[aprssig] Where to from here for APRS ?

[A.J. Farmer (AJ3U)]

On 10/29/06, Jim Duncan <jdbandman at earthlink.net> wrote:
> APRS will die a slow death within 10 year if we don't do something about
> getting away from 1200 baud. Many areas are close to packet saturation.

Oh boy.  Here we go again.  Didn't we beat this to death a week or so ago? :-)

> Finally, and I've been saying this since 1999, it is well beyond the

It's nearing the end of 2006 and it hasn't died yet... :-)

> IMHO, APRS usage has peaked and I suspect that many other like me, lost
> interest in APRS after so many years of "watching the grass grow." Now,

So many people want APRS to be something it's not and they seem
embarrassed to tell people that we pass data on a "slow" 1200 baud
network.  The fact is 1200 baud equipment is cheap, it is reliable,
and upgrading to higher bandwidth just doesn't make sense for many
reasons.  I agree, higher bandwidth applications are out there, but
they don't need to be shoe-horned onto the APRS network.  These
applications can *co-exist* with APRS and complement it - they don't
have to be *part of* APRS.

> I rarely use APRS now even mobile. I can use my existing truck mounted
> GPS tied into other software which retrieves real-time weather radar and
> puts me right onto the map. High speed wireless internet is still a bit

Exactly my point.  Real-time weather, high speed Internet, other high
bandwidth applications - whatever you heart desires is out there...
It doesn't mean you have to somehow figure out how to make it all work
together on 144.39.  :-)  The things you mentioned do not have
anything to do with APRS, so why do you want APRS to do them?  You
have many tools in your toolbox - use the appropriate one for the task
at hand.

 --
A.J. Farmer, AJ3U
http://www.aj3u.com