Bobby Schenk bets on PACTOR®

The well known author and circumnavigator Bobby Schenk places his bet on PACTOR®. Since year 2000 PTC-II fitted with PACTOR®-III is one of the essential components of his communication equipment on the catamaran „THALASSA“ with which he sails along the Barefoot route.

Bobby Schenk

„Since I started using PACTOR® I never had any problems to connect to the worldwide Amateur Radio Network WINLINK. Of course, one has to chose the station and frequency according to local propagation, but normally every user can access their E-Mails at almost any time of the day.“ Since some time now Schenk doesn't use his satellite communication system anymore. He reports, that the promised connection speed of 9600 baud is not available, but rather only the speed of 4800 baud. Besides, the TCP/IP Overhead being used during these protocols like for a normal phone connection, takes one to very long and cost intensive connections. „I made my decision to work with PACTOR® quite fast, since one must purchase the software used for the satellite system, while the well known PACTOR's updated version of AIRMAIL is always available for downloading free of charge from Jim Corneman.“  The disadvantage, that FTP connections for updating his internet site www.bobbyschenk.de is not offered at the WINLINK, Schenk compensates with the fact that it is relatively easy to do this update in one of the numerous and ubiquitous internet cafes.

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Schenk is the real PACTOR® fan. In his newly revised sailing literature classics "bdquo;Fahrtensegeln“ and „Blue Water Sailing“, published by Delius Klasing Verlag, he describes and recommends the PACTOR® System in full detail.
Bluewater
„Seldom had I electronic equipment on board, that proved to be so resistant to our maritime environmental conditions - humidity and salt. Without any problems I could download the sometimes necessary software updates and then without complications import them  into the modem. Even the update for the PACTOR®-III was not problematic, Martin, DL1ZAM had answered promptly and without delay all my questions via E-Mail. Nowadays good support by the manufacturer seems to be hard to come by.  I'm curious to find out what new products will be offered by the SCS in the future.“ The information about the new modem PTC-IIusb brings a smile on the Schenk's face: „Yes, the new Notebooks, the ones that sailors use almost exclusively, are mostly provided without the serial port these days, and the converter cable often causes problems, which can lead the user to despair. In fact, there is a special waterproof computer with serial interface and the newest processor, but the price-performance ratio doesn't justify the purchase for me, since with my experience of intensive Notebook usage the new one is due every two years anyways.“

Bobby Schenk is soon to leave the Rebak Marina on the island Langkawi, Malaysia. For the time being he plans to sail longer in this gorgeous cruising area. „It is somewhat difficult to connect to one of the WINLINK nodes in Malaysia, so I'm thinking at the moment to use SAILMAIL. Many other sailors report about the good availability of the station Brunei, which should cover the whole Southeast Asia.“

Bobby Schenk in interview with Michael Wnuk, KD7SVU
July 2005, Lankawi Malaysia

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