[aprssig] Voice Repeater ==> APRS Interface
Corey Shields
cshields at indiana.edu
Thu May 8 21:56:58 EDT 2008
Robert Bruninga wrote:
> Yes, and I think it would not take more than about a few dozen
> lines of code to do a rudimentary conversion from DTMF callsign
> to APRS packet and is trivial for someone to add to such
> dedicated micros if the implementer is motivated to do so.
>
You should see the dtmf logs of a repeater with such functionality (like
IRLP) sometime.. Unless the repeater is dedicated to aprstt only when
it comes to dtmf, then how do you differentiate between a good command
and junk? At least in our case (IRLP and Echolink on the repeater),
something so simple as "111" to turn the IRLP node on and then 4 digits
to dial a node invites a log full of random DTMF attempts and rejected
numbers.
With varying numbers in callsign digits you can't expect a set string
length, and this becomes more complex when you consider repeating
characters (take an old club I once belonged to, W9UUU.. on the keypad
someone might try 99999888888.. which could also be W9VV, W9TVU, XY8TT,
etc..) As your doc states, the proper way to do this would be
9A999988A88A88, but I bring this up to point out that all it takes is
one goof on the dtmf pad to screw it up. How important is it that the
data be correct? Goes back to the issue of a log full of people who
can't even get an IRLP connection up with DTMF, something that takes far
less in my opinion.
So while it would take just a few dozen lines of code to create a
callsign out of a DTMF string, making sure you get what the user
intended (and differentiating that from IRLP and Echolink commands)
would be a bit of a PITA.
Again, I love the idea of allowing 100% of the hams to show up on APRS.
Maybe go for the low-hanging fruit and make a web form that allows the
majority of them sitting behind a rig at home to just ID themselves to
APRS-IS.
And as you pointed out, the hobby is one of experimentation and coming
up with new things. Maybe if you got this to work as-is now, idea 2.0
would solve some of these issues.. Good luck.
Cheers,
-Corey KB9JHU
--
Corey Shields
High Performance Systems, Indiana University - UITS
http://rtinfo.uits.indiana.edu/hps
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