[aprssig] Rig Operating Frequency Object

[Robert Bruninga]

>> Another idea is to inspire some pic programmer to 
>> make a dongle for HF rigs that would use their 
>> serial interface to query their operating frequency, 
>> and then automatically turn around and transmit 
>> that out in an APRS beacon using the HF station symbol.
>> This way we can see where (in both the spatial and 
>> RF domains) they are operating in real time.
> 
> Shouldn't be too hard to make a software widget to 
> talk to some of the basic rig control applications 
> (like Ham Radio Deluxe) to get the current freq and 
> post it.

I was thinking along the lines of a MicroTrack or OpenTracker
gizmo.  Stand-alone.  With the Microtrack including its own
little RF transmitter, this would be a black-box attachment to
an HF radio.  The device would announce on APRS where the guy
was listening.

The timing would be similar to a tracker.  I wonder about the TX
algorithm... Maybe somehting like this:

Station object with Freq goes out:
1) Once every 10 minutes via 1 hop if Activity in last 10
2) Immediately if he TX's on HF and it has been > 3 min since
last
3) After 1 minute sitting on one RX freq and has been > 3 min
since last

Something like that.

Bob, WB4APR