[aprssig] Part 3/3: Updating APRS Clients (Consumer Needs)

[Ev Tupis]

----- Original Message ----

Why do you say in one paragraph they don't care about weather symbols, but in the next they do care about weather?  Is this apparent contradiction an indication that there is something wrong with the way APRS clients display WX data?
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I'll tackle this one more directly, then back away a bit more broadly...

EFR's want to know the weather.  However few are well versed in the meanings of the WX symbols in the APRS symbol list.  Most understand NWS radar maps and are excited excited when, with the push of a button, that data is underlayed on their realtime CAD / incident maps.  That is "intuitive" Wx data.

Let's open the discussion more broadly...
Incident commanders want "Strategic, Incident Landmarks" that are updated by authoritative sources, that can be counted upon to be accurate and intuitively understood.

Examples include...hospitals with their "status" (red, blue, etc) and incident triage centers with similar stats-at-a-glance.  Food depots with inventory levels shown.  Traffic conditions in real time.

While there may be symbols, shapefiles, etc to do these things...the fact is that few (if any) APRSers are doing it consistently.

I wonder why?

Ev, W2EV





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