[aprssig] APRS for road warriors

[John Fritze]

The one point I'd like to add to Bob's comments is that while driving I find
it impossible to send text messages via APRS.  I also find it visually
difficult to read the D710s screen in bright daylight because of my dash
placement.  Like texting on a phone while driving, particularly on busy
highways here in NY, I find it too distracting.  When stopped, I do look at
my messages and respond.

However, using "voice alert"  I have made numerous contacts with other
hams.  On the 710, while driving local I leave the control on the B side, so
simply pressing the A side volume I can intitiate voice contact if the other
station is listening.  Around the Albany area, there are several of us using
voice alert all the time.  We try to promote it at local clubs, and other
events.

While driving long distance, I just leave the control on the A side, so no
buttons need to be pressed to call a station.

I have several simplex frequencies in memory and a couple of repeater pairs,
so a simple twist of the knob and we can QSO off 144.39.

I also think that we need to impress upon the non-APRS community that while
driving put 144.39 w/ 100T into one their scan frequencies (or the B side of
their radios) at the very least.  Even non-APRS ops can take advantage of
hearing the packet tone burst of a voice alert operator.  Call on 144.39
asking "calling the APRS station on 144.39, this is XXXXXX".  I've tried to
promote this too, at our local clubs but I'm not sure if the non-APRSers
really understand what it is I am suggesting.  I also think there is a fear
of doing something wrong by transmitting on 144.39 with voice.  This is not
illegal, just keep the contact short and move to a different frequency as a
courtesy to the APRS users.
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