An Amateur Radio Internet Gateway is intended primarily for Amateur Radio Operators but we have opened many of its services for everyone to use. One interesting feature of an Internet Gateway is that PC Workstation it allows Amateur Radio Operators that do not have any packet equipment to be able to enjoy what packet radio has to offer. It also offers amateurs in other regions of the world to access the air waves of NE Indiana. Once connected to FWARig from the Internet, you can then access the air waves via the RF ports we have provided for you.

Kantronics KPC-9612 TNC

If you are not a Amateur Radio Operator, you can still experience what a typical Amateur Radio Packet Radio BBS is like. You see, hams typically connect to their local BBS and read their personal messages, send ones to other hams, and send "bulletins" that are intended for all other hams to read. With the introduction of the Internet, hams have linked their BBS's with the Internet. FWARig is just such a system. One of the nice benefits to hams that use an Internet Gateway is that they can send and receive Internet email. No longer do they need to sign up with an Internet Service Provider to get an email address. All they need is their radio, modem (TNC), and their computer to connect to this local Internet Gateway. This system provides 6 radios on various Radio Tower frequencies to help facilitate just that.

The FCC of the United States only allows licensed Amateur Radio operators to cause a transmission to occur on the frequencies assigned to the Amateur Radio Service. This requirement forces FWARig's SYSOPs to only allow privileges that do not directly cause one or more of the radios to relay the information unless it can be assured that a licensed Amateur Radio Operator caused it to happen. Thus we provide a form for licensed Amateur Radio Operators to fill out to request these enhanced privileges. Please understand, we can only give enhanced privileges to licensed Amateur Radio Operators.

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FWARig is a project I've been working on since January 1996. It is a gateway between Amateur Packet Radio and the Internet. I use the domain names "day-lite.com" and "bbs.fwarig.org" provided by Day-Lite Consulting in Fort Wayne, Indiana to serve your needs 24hrs/day. "bbs.fwarig.org" is known as "leogate.kf9ug.ampr.org" in the AMPRnet world.

I also employ the use of the "gw.kf9ug.ampr.org" system (the original FWARig system) to provide HF personal message forwarding and as a means to access the 223.66Mhz packet radio backbone in NE Indiana.

I would like to thank AA8RW, DL5KAI, K4KOA, KA9QWC, KB9IBW, KB9LGJ, KC7UMC, KF9LZ, KR9U, WB9NOO, and KF6JLX for their generous donations to FWARig. I would also like to thank the Allen County Amateur Radio Society for their monthly support.

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To see how you can connect to FWARig via the RF ports, click here.

Station location: 41.133N 85.083W

Number of times this page has been accessed since May 26, 1999

Last updated June 22, 2000