[aprssig] HAMFESTS and APRS

[Rick Green]

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008, Robert Bruninga wrote:

> As the HAMfest season begins, You need to make sure your club is
> using APRS at the hamfest and primarily in front of the TALKIN
> operator.!
   Well, it looks like someone is taking you up on this.  Checkout the 
swap0419 object placed by WF5X at 4237N 8337W
>
> 4) Make sure to place a HAMFEST object on the map using the BIG
> EYEBALL symbol.  This is so that APRS mobiles can just "drive to
> the word HAMFEST" on their maps.  Be sure to include in the TEXT
> for that object, the talk-in Frequency and TONE as the first 15
> bytes in this format:  "146.XXXMHz Tnnn" and then everyone will
> know where to tune for the talk in.
>
   Well, maybe not.  Different symbol, and the talkin freq is farther down 
in the comment field.

   While this does communicate a piece of information of interest to me, it 
also seems to skirt awfully close to being 'advertising', since hamfests 
are usually fundraisers for the sponsoring club, and would thus be 
prohibited by FCC rules.  It also raises the question of 'Where does this 
stop?' At what point will APRS lose its usefulness because the available 
bandwidth is fully occupied by SPAM objects?  That object appears to be 
beaconing about once an hour, and was placed there about two weeks before 
the event.  Is that a potential distinction: Current happenings are 
'situational awareness', and pre-announcements of future events are 
'advertising' and therefore SPAM?

-- 
Rick Green, N8BJX

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
                                   -Benjamin Franklin