[aprssig] APRS demo

[Joel Maslak]

On Sep 14, 2008, at 7:25 AM, Bob Bruninga wrote:


> Remind them we have had this capability for over 10 years... in ham  
> radio why aren't we using it?


I can't speak for others, but I don't use it because I generally have  
easier ways to send email - like the previously mentioned  
blackberry.  It's easy to send multiline emails, I don't have to  
worry about people being able to reply, I can tell when I look at the  
main screen of the device that my email will go through, there is  
delivery (to the Internet, anyhow) confirmation so I know it got sent  
and received by the blackberry internet gateway, it has a keyboard  
rather than a touch tone pad to enter characters, it has a full  
address book, it has a better method of alerting me to email  
received, if I am out of coverage it will queue the message (for  
weeks if needed), etc.

Would I use APRS email in a pinch?  Sure.  But there are generally  
easier ways of emailing on a routine basis.  And in a disaster, to be  
honest, I have a lot more faith in the cell tower being working than  
an igate - I know of very few IGates that are on anything more than a  
desktop UPS power supply.

I *DO* see a use perhaps with an embedded device - when a telemetry  
value gets out of range, send an email to whoever can do something  
about it.