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ZL3AI > APRDIG 10.05.04 08:27l 210 Lines 9880 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: TAPR Digest, Apr 20, 16/17
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From: ZL3AI@ZL3VML.#80.NZL.OC
To : APRDIG@WW
Subject: Re: D700 and Garmin GPS-V
From: "Rick Stoneking" <w2rds@arrl.net>
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 21:35:56 -0400
X-Message-Number: 96
Thanks to all who responded to my question. I will hopefully have this up
and running this weekend.
73 de W2RDS
Rick
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Subject: Re: Kenwood users BEWARE!
From: Wes Johnston <wes@johnston.net>
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 21:36:23 -0400
X-Message-Number: 97
Bob, this is crazy... your comments are divisive and anti-progressive.
Guess what?... buggy whips became obsolete once the automobile became more
prevalent than the horse and buggy... You make a good point by saying that
we could end up with a tower of babble, but things change so slowly, and as
LOCAL areas adopt new standards , they will be able to talk to others in
their LOCAL area.... aprs is a local thing, right?
We are not suggesting that the kenwood radios be obsoleted... Tech rolls
on, and if kenwood releases new firmware which will decode newer formats,
the radios will not be obsoleted and will still provide the functionality
in a single unit we desire. Please don't stifle development because of
this one radio. Before there was this radio, there was an external TNC
hooked to another kenwood radio - the TM-g707. I remember raving when
they had a radio which would transmit the DATA jack on one side and the
microphone on the other. Then they blew us away by offering the whole
shebang in one package. The surest way to revitalize a "long in the tooth"
radio is to sell the same radio with new bells and whistles. How many
incarnations has the icom 706 been through? Kenwood is in business to make
money... and if they decide to invest the time into supporting new
protocols, and it turns out the program code won't fit in a kenwood d7,
they will release a new one... and people will buy it. They make money, we
get a great radio.... everyone is happy. It just takes time and supporting
the manufacturer so that they aren't left high es dry. Let them know you
are interested in support of new features.... want a flash upgradeable
radio? tell them nicely. I don't see garmin hurting for sales... and all
of their current model GPS products are flashable. They release firmware
for various models nearly once a month.... and garmin sells a heck of a lot
more GPS models than kenwood does radio models.
We are in the classic chicken and egg situation... and hey, this sort of
thing is what got us into the whole 91 character compressed mess in the
first place.... shouldda bit the bullet years ago and started running KISS
mode for true 8 bit compressed posits. Think of all the problems we have
had to work around with different config files for each manufacturer's TNCs
that could have been avoided by using the kiss port? On a side note, it
would be entirely within the KISS spec to have a GPS attached to the TNC as
a faked port number.... packet data comes in on KISS port 0 and GPS comes
in on port 1 or 4 or 15....
Kenwood will someday release a radio which replaces the d700... time rolls
on, processor abilities grow.... Their d700 replacement (which is
inevitable) will likely support all current specs and more. Tell me that
isn't possible after 5 years of development in microprocessors. We have a
duty to work out as many kinks in our new protocols as possible before they
are committed in stone (or ROM)... to clear a path for a road for them.
Wes
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Subject: Re: LaCrosse weather station 2310
From: n2iph@comcast.net
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 01:51:54 +0000
X-Message-Number: 98
I have been using mine for close to 6 months now. I don't run it 24/7 on
APRs/UI-View but the WX station itself it running all the time and have had
no problems with it.
Andy's UI-weather will move the data from the LaCrosse software into
UI-View for you. You need to run the beta 2.0 software from LaCrosse and
have it running in the background for UI-Weather. UI-Weather can't read the
data directly from the WX station.
There is some software out there called Weather Display that can do this,
and send you WX data in APRS format out over RF thru a TNC, but I don't
care for it's interface and you can't do much to customize it. Otherwise
when I ran the demo (time-limited) version it worked fine too. LaCrosse has
a link to it on their site. I think it is at www.weatherdisplay.com if I
remember correctly.
One thing I don't like about the LaCrosse software is the date format can't
be changed to that us Americans are used to (MM-DD-YYYY), you are stuck
with DD-MM-YYYY and in the months where the days are less than 12 it can be
confusing.
The atomic clock syncs OK with WWV, taking into account the display panel
is on the basement shack mounted on the wall just slightly above grade
(about 12"). All the instruments (temp, humidity, rainfall, wind speed/dir)
seem to be fairly accurate for their price/quality, it tracks pretty well
with the local FAA WX station and a small regional airport located about 10
miles away and with NWS data for my area (SNJ). The anarometer is kinda
noisey, and has been from the start, so I expect it to be the first piece
to go.
Occasionally when downloading data from the displays memory into the data
file on the computer the date gets screwed up, but once you close the
display software and re-start the date goes back to normal. The date I
refer to here is the date/time for each data period, it sometimes jumps
ahead a day but returns to todays date when you re-start it. The data file
format can't be read directly by Excel, you have to save it as a .CSV file
then import that into Excel.
I have a few other gripes about the included software, but they are really
trivial and have to do with the user interface and probably won't bother
most people.
All in all for $xxx (at xx's)it's not bad, and it can be used with UI-View.
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Subject: Re: APRS Kenwood Radios
From: "Herb Gerhardt" <hgerhardt@wavecable.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 19:34:01 -0700
X-Message-Number: 99
Wimp, wimp, wimp. That is all that I got out of all those messages! Most
of them seem as a total waste of everyone's time. I don't remember reading
anything constructive all day!
Everyone is looking for the PERFECT APRS radio. Well it does not exist.
The Kenwood D700 and D7A are the closest that presently exist. Why aren't
you all attacking the other Radio Manufacturers who don't even support APRS!
I suggested making a perfect APRS radio which not only included a TNC but
also a GPS to ICOM long before Kenwood came out with theirs. ICOM refused
to make such a radio stating that their marketing people have determined
there is not enough demand to make such a radio profitable. Well
fortunately for us, Kenwood did think it was a good idea and hopefully are
making a profit on these radios. ICOM lost me as a customer and Kenwood got
a new customer. That is what makes the world tick. Every manufacturer can
make whatever they want to make and we the users can buy whatever we want to
buy. That is life.
I own both the D700 and the D7A's and love them. Sure they could be better,
but so could the Microsoft Windows OS which we all keep buying despite all
the problems with that OS. Well I better exclude Curt and a few others who
refuse to play with the Windows OS.
As far as the firmware upgrades go, I don't think it would be legal to make
ham radios with upgradable firmware since someone would then figure out how
to circumvent the FCC rules like no receive in the cell phone bands and
transmitting out of band. Yes, it is all a thin line but the manufacturers
have to play the game and make sure they don't get in trouble with the FCC.
So, lets all be grateful that Kenwood came along and saw it fit to give us
APRS players such neat toys. If you have constructive suggestions for
making future radios which are better, then please forward them on the
manufacturers but also don't expect them to upgrade what you already paid
them for. Be willing to part with some of your money in order to own the
latest and greatest. That is the American way. Unfortunately, most hams,
including myself, are cheap individuals who want the best and pay nothing
for it!
I will keep on enjoying my Kenwood's and APRS. Whether you want to compare
it to watching grass grow or watching a dryer drum go round and round. I
for one love it! Thanks to Bob and all the other authors and the
manufacturers for making it all happen for us to enjoy!
Herb, KB7UVC
NW APRS Group, West Sound Coordinator
Our WEB Site: www.nwaprs.org
My NEW Email Address: hgerhardt@wavecable.com
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Subject: Re: APRS Kenwood Radios
From: "Rich Garcia" <k4gps@bellsouth.net>
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 22:49:33 -0400
X-Message-Number: 100
I agree with everything mentioned except for the one below. TenTec does
firmware upgrades to most of their current radios and now we have SDR
(Software Defined Radio) coming of age.
rich
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-aprssig-19959@lists.tapr.org
[mailto:bounce-aprssig-19959@lists.tapr.org]On Behalf Of Herb Gerhardt
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2004 10:34 PM
SNIP>>
As far as the firmware upgrades go, I don't think it would be legal to make
ham radios with upgradable firmware since someone would then figure out how
to circumvent the FCC rules like no receive in the cell phone bands and
transmitting out of band. Yes, it is all a thin line but the manufacturers
have to play the game and make sure they don't get in trouble with the FCC.
Herb, KB7UVC
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