[aprssig] APRS Emergency Activation

[Robert Bruninga]

>> 4) If anyone sends an emergency posit, the map 
>> screen is forced on all users and centered 
>> and zoomed into that stations symbol... displayed 
>> in bright red and SOS beeped in CW until the 
>> operator attended.

> That's a good way to annoy users right out of APRS 
> altogether!  Pop-ups are bad enough, but if my 
> display jerked to a different center and zoom 
> based on a received packet instead of my input, 
> I would dump it in a flash.  

Probably the person with the emergency needing immediate
assistance has a different opinion.  Operators that don't want
to be bothered by other people's emergencies probably would see
it as a nuisance.  

> The individual user has a job to do, and THEY 
> determine the scope of information that they 
> need to be displayed at any point in time. 

So they will only turn on the emergency alert function when they
think someone they care about is about to have an emergency?

> One tracker 'crying wolf' would disrupt the entire emcomm 
> activity until EVERY operator made their own determination, 
> and reset their display.

Yep, Everyone in the net may have information that others do not
have.  In an emergency presented to the APRS local network,
everyone involved needs to take that ssecond or so to determine
if they are in the position to offer assistance.

> I say a resounding NO! to this proposal.  Let the 
> APRS operator determine what is on their display. 

I have only seen it happen ONCE in 15 years.  And it was an
overturned vehicled down in a valley in Pennsylvania needing
immediate assistance.  In 15 years, not that big of a deal
(until you need it).  It's not a proposal.  That is the way most
APRS clients have reacted to the emergency signal.

Bob, WB4APR