[Xastir-dev] a readable version of the latest official APRS spec?

[Alan Crosswell]

350 MHz PCs with sound cards cost me $0.  I install Linux, Tom Sailer's 
soundmodem, ax25-utils, aprsdigi and Dale Heatherington's aprsd (at my sites 
that have Internet access).  At one site I have a second sound card listening to 
the local voice repeater voter so in one PC you've got APRS digipeater, Igate, 
and Mic-E gateway and it's still a perfectly usable PC to use, for example, for 
repeater control, IRLP, etc.  Depends on how much you want to cram into one box:-)

In addition to the software I have to make a PTT cable with a 2n2222 and 10K 
resistor in the parallel port connecter.  I actually build the cables with a 
DIN-5 socket on the end so I am plug-comptable with a TINY-2 to radio cable as 
the TINY-2 is the prevalent TNC in this area.

Tom's DSP code hears better than the TINY-2.

Not sure it's worth the effort to program a microcontroller to do this stuff. 
I'm thinking about remastering a Knoppix CD with aprsdigi on it.  Right now 
initial setup is a bit of a pain for a non-Linux aware person (rebuild kernel 
with MKISS enabled, grab appropriate packages, etc.).
/a

Tapio Sokura wrote:
> Tom Russo wrote:
> 
>> I think the prevalence of old-style non-fancy TNCs are exactly what 
>> Bob's trying to deal with using his "new n-N paradigm hoops" --- if 
>> every digi
>> used good software that could always dupe-check even on RELAY and 
>> WIDE, or if the APRS infrastructure were a real network with no 
>> explicit source routing, there'd be no need.  But since most digis in 
>> most areas are just TNCs, the hack is needed --- even then it's going 
>> to take for-freakin'-ever to get it implemented.  Leaving RELAY and 
>> WIDE in the MYALIAS parameter of simple 
> 
> 
> Yeah. I'm surprised that there seems to be about zero intelligent 
> microcontroller-based digipeater platforms available that speak KISS to 
> a regular TNC. The hardware to speak KISS to a TNC (and maybe to a host 
> computer as well, so an igate can be run along with the digi and the 
> digi would still continue working after the computer crashes) should not 
> cost more than some tens of dollars. This way you could turn any 
> KISS-capable TNC into an intelligent digipeater with little investment 
> and you don't even have to throw old hardware away, which seems to be a 
> big hurdle for some hams.
> 
> Of course someone has to program the intelligence into the digipeater, 
> but that should not be a huge task with today's microcontrollers that 
> have enough memory and don't have to be programmed in clumsy assembler. 
> And you need the electrical design and someone to sell the kits, but it 
> really should not be that hard. If a fraction of the effort spent into 
> giving CPR to current KPC-3s etc were spent into designing a working 
> system, the APRS network would be in a lot better shape. There are some 
> projects like N1VG's upcoming TNC that will hopefully improve the 
> situation, but it will not be enough alone; also those old KPC-3s and 
> even dumber digipeater TNCs need to be upgraded or trashed for the 
> network to really work.
> 
> Ugh, looks like I'm well off-topic here, maybe I should've sent this to 
> aprssig instead..
> 
>   Tapio
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