[aprssig] "Emergency!" test convention?

[Danny]

I don't think this needs to be added to the APRS Spec.  Emergency tests would fall under Part 97, not the APRS Spec.  

With all the things that need to be added to the APRS Spec, let's not start filling it with unneeded redundancy.

Danny
KE4RAP

Wednesday, July 21, 2004, 10:07:07 AM, you wrote:

K> Bob, either I've missed something when reading the APRS specs, or there's a
K> glaring omission in them. It would seem that there is no test period
K> specified for actually testing an APRS unit beaconing the "Emergency!"
K> status.

K> What I mean by this, is that many distress systems put aside five minutes
K> every hour, and during that five minute period anyone that needs to test a
K> system--test it under actual conditions--is free to do so. Stations
K> receiving the emergency beacon will ignore it during that period. The
K> purpose is simple, there's really no way to test emergency beacons without
K> activating them and of course, one can't just do that at random without
K> calling wolf.

K> So may I suggest adding a small point to the APRS spec? From two and half
K> minutes before the hour, to two and a half minutes after the hour, every
K> hour, that five minute period be set aside for emergency beacon tests. Any
K> signal received in that window will be treated as a test to be ignored. Any
K> signal continuing after that period, or sent before it, would be treated as
K> a real emergency signal of course. (If there is a different quiet period,
K> i.e. from the hour to five past, that you'd prefer to synchronize with, I
K> don't mind at all.)

K> The alternative is bringing equipment into a faraday cage or sticking a can
K> over the antenna, etc, and none of that quite allows everything to be tested
K> as it really will deploy--including reception in the APRS system.

K> Or, as I said, did I miss something and is this already addressed?

K> Jared


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-- 

Danny