[aprssig] New "closest symbols" feature

[Cap Pennell]

Yes, good point Steve.  I fondly recall our local "paintball wars" using
APRSdos some years ago, where we would train on APRS use with symbols and
other map features, at the keyboard.  We'd hook and change users's houses
into slow sailboats heading for Hawaii, and Bomb and strafe stations with
Jets triangulating on their positions (with "tracer fire" showing on the map
too).  A hit might produce a big fire.  The trick was often to "duck" by
quickly shifting your home QTH target just out of reach in the nick of time.
The earthquake symbol overlaid on someone's QTH made a fine big "target"
symbol.  The atomic blast (large colored "areas") was an ultimate weapon.
Fun!  And the experience taught us a lot about how to use APRS and how
useful it could be.
Such "dithering" is frowned on by some these days, but less is learned about
what can be done with the map.  Some will resist anything not fitting their
idea of Amateur Radio _Service_, while others are more apt to think of it as
a hobby.

Still, the only real "rules" in APRS are those of the FCC.  The rest are
merely "conventions", but of course one of those FCC rules does require
"good amateur practice".
73, Cap KE6AFE

Good amateur practice:
http://tinyurl.com/bbhop   47CFR97.101(a)
http://www.arrl.org/acode.html

> -----Original Message-----
> From: aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org
> [mailto:aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org]On Behalf Of Steve Dimse
> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:27 AM
> To: TAPR APRS Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [aprssig] New "closest symbols" feature
>
>
>
> On May 31, 2005, at 2:11 PM, Cap Pennell wrote:
>
> > My closest IGates:
> > http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/symbol.cgi?icon=Iamp&limit=10&call=KE6AFE
> >
>
> This is worded incorrectly. These are IGates which are close to you,
> but there very well may be others not included in this list because
> they use a different symbol.
>
> This is an important caveat...there is no requirement that an IGate
> use I& as its symbol, and in fact MANY do not...for example IGates
> are often combined with weather stations, and with some APRS formats
> these MUST use the weather symbol, and even when not required many
> do. I know of several IGates that in EOCs, these use that the EOC
> symbol rather than the IGate symbol, which is wholly appropriate. In
> fact, other than the wx station example I mention, I can't think of
> another example where a symbol is mandatory for a particular sort of
> station.
>
> It is this reason that I had resisted the request to add a symbol cgi
> in the first place, but ultimately there was a good reason to do so
> which I couldn't argue with. Just please be careful with how you
> interpret the data...
>
> If you want to see a true list of IGates, you must monitor the list
> looking for their callsigns following the q construct...
>
> Steve K4HG