[aprssig] HAMFEST objects

[Steve Grantham]

There's more to do than just announcing Hamfests...

I have been hosting and routing objects, on schedule, to a couple of IGATEs 
for the intended local area coverage.  These objects come up on schedule 
from a cron on one of my IRLP nodes.  The scope of this is that I send out 
objects for club meetings, swap meets, ve test sessions, and ham classes in 
our area.  Of course, this all has to be done with timeliness and 
appropriateness.  The routing is done through the use of unique SSIDs within 
the object scripts from the APVR node that are each gated at the appropriate 
destination IGATE.  Some objects are not routed to a gate at all as they 
might more appropriately be intended for Internet display only.

I typically send out club meeting objects on the day of the meeting and 
detail the event time within.  Of course, the scripted lat/lon of the 
meeting place positions the object in an effort to help get you there and 
the address or location description is also included in the part of the info 
string that is truncated from the HUDs.  This same technique is used for the 
other objects that I have scripted.  Those include objects such as the swap 
meet example below.  Here, I use the zip code as a part of the object name. 
I also do this with ve tests and ham classes.

Though what I have listed below does not constitute one or more complete 
scripts, it should give one some idea concerning the names, symbols and 
comment styles.  The zip code object naming convention has some uniqueness 
of its own and these objects don't follow that suggested in this thread for 
hamfests.  Neither have I sought out a unique icon for a hamstore or such. 
I use a block with an assigned letter as the icon instead.  (The idea 
expanded on and was adapted from the IRLP APVR scripts, including the symbol 
and status character use.)  Just food for thought...

73 for now...
Steve, AA5SG

OBJ_NAME="SWP-39401"
# Set the COMMENT text
COMMENT="Swap Meet: 8AM 5Apr @ 4th St. Rails2Trails - Junk'nTrunk"
#--------012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789
#------------------11111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555
# Set the APRS symbol
SYMBOL=A
# Set the Status Character
STATUS_CHAR="S"

OBJ_NAME="LAMAR-CLB"
# Set the COMMENT text
COMMENT="Mtg3dTues 7:00PM"
#--------0123456789012345678901234567
#------------------11111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555
# Set the APRS symbol
SYMBOL=A
# Set the Status Character
STATUS_CHAR="M"

OBJ_NAME="VES-39470"
# Set the COMMENT text
COMMENT="VE Tests: 26Apr 9AM N5WLW is Exam POC"
#--------0123456789012345678901234567
#------------------11111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555
# Set the APRS symbol
SYMBOL=A
# Set the Status Character
STATUS_CHAR="T"

OBJ_NAME="TNG-39046"
# Set the COMMENT text
COMMENT="Tech Class 19Apr ask K5BLL for info"
#--------0123456789012345678901234567
#------------------11111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555

# Set the APRS symbol
SYMBOL=A
# Set the Status Character
STATUS_CHAR="T"



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Bruninga" <bruninga at usna.edu>
To: "'TAPR APRS Mailing List'" <aprssig at lists.tapr.org>
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 9:46 AM
Subject: [aprssig] HAMFEST objects


> New Proposal for HAMFESTS on APRS:
>
> Saw a HAMFEST object in Maryland on the map today as I drove
> back from Dayton.  It used the HAMSTORE ICON which stands out
> very nicely.  (In fact, I was seeing it on the AVMAP G5 GPS map
> display in my mobile which now fully supports over 128 APRS
> standard symbols)...
>
> Such info-to-the-mobile is exactly what APRS is all about.  Wow,
> I could swing by on my way home from Dayton, and get two-for-one
> without having to get a 2nd kitchen pass.  But then, selecting
> it on the front panel of the D710, then the date came up.  It
> was not today, but two weeks in the future.
>
> This inspired the following idea.  Instead of using the object
> name "HAMFEST" which is not unique in the world... it might be
> worthwhile to include the date too?   Maybe HAMFST-24 for a
> hamfest on the 24th of the month?    Putting the date in the
> name, not only answers the question as to when, but also helps
> make the OBJECT unique in the world.

<snip>