[aprssig] Xastir

[Lance Cotton]

Ralph Milnes wrote:
> Can someone tell us more about how Xastir compares to the other APRS
> clients?
> 
> It sounds like it is extremely versatile, but I wonder how it compares to
> UI-View, for example.

Installing Xastir typically has a pretty steep learning curve -- it's 
born from Linux and so most Windows users may stumble a bit initially. 
Assuming your goal is to run it on Windows, there's been some excellent 
development in both the Linux-on-Windows system known as Cygwin as well 
as a VMware virtual machine running linux with Xastir pre-installed.

As far as features -- you can't beat the mapping features, especially 
for U.S. maps, where sources of free data abound. My local city provides 
high-precision shapefile (vector) maps of the whole county, and those 
import right into Xastir for a nice, zoomable, high-res map view of my 
local area.

There's a script to convert UI-view .inf map description files into 
Xastir's .geo format, no further work necessary.

The xastir mailing list is the primary support source and the help is 
excellent and friendly. Folks are patient with new users and more 
advanced users are always coming up with quick ways to accomplish new 
things, especially regarding Search and Rescue operations and other 
event-type ... events.

http://www.xastir.org/

-Lance KJ5O

-- 
J. Lance Cotton, KJ5O
joe at lightningflash.net
http://kj5o.lightningflash.net
Three Step Plan: 1. Take over the world. 2. Get a lot of cookies. 3. Eat 
the cookies.