[Xastir] Some observations with the recent CVS release

[Curt, WE7U]

On Mon, 4 Sep 2006, Andreas Junge, N6NU wrote:

> 1) I setup an IGate in the SF Bay area. Messages are gated like a charm,
> but trace queries don't seem to get gated at all. Is that by design?

General queries yes.  Specific queries should go through.  Haven't
tested that lately.  Let me know if queries to specific callsigns
don't make it and I'll take a look at the code.  I can't test that
myself just now but might be able to later in the day.


> 2) I really hate all the message pop-ups from my other SSID's. It
> clutters the screen really bad.

First negative comment we've had on that.  I've had several positive
comments.  This is how the Kenwood APRS radios operate BTW.

We could add a togglebutton to cause Xastir to revert to the earlier
operation (only bring up Send Message dialogs for that specific
SSID).  In fact, we could also add a toggle to cause it to not bring
up any popups EVER, which may be a more general solution for you.
We'd have to think about what to do with emergency popups, Send
Message dialogs and probably a few others.


> 3) Can the tracking of a station be made permanent? I auto start a
> Xastir session on my server whenever it comes up. I do snapshots for my
> website and I want to auto track my mobile (or whatever one decides.)
> Right now I have to go in after every reboot or restart of Xastir and
> re-enable tracking.

Some things in Xastir are saved to the config file and restored at
startup, some aren't.  In general the choices as to which to
save/restore are based on having Xastir come up in a usable state
each time.  Some settings can cause confusing operation on startup,
and of course some users get into trouble while messing with
settings, so we like to have Xastir come up somewhat clean and
operable if they decide to restart.  Tracking is one of those where
we'd like it to come up disabled, so that there aren't any surprises
later when that station shows up again and your display takes off on
you.

I see that you're using Xastir in basically a server mode, rather
than as a user client.  This of course changes the default behavior
you'd want in the program compared to most other users (without
taking a poll).

Let's discuss this some more and figure out what would work for both
types of uses, as both are valid.

--
Curt, WE7U.   APRS Client Comparisons: http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
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