Pactor or Clover BBS/Mailboxes?

[N1ZZZ]

Are there any active Pactor or Clover BBS or personal mail boxes active in the US (outside the WL2K system)?

Is there a list?  I tried google, but the only list I found was ZS5S's list from 1998 or so. 

Any calls and frequencies would be appreciated.

73
Jeremy N1ZZZ

[G0GQK]

I don't think you will find many, or even any people using Pactor these days. The new free digital modes wiped out Pactor and the anger created by the BBS's which blanked out many contacts and the band width of the mode made it unpopular.

Mel G0GQK

[N1ZZZ]

Hi Mel,

There is still a die-hard following of ARQ mode users out there, I just have to ferret them out to see who still operates any sort of mailbox.  I made a few Pactor QSO's including one mailbox, this weekend in fact.  But the vast majority of Pactor users are the WL2K users.

I'm all for the soundcard modes as well, but I am still partial to the TOR modes.

73
Jeremy N1ZZZ

[G4AON]

If you sign into http://hamspots.net/arq/ (just needs your callsign and name), you can post your CQ call details and see who is around. There are stations active on 14.111 MHz (centre frequency) most of the day, although the TA2BBS BBS in Turkey slightly lower causes QRM here in Europe from crocodile callers.

The frequencies of the TA2BBS are:

TA2BBS listens on MARK freqs (#=Pactor3)
7048 7050 7051.5# 10148  24h
14098 14110.5#  4-23 UTC
21098 21112#    5-17 UTC
28306#  6-15 UTC

73 Dave

[G4SLW]

I'm not that active on the bands, but I'd say there is a lot of Pactor (2 & 3) mailbox activity going on in Europe. I've not yet managed a live human<>human pactor QSO yet so I shall have to try the hamspots link mentioned by someone else. I also have a HAL Clover data modem. Never managed to find anyone using the mode, but the concept seemed so elegant that I found a cheap 2nd Clover data modem for us in emergencies, or to give to a friend to play with. The beauty of Clover is that you don't actually need to swap the link from one end to the other. You just sort of type at each end and modems themselves sort out which end gets TX priority. As I say, I think it's highly elegant! But sadly nobody uses it in the amateur world so far as I can hear. Dominic G4SLW

[G4SLW]

"for us in an emergency". Typo. i meant "use in an emergency". I don't have a split personality and I don't talk to myself!
I appreciate that people criticize the Winlink Pacto-based email system but from my limited usage of it I'd say it works.. and it works really well. I've used it to send/receive e-mail when camping (you'd call it: in the boonies?) and it's useful. I've never really understood the criticism, other than the tendency of the system to TX without listening (which of course I suppose it cannot), but it's all in the data segment of the band so what's the harm? If I were droning on and on using SSB further up the band there would be no issue, so I don't honestly understand the criticism. The bands are there, why not use them. I'd rather type reliably to a distant friend for half an hour than waste my breath with staccato 59 59 59 reports with people screaming into their mikes and their amps about to blow their tubes!

[N1ZZZ]

"Tubes?"  Don't you Brits call them valves? hihi.

I'll keep you in mind when I get my clover station hooked up (hopefully in March).  I've never gotten to work across the pond on Clover.

  I also use WL2K from the ship (pactor 3 mostly) and it works quite well in the Atlantic, but not as well in the Indian ocean or Eastern Pacific. 

Anyhow... Clover ops are on 14.065.5 LSB (dial).  I sometimes hear the tell-tale chirp of the CQ's. 

I agree with you about Clover operating.  Pactor 2/3 is better with raw data transfer, but the semi-duplex style and the ability to monitor the link condition on both sides of the QSO make the mode my favorite.  I have a DXP38 giving me the full run of modes.  The P38 board doesn't have the top two modes which is unfortunate. 

Looking on internet boards there are a lot more clover ops than I had suspected.  We just have to link up on the air now.

73
Jeremy N1ZZZ