[Xastir] 'Owning' station ID?

[jeff at aerodata.net]

Rick:

>From a technical standpoint, "mainstream" APRS operates in a different
reality then accepted packet radio practices we used years ago.
Understand, the basic design philosophy of it was to take off the shelf
equipment in 1994, plug a GPS in it (in UI mode) and have it work, sorta
kinda. Little to no attention was ever paid to the transport layer, and to
this day, anyone that does offer suggestions for improvement (on the RF
side) is typically slapped down and/or has to start their own project
seperate from APRS.

I've found taking horse tranquilzer's helps me understand the APRS design
philosophy much better... slamming your head on a brick wall (or
discussing this on APRSSIG for a day or two) would have a similar effect,
but take alot longer. It is crystal clear to me.  ;-)

That much being said, there is the room and ability to do things your way.
This (xastir) is one of the best groups in APRS, in the sense they have a
open mind and are willing to try new things. Its why I became a ham.

73 and did you get my APRS message last night?

Jeff wb8wka


>> On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 11:28:01 -0400 (EDT), Rick Green <rtg at aapsc.com>


>   Well, I won't be doing that.  I personally believe that messaging is a
> totally inappropriate use of APRS.  Think about it:  using a broadcast
> protocol for a point-to-point message, with duplicated, unreliable,
> application-level acks is a terrible waste of bandwidth. It's like
> carrying on a 'private' conversation using bullhorns across a crowded
> sports stadium.  If I had my 'druthers, it'd be stripped from the spec.
> We have better protocols, on other frequencies, for that.
>
> --
> Rick Green