On Saturday, September 2, 2017 9:21:45 AM PDT Brian Kantor wrote:
A couple of decades ago, the "GRAPES" WA4DSY 56kbit modem kit was available for a moderate price. They weren't too difficult to put together. Alignment did take a scope, but took only a few minutes. About five people in San Diego had them. As far as I know, only three ever made it onto the air here.
The problem with the GRAPES modem was cost, the kit was reasonable but add in all the other pieces and it was more than many of us could afford.
We had a few GRAPES modems here in the Pacific Northwest but very few ever made it on the air.
We did have a dedicated 56k link over an 80 mile path between Camano Island north of Seattle and a 56k repeater on Mount Seymour in British Columbia. The repeater and the link radio used a 56k modem designed by Dennis, AC7FT (then VE7BPE). It was compatible with GRAPES but was a completely separate design.
That link provided additional connectivity for the 1200/9600 IP network in central Puget Sound for several years and was reasonably reliable.
Those were fun times