[aprssig] spaces in object names (meaning)

[Bob Bruninga]

> The problem is we (myself included) have 
> -assumed- that we can consider stations and 
> Objects as being the same.

Yes!  Correct assumption too...

>  We display them the same.  We store them 
> in the same tables.  We therefore equate 
> Object names to station callsigns.  In fact, 
> IMO, this has been a great disservice to 
> the APRS community.  An APRS station is an 
> -active- transmitter (or APRS-IS client) 
> that may have two-way communications capability.  
> An Object is something created by an APRS 
> station that has no APRS communications 
> capability...

OOPS... there is where the error in interpretation was made.

The definition of a STATION was because the "thing's" NAME was transmitted in the AX.25 FROM field in the AX.25 header, IE, his CALLSIGN.   BUT, From day one, we recognized that we also had to be able to transmit "things" that did not originate in a TNC, would not be a callsign, and the NAME would not be in the AX.25 Header.

SO we invented the OBJECT format so that a "thing" could be transmitted by a station independent of his TNC and AX.25 callsign.  Other than that, the "things" are still something to be placed in the APRS system and displayed on a map.

So the only distinction was that we had two methods of transmitting "things" into APRS depending on whether the NAME was already in the AX.25 header as the MYCALL of the TNC, or if it had to be separately carried in the payload of the packet.

SO your initial assumptions were correct.  That independent of what "format" was used (station or object or itme), the resulting NAME is the only discriminant.  THOUGH we do want to retain information as to the source or owner of the information.

So the OBJECT name field was made 9 bytes (padded by trailing spaces) so that it could (as a minimum) carry IDENTICAL names as the station format (XXXXXX-SS) but in the case of the OBJECT, now, there was no longer the AX.25 restriction to only CALLSIGN formats.  Hence full 9 character names could be used using any printable ASCII.

HOpe that helps.
Bob, WB4APR

Hope that helps.