[aprssig] Chemical sensors

[Spider]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <scott at opentrac.org>
To: "'TAPR APRS Mailing List'" <aprssig at lists.tapr.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2004 8:48 AM
Subject: RE: [aprssig] Chemical sensors


> I've got nothing against an offline meta file, but what about something 
> like
> a balloon?  It's going to need position AND sensors.

APRS would handle that fine...more than likely....but so would a logger.
That is a very rare occurance compared to the hundreds of thousands of 
sensors
out there but you could apply your question to dozens of applications, I am 
sure....
like picking off the voltage coming off the O2 sensors in ones 
vehicle....which happens to be
very compatible with TNC's, btw.  Some race circuits allow the use of 
telemetry to fine tune a car
during a race...in real time!  No position data needed.  We could argue that 
point forever.

The positioning and altitude data provided by APRS could be used live to 
feed a meta file
and then the sensor data would be sent by just some unproto format.
As a side note....you will not find many sensor data sites that operate 
without some form of meta file arrangement for
critical data.  What I guess I am trying to say is that this goes way beyond 
APRS in that there is such a vast variety
of sensors out there that could be used, 1 spec and 1 packet with 
positioning is not going to handle it, imho.
It's a big issue...way beyond my ability to create....but if you look at 
successful data collection systems, you won't find many that are anything 
close to APRS because they had/have different thoughts in mind.

Active programs like Xastir 'could' be modified to make use of meta files 
along with APRS.  This would be a great step in the evolution of APRS, imho. 
Back to the FireNet gaging stations.....If Xastir could make use of the meta 
files to provide all the data of a particular gaging station or stations, 
the display of data and everything that could be calculated with it, would 
knock the socks off anything APRS has yet to offer.  I suspect that would be 
a serious major undertaking and don't know if it would ever happen...but WOW 
if it did!

Jim, WA6OFT