[aprssig] APRS outside of ham radio ? (was it Lives)

[scott at opentrac.org]

> The battery is actually a 8.4 V rechargeable at 200 mA
> 
> The LED off is 12 mA and the LED on is 26 mA.

You can replace the 78L05 regulator with an LDO regulator like an LM2936 and
save maybe 2 ma of idle current.  With some minor tweaks and use of the
still-experimental low-power mode, you can get idle current down to 4 or 5
ma - this is mostly useful for solar powered 1-wire weather stations,
because anything with a GPS is going to draw a lot more current anyway.

> I am wondering what / if are about using the APRS format on 
> other bands
> besides hams ?

I don't know what Bob's take on this is these days - I know the license on
APRSdos is for amateur use only (or was, last I checked) but within my
limited knowledge of intellectual property law, I know of nothing preventing
use of the protocol for other uses.  You need to be aware of radio licensing
restrictions, too - some commercial license classes (in some countries
anyway) don't include any provisions for data.

> What is the miniumum callisign length etc ?

Callsign length in AX.25 is fixed at 6 characters plus a 4-bit SSID.  As for
legal requirements, you're going to have to check with local laws about what
constitutes a valid on-air ID.  I know that here you never hear fire or
police mobiles using a gov't-issued ID, just the base station.

> FIRE99-9
> 
> That should give us 99 trucks

For SAR, I've used callsigns like 31R14 for 31 Rescue 14 (home station
number, type, and unit number.)  Or just plain R14, so it matches the big
numbers on the roof of the truck.  For fire, it might be company and engine
number - whatever makes sense for whoever's got to look at the map.

For Aussie-specific rules, Darryl Smith might be able to help you out.  I'm
sure there are others on the SIG as well who might know.

Scott
N1VG