[Xastir] a feature request

[Curt, WE7U]

On Mon, 19 Jul 2010, Mike Swiatkowski, AA9VI wrote:

> I am operating an I-gate/WX station using Xastir 1.9.9 and a PK-96
> TNC. I have not figured out how to add in a beacon comment or
> status text when the weather station is running.

> Is there any way the status text and comment could be enabled in
> Xastir when the weather station is running?  If not, how about
> considering adding that feature?

I always found it distasteful to send out two packets each interval
when one would do.  Just my own preference I suppose, but it adds to
the packet clutter on RF without really adding any additional info.
At least not any dynamic info, just the same stuff over and over.

Add to that a WX station often transmits LONG packets and fairly
frequently (must do so in order to send out timely/useful data).
There really no room on the end of a WX packet to add additional
static info because the packet would be too long per the APRS spec.

So...  Your options at this point would probably be to run AX.25
networking and run a separate beacon as was suggested (perhaps at a
slower rate than the WX packets?), or run xastir_udp_client from
CROn periodically to inject a packet into Xastir's server port and
have Xastir sent that out on RF.

If you can get a developer interested in adding status packets to
Xastir that would be fine.  I guess technically we're missing the
functionality, but then again, I've not ever really missed it.  hi

I'd rather see the ability to send Bulletins added before Status
packets were added.

Sorry,

-- 
Curt, WE7U.                         <http://www.eskimo.com/~archer>
    APRS:  Where it's at!                    <http://www.xastir.org>
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