatively straight forward, although granted not as easy as calling another operator on a repeater for a phone patch in the old days. 73 W6AH

[@W4TRI]

Well said.

[@KO4L_Lloyd]

1981, I was racked over by a "seasoned" hamm in the local club for doing exactly that. He was about to write the FCC to have my license revoked. He worked for Southern Bell said I was using the autopatch to cross LATA's. He said I was skipping on paying along distance charges and doing business on ham radio

[@WillOnSomething]

@@KO4L_Lloyd If i were the FCC i would've told the guy "the only commercial use of amateur radio i'm seeing here is you trying to maintain your employer's growing monopoly (in the 80s) by intimidating innocent amateur radio operators"

[@billheyde6932]

Great video, Chris. So happy you did not add pineapple! Will be ordering a DigiRig via your Amazon link. Found 2 square inches in my go kit! Aloha, from Maui.

[@WaveTalkers]

HaHa yeah no pineapple on that pizza for sure. Thanks @billheyde6932 for the support!

[@chrissewell1608]

I just found your channel, and have been binge watching Winlink videos. A good friend and I, are both trying Winlink FM (& HF) using DigiRig(s) and Maestro iii Laptops, and various radios. This video was just what he & I had been looking for, using our Baofengs! Thanks for the real world use, video! Great idea!

[@user-gn5pq8pd4m]

Great video. Thanks the digi rig information to Baofeng.

[@axenik]

Now we just need drone delivery

[@WaveTalkers]

That would be nice for sure.

[@N4EJM]

That’s awesome

[@WaveTalkers]

Thanks for sharing!

[@user-mu1si5cn5f]

I love this video and shared it with several others. While not everyone is checking their Winlink messages that frequently, instead of the callsign you could use the e-mail-to-text address.

[@muddytiresclub4264]

Hats 🎩 off sir. Well done.

[@WaveTalkers]

Thanks.

[@diegocasati]

This is amazing ! Thanks Chris !

[@WaveTalkers]

Thanks @diegocasati

[@aftbit]

That's pretty neat. I'd probably do the same using APRS email. Although... to be honest, I haven't been out of cell range in months.

[@pcfreak1992]

I was a bit disappointed that you didn’t send the email straight to the pizza shop but I guess they don’t deliver to a bike trail 😅

[@WaveTalkers]

The trick there is to find pizza shop that will accept orders via email. Relaying a message through another ham is the next best thing. 73 W6AH

[@pcfreak1992]

@@WaveTalkers That reminds me of a relative of mine. He and his team at work wrote a little program that would randomly pick ingredients from a list of everyone’s favourites and order pizzas via fax. The first time they ran it they didn’t receive any pizza and when calling the restaurant the guy said they thought it was a joke 😄 These days people don’t even have a fax but at least the phone survived 😉

[@WaveTalkers]

@@pcfreak1992 hmmm Winlink to Fax to Pizza service #winlinkpizza

[@chrissewell1608]

But if you are riding your bike from the house, your set. Or they might deliver to a parking lot, where he had parked his truck?

[@pierremartel3552]

Good fun, too bad it was not delivered to the place you did the order from. Love the mobile setup. With such setup and a high enough peak you could do very long vhf/uhf data link and even repeat other local user in need of a pizza or other urgency need ;-) . But please dont go close of active volcano peak.. Not good for the radio and operator.

[@WaveTalkers]

Interesting idea @pierremartel3552, I'll have to see if I can order a pizza in a future video and have it delivered to the trail head that should be a fun challenge. Good advice about activating a volcano, hmmm VOTA Volcanos On The Air...sounds exciting. 73 W6AH

[@jstrunck]

Pizza Perfect!!!

[@WaveTalkers]

Thanks!

[@WaynePatrick]

That’s really a good use. I do love pizza. Like some of the others showing our age I remember the auto patch days. 73 de KK4LBJ

[@chrissewell1608]

Question: What squelch level are you using on your HT? And what power level for TX?

[@anonymous_friend]

What all do you need to setup your own winlink gateway?

[@WaveTalkers]

Check out WaveTalkers LIVE episodes 57, 58, and 59 where we cover the subject of setting up your own winlink gateway in detail.

[@W4TRI]

I see this process has improved in the 25 years since I used to order Dominos on a wide coverage Autopatch. More complicated and really? Marcos? The location in Knoxville TN near us was cited 6 times for bug problems. Don't get me wrong I'm a Winlink nut myself I just hate that "because everyone has a cell" Autopatches have gone away for the most part. Some people still do not know you can have a patch for almost nothing but the price of an ATA and cable.

[@chiphungerford]

Is there a way to run VARA-FM on a MAC without running windows via parallels yet?

[@WaveTalkers]

Unfortunately, not that I'm aware. Would certainly be nice if it was.

[@J.R.1111]

Can you use DigiRig without a HAM license?

[@WaveTalkers]

@@J.R.1111 you need a license to transmit on the ham bands.

[@J.R.1111]

So you need a HAM license to transmit a email message that only one person can read?. That would seem trivially irrelevant to the FCC, I would think Second question, can you only send DigiRig emails over the licensed HAM bands, buy not over other license free bands, like MURS or FRS?

[@justawfulgamer7738]

Clickbait. You actually emailed someone to have them call and order a pizza...... Its different.

[@chrissewell1608]

He ordered it using email... Yes! He just ordered it through a friend! Same but different! 😂 Unless his friend owns the Marcos Pizza parlor....🍕 Then its direct! 😂😂

[@huseman21]

but like no fast food joints use that software. It would be much better if it sent a normal email. Better yet, surf the web. One day the government will make the internet useless, This old tech will become very useful when the do.

[@WaveTalkers]

Winlink users can send to regular email addresses, call signs of hams who have registered with winlink, SHARES call signs, and much more. The winlink gateways are connected to the internet and many are also connected via RF links to other gateways.