[aprssig] APRS Common BULLETIN BOARD awareness

[Keith VE7GDH]

Bob WB4APR wrote...

> Sorry. Good point. All you need is APRS876.ZIP which is the
> latest. If you want the specific maps for one of the 6 or so
> regions of the country, then also get any of these:

OK... looking at AN-INDEX.txt, I should have spotted that, but at the
time I found it bewildering.

> Unfortunately, you have to have a TNC connected to COM1 or 2 or
> it won't work.

What about the operating system? Will it run on XP or Vista without
having to add any non-standard components? I thought I saw a mention of
QBasic somewhere, or perhaps it was in one of your posts. Perhaps some
people have some old DOS 5 or whatever machines around that would run
it. Those would probably still have RS-232 ports on them. If it will
otherwise run on newer operating systems, USB to serial adapters could
provide a serial port.

> Most people think I am on cloud nine and have never seen a lot
> of the issues I complain most about, because their maps look
> fine and they are not trying to use APRS as a communications
> network resource in a real time critical situation. They don't
> care if objects are old, or in the wrong place, Or they don't
> try to message reliably.  That's when some of these issues show
> up.

I presume you aren't suggesting that all APRS users should stop using
the tools that they are using successfully day-in and day-out now. I
hear what you are saying about objects and messaging and so on, but
(using UI-View as an example) I just don't see any huge problem except
it doesn't display ambiguity as envisioned, and it should be limited to
only a handful of objects. If someone builds a better mousetrap, people
will flock to it. Perhaps that will change or someone will write
something that does everything. Xastir sounds like it is very capable,
but it still sounds like a relatively small user-base, and installation
might be a bit challenging first time around. Maybe if everyone knew how
it was supposed to be pronounced it would be more popular! In the
meantime, I see nothing wrong with you or anyone else encouraging
someone to write a new program. If someone can write a new program from
scratch, that's great. If the "new program" consists of a few add-ons
for UI-View, that's fine too. If Xastir is the "do everything" program,
perhaps it can be made easier to install... or at least perhaps the
users can encourage others or help spread the word about "how easy it is
to install".

73 es cul - Keith VE7GDH
--
"I may be lost, but I know exactly where I am!"