[Xastir] Help: Coordinates format

[Tapio Sokura]

Ian A Bultitude wrote:
> I am attempting to set my AX25 beacon so that it is in the correct format for Xastir and other such APRS systems.
> 
> 1/	What format is the Lon/Lat in? ddmm.ss ie degrees minutes seconds or is it all decimal?

Latitude is "ddmm.mmX" and longitude is "dddmm.mmY". That is always 
positive degrees, minutes and decimal minutes. X is north/south 
indicator (N or S) and Y is east/west indicator (E or W).

> 2/	Why the extra 0 in the Lat?

There is no extra 0 in the latitude, unless you happen to live between 0 
and 10 degrees north/south of the equator. The longitude degree value is 
always three digits to accomodate places between 100 and 180 degrees 
east or west. Two digits is enough for latitude as it is always between 
0 and 90 degrees.

> 3/	How using the AX25 beacon command can I invoke the WIDE option so that it will digi via the next system in line?

Something like

beacon -c callsign -d 'APRS v WIDE WIDE' -t time port 'packet here'

should work. Put the callsign you want the packets to be sent from to 
"callsign", beacon interval in minutes to "time", AX.25 port to "port" 
and the packet itself to "packet here". The above sample sends the 
packet with a digipeater path of WIDE,WIDE, i.e. two consecutive 
digipeats. You could also use "APRS v RELAY WIDE", or whatever is 
recommended path over there.

For a standalone beacon (without APRS software) you should use a packet 
format starting with an exclamation mark.

For example:

!1234.56N/12345.67E-comment here

In addition to the location and comment, you can choose the symbol to be 
displayed in APRS software by changing the characters immediately 
following the N/S and E/W indicators. In this example those characters 
are '/' and '-', which is a house symbol. The station in the example is 
located at 12 degrees 34.56 minutes north and 123 degrees 45.67 minutes 
east. Comment text is optional and should be under 43 characters long.

   Tapio