Welcome to Mapes Telcom. This website is full of information regarding some of my interests and useful tools for various projects. Many links to sites are on the pages here, hopefully not to many of them are dead. I will try to keep those in check.

What can Mapes Telcom do for you:

1. Build a PC - Let us know what is needed, applications to be used, etc. We locate and price out the componets needed.
2. Do you have VHS, DAT tapes that you would like on DVD? Not a sure thing, but most of the time this can be completed successfully. Depends on the age of the tape and quality.
3. Would you like a website? We locate hosting services, assist with Domain Name registration. We can also provide some basic web design to initially get your site up and running.
4. Want an IP camera server to monitor your home while at work or on vacation? Mapes Telcom can review your requirements and provide feedback on your design. We can also build a system using open source software and off the shelf IP cameras. These systems can be configured to send e-mails, SMS messages to alert the property owner. Images can be uploaded off site to a location of your choice.

My background is in telecommunications and have been involved in this field for over twenty years. I am also a licensed amateur radio operator and a avid shortwave radio listener. Foreign broadcasts are a joy to listen to, as well as on-line broadcasts. I am a Linux user and have been since 1995, awesome and reliable OS. The servers I maintain and utilize are all Linux, in particular Ubuntu. I started with Redhat Linux and followed them through the change to Fedora. At some point I landed with Ubuntu and have continued with that distribution.

I also received my Cisco Cetified Network Associate (CCNA) tag recently and currently working toward my CCNP. My Cisco experience to date includes the configuration of 2600, 1700 series routers, 3500XL switches. My internet connection relies on a Cisco 1751 modular router with a 3500 XL switch. I have created VLANs which allow me to separate the PC's from the IP camera network as well as placing equipment that requires a network connection, but is not maintained by me; e.g. X-Box, Dish Network, etc. For security reasons the latter devices are in their own VLAN to prevent snooping. At some point in the future I will post my configurations so that individuals can investigate and implement their own network.

Some light reading....

1. None Dare Call It Conspiracy - by Gary Allen & Larry Abraham, Copyright 1971.
2. The Revolution: A Manifesto - by Ron Paul