WRPP686

Well, I don't know what all the complaining was about. After installing ver 5.5 I was able to Read, Edit, Write and I am done in less than 5 minutes.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Should the unthinkable happen, when only radios stored in faraday cages will keep working, good luck (lol!) with simplex mesh network. Look, I for one, if happen to be alive and with radios working, will not be bothered by relaying somebody's messages across the land. Big fat NO. I will have other matters on hand, more pressing.
From Central Florida to Alabama, is it like 500 miles? Get ham ticket, press your other party to get a ham ticket, 80m NVIS will likely cover your needs. Buy equipment, train for the event. And if 80m won't do it (but why not?) then, 20/40m will do it for sure. Have a plan, have a schedule, have batteries. Ham exam is much easier than organizing mesh network.

I didn't want to hijack Doctnj thread on GMRS and Radio Clubs but after reading it there is another topic that keeps coming across my mind. Many many people are getting in to GMRS in conjunction with their prepping efforts for grid down communications. I think it is really becoming very popular across the nation as repeater networks and clubs continue to pop up. My concern is that in a true grid down situation many of the repeaters may not function. I am sure there are many people with backup radios in their Faraday cages and these may be the only radios that work when the grid goes down.
I think there is a good argument to establish a simplex network. The purpose would be to enable a message to be passed long distances. A prime example for me would be for me to be able to pass a message from Central Florida to Northern Alabama. If there were no national linked repeaters it would have to make many hops to cover that distance. However, if there were an established protocol for a geographical network of GMRS users to do such a thing, I think it possible.
Have exercises just like the linked regional nets. So users know who is geographically within reach of them so they could propagate a message in the correct direction. 
This may be a pipe dream, but in a grid down world it could invaluable. I am new to the community so maybe there is already something in place.
What do you all think? 

http://arrl.net/
ARRL -> Amateur Radio Relay League
That's how it was done in the very old days of spark gap transmitters that had very limited range. Messages were relayed from station to station across the country. What is old is now new again. It continues to be done as a message passing protocol. The key is getting a system where the format is consistent and EVERYONE uses the same procedures to pass message traffic. Otherwise it ends up being nothing but a mess.

I didn't want to hijack Doctnj thread on GMRS and Radio Clubs but after reading it there is another topic that keeps coming across my mind. Many many people are getting in to GMRS in conjunction with their prepping efforts for grid down communications. I think it is really becoming very popular across the nation as repeater networks and clubs continue to pop up. My concern is that in a true grid down situation many of the repeaters may not function. I am sure there are many people with backup radios in their Faraday cages and these may be the only radios that work when the grid goes down.
I think there is a good argument to establish a simplex network. The purpose would be to enable a message to be passed long distances. A prime example for me would be for me to be able to pass a message from Central Florida to Northern Alabama. If there were no national linked repeaters it would have to make many hops to cover that distance. However, if there were an established protocol for a geographical network of GMRS users to do such a thing, I think it possible.
Have exercises just like the linked regional nets. So users know who is geographically within reach of them so they could propagate a message in the correct direction. 
This may be a pipe dream, but in a grid down world it could invaluable. I am new to the community so maybe there is already something in place.
What do you all think?