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ZL3AI > APRDIG 10.05.04 19:33l 204 Lines 10045 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: TAPR Digest, Apr 21, 2/10
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From: ZL3AI@ZL3VML.#80.NZL.OC
To : APRDIG@WW
Subject: APRS-a Newbie's Perspective
From: Clair Dunn <cadunn@vt2000.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 05:45:35 -0400
X-Message-Number: 5
Hi Folks --
Whew - I read ALL of the last digest. Blew me away. Stick with me for a
bit, please. I've snipped in the main comments from that digest at the
end of this msg. And, if you wade through all of this, I do actually
have one implementable suggestion!
1. Where I'm coming from:
Ham since 1980. Inactive from 1986-2002. 1st radio, Hallicrafters pair;
Current radio: Yaesu FT-920. (Now there's a leap in technology!) First
and abiding love is CW. Recently tried PSK-31, SSTV, meteor scatter, APRS.
1a. PSK-31 - great for ragchewing, but less "real" than CW. (something
about the PC being in the middle.)
1b. SSTV - a real yawn.
1c. Meteor Scatter (WSJT) - wonderful use of a "dead" band. I love it.
1d. APRS - and here we are.
I can't remember when I've been so excited by technology as when I
discovered MS and APRS. Both drove me to distraction until I was able to
actually get them working.
The curve to get something work in APRS was the greatest because of a
lack of completeness in any one document. Many hours of searching and
fiddling with radio to get anything at all. A less determined soul would
have bagged the whole thing. If it hadn't been for UI-View and AGWPE, I
probably would still be struggling. (Right now I'm on HF only.)
IMHO APRS is not in danger of dying, it is merely undiscovered by the
radio and EM communities. To the mind that grasps its concept, it is
truly enticing. In reading the SIG comments about the abilties of the
Kenwood radios (known by some and as yet undeciphered by others) it
seems obvious that one of the big problems here might be one of clarity
and organization of documentation. "Build it and they will come" will
only work if the directions to the field are clear.
I was introduced to APRS by a presentation at our local club. That was
three weeks ago. I was utterly hooked. His demo of course had someone
running around in a car while we watched on a screen. Of course SAR
immediately came to my mind.
Then, at home, at 3 a.m. on the computer every day since then, I began
to investigate. The APRS application I took for my self was Weather. I'm
certainly not alone in this interest! Just look at the number of minutes
devoted to this subject on expensive TV news programs -- it is a
universally interesting topic. Ask the NWS if they want to disband the
CWOP program. I don't think so.
This is something I can do. Unfortunately I have very little money, so I
have ordered the LaCrosse (the cheapest WX station out there). I have
registered UI-View. I have purchased the map set from Undertow. And,
because I understand that APRS (aside from the "National" Weather
Service) is local, I have just ordered a very old KAM+. My fingers are
crossed that I can get this to work with my equally old ICOM 27A 2M
radio, without spending any more money which I dont' have.
I am not an electronics person -- my approach to radio has been from the
beginning -- that of an operator. I want to be a good operator with good
communications skills. This means I am, unfortunately, impatient when
things don't work. BUT, fortunately, I will stick with things until I do
get them to work.
If you've stuck with me this far, thanks -- and now to my comments about
other matters currently being discussed in this SIG.
I completly agree with Daron Wilson. And, I want N1VG's (Scott) needs to
have a way to be implemented by any ham who wants to implement them.
And here I think is perhaps the first thing which needs to be done. In
the light of Amateur Radio Public Service, Scott's needs in SAR come
first. His ia practical issue, not a theoretical one. People need to be
found. What's lacking, I think, is not bells and whistles on radios or
GPSs, but REAL WORLD PRACTICAL INFORMATION. Not everyone is determined
as I am. Folks with a passing interest might become devotees if the
right information was available. They need to be given what they are
missing when their interest is peaked. Not confused and discouraged.
For Scott's needs to be met, we need a maintained standard. Period. I
think that's a given. This is a money issue as well as a development
issue. Let folks pick up used equipment that will still work to set up
APRS stations. One of the comments on APRS that I have heard in my
locale from people not using APRS is that "there's no point to it unless
there is a wide local community using it". And, this is true. If I have
APRS, GPS, and a computer at home but nobody has portable stations what
good are my maps and my ability to plot things on them??
SUGGESTION:
And here we are back to the practical information. And, I have one
suggestion for a solution. And please don't groan when I suggest yet
another web site. Because that is what I am suggesting. However, there
is only one kind of document that will appear on this web site. Everyone
currently using APRS needs to write up their *exact* station:
1. equipment - brand names, models, years of manufacture
2. software - version (compatibility issues if available)
3. necessary cables
3. wiring connections - what goes to what in specific terms
4. ALL SETTINGS which are applicable to making things work, tone
setting, frequencies, shifts, modes, etc.
5. laptops used (battery issues -- how long), processing spedd, memory,
screen resolution, maps used, etc.
6. any special issues, problems
Not only would this help people who already have some stuff, but it
would help them acquire what will work with what they already have.
Certainly if the postings to this SIG are any indication, folks have the
time and ability to do this, probably quite easily.
There may be things on that list that I, because I'm so new, have not
thought of, please make it longer to make it complete.
One question I have: how fast does the computer have to be? Is there a
way to have zoomable maps loaded only for your local area, separate from
the entire wide area? Surely if this were possible, less processing
speed and memory would be necesary??
Wouldn't it be great if someone who already has a laptop and a two meter
radio and a GPS could go to this site and find out that they only needed
a $150 10 yr old piece of equipment from Kantronics or AEA and one X
cable and one Y cable and a $19 piece of software to have a fully
functioning APRS station? I think so.
Ummmm -- another website possibly. One for APRS folks who have the money
to buy the latest and greatest, who can then sell their old equipment to
new APRS recruits via truly informative ads!!!
OKAY, I'm nearly done. And I do thank anyone who has made it this far
for their interest and patience!
APRS has SAR and WX real world applications that are absolutely enough
to justify the mode for the forseeable future. The WX app can be
implemented by folks at home. Stormtrackers, fire people, and SAR
people need the mobile plotting. Let's try and make it dead easy for any
ham to jump on this. Increase the local population of APRS people and
you will increase the useability of APRS and increase its growth. I now
deperately want a Kenwood TH-D7AG or whatever the mobile version is.
I'll never be able to afford either one. But that doesn't mean I gave
up. I'll be setting up my home WX station using the old KAM+ (I hope)
and my old ICOM.
And, yes, I could have gotten the Kenwood with the money I've spent on
the WX station and the KAM+, but then, with almost no other tracking
staions in my area, of what use would it be? My old 75MHz laptop is too
slow (I think) to be of any use, but I'm sure going to experiment with it!
So, the first order of business in my opinion, is to make it easy to get
more people into APRS, then it will work the way we already KNOW it can
work.
The folks who say it's not a "video game" are absolutely right, but if
APRS has enough properly set up users, it can be a magnificently useful
tool that has no equal.
I'm done. And I want to thank everyone who has taken part in the
research and development of this mode. It is truly an amazing thing
which has cell phones, video games, and email, beat all to Hell!
Cheers,
Clair, W1CQD
P.S. If anyone want to be an Elmer to me when my KAM+ plus comes next
week, well, I won't say "no"!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: APRS greater precision
From: Jim Duncan <jdbandman@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 22:49:33 -0500
X-Message-Number: 1
Folks: APRS is dying. It is a "novelty" item and the longer that you
(Bob Bruninga) continue to insist that every new APRS innovation must be
fully backward compatible then we are destined to continue dying. I
agree that those people who insist on using their stone knives and
bearskins to communicate or (as someone told me privately just now) the
1845-vintage hand-carved wooden radios ought not to be left in the dust
but if we carefully examine the history of amateur radio in the past 40
years since SSB became the de facto mode on HF you will see some
alarming similarities in the trends happening in APRS to those which
have happened to ham radio in general.
.....
Let's do something to make APRS virtually indispensable (I hope I
spelled that right!) to EVERY ham. Something that every ham will HAVE to
have as a part of a complete station. Right now we're about as exciting
as sitting around and watching the grass grow! Is ANYONE else as bored
as I am with APRS???? Does anyone really care about where we're going???
When is the last time you sit and marveled at watching a mobile APRS
station move around your city? It was the cat's pajamas for all of us
once upon a time and it's kind of like the feeling you get after after
watching the 100th re-run of "The Hunt for Red October"... Eventually
you get tired of seeing the little subs on the sonar displays moving
around, too!
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