[aprssig] tactical call identifier packet

[Robert Bruninga]

This topic has been widely debated over the years... 

> Could we create a new packet type that would 
> force the display of a tactical callsign instead 
> of an object's real callsign?  

I am opposed for the simple reason that not everyone will ever
get the translation packet, and not every system will use it.
Thus, a large number of participants will see one thing, and
another large number of people will see something totally
diffferent.  

And such a situation is a built-in disaster for a communications
system whos objective is for everyone to see the same thing!  If
one wants a -thing- on APRS to have a certain name, then he
needs to give that thing that name in the first place.

Now the compromise we ended up with is that if such a ALIAS
packet were used, that on receipt the display *must* display
both the original call and the ALIAS always.  One may be in
Parenthesis to distinguish, but that way, the continuity across
all platforms is maintained.
  
> The reasoning for this is to do with rfid badges.
> It would be extremely simple to use a serial RFID 
> reader, such as the one sold by parallax...

If there is any translation, then it has to be done at the point
of injection into APRS.  That is, the RIFD reader has to
translate to the callsign before injection to APRS.  This should
not be a problem, since the reader at a clubhouse or at an event
should be able to be preprogrammed with the translation of all
members or participants.

That is why I prefer an RFID that we can pre-program with our
calls in the first place...

Bob, WB4APR