[aprssig] Q: NOGATE Method(s)

[Steve Dimse]

On Jul 20, 2009, at 9:16 AM, Heikki Hannikainen wrote:

>
> Also, the !x! description claims that it would work when placed in a  
> status packet. Steve Dimse said it would work when placed in a  
> comment. I think it's better if it's specified to be placed in the  
> position packet's comment only, together with the position which is  
> requested to not be archived.

It works on an individual packet level only. ANY packet that contains ! 
x! or x-no-archive simply increments a counter in findU's parser and  
is then ignored. There is no "memory" that a station has sent an !x!.  
This is an important feature, it allows the user to decide what  
appears on findU. If you want your positions to appear on findU, but  
want a message not to be archived, you can add !x! to the message and  
findU will ignore it. If you do not want your positions to appear,  
then place !x! in the comment field that appears in every position  
packet.

Again, this is a very low demand feature. I added it shortly after the  
release of findU because a couple very vocal hams were accusing me of  
being big brother by making their data available on the internet. Ham  
radio transmissions are specifically public domain information by FCC  
rules (I forget the section number, it is not in Part 97, but another  
part related to cross-part information transfer). Hams have no legal  
right to control what happens to their data after they transmit it,  
but I decided that if people did not want their data to appear on  
findU I would allow people to opt out. This also would cover a  
situation where some other county's rules are different.

Granted, it is not well publicized, but in the last few years I've not  
had a single ham complain about the way their data is archived. There  
really is not much demand.

I think it is important in any published discussion of !x! and RFONLY/ 
NOGATE to include a note that these features are not guaranteed to  
work, not all IGates and databases implement them. I'd recommend  
stating the FCC's position on the public domain status of US amateur  
transmissions, and that if you do not want your data appearing on the  
internet the only guaranteed way is not to transmit it!

Steve K4HG