[aprssig] Doubling APRS messaging in ham radio overnight

[Bob Bruninga]

> What you really need is 'speech to 
> APRS messaging' and possibly 'APRS 
> messaging to speech' plugged into an IGATE

Yes!  APRStt (APRStouctone) uses the APRS-to-speech side of that concept.  Users (of any radio) got their return APRS information by synthesized voice on a local APRStt channel.

APRStt voice syntehsis allows any volunteer at an APRS event to participate in the APRS distribution of information by monitoring that channel. And contribute data if he needed by his DTMF pad.  It also makes a great local asset to any user of any HT or mobile for routine operations too:
See www.aprs.org/aprstt.html

APRStt does all these things:

1) Speaks bulletins
2) Speaks a list of messages held (by calls)
3) Speaks selected msgs on demand (DTMF request)
4) Speaks position (direction and distance) of 
   requested objects/stations from a *reference point
5) User can change the *reference point to any 
   other thing in APRS by DTMF request
6) Speaks responses to Queries
   A. Nearest mobile (using format #4)
   B. Nearest WX (using #4)
   C. Nearest Echolink, IRLP, Winlink etc (using #4)
   D. FREQ of any object/station (new freq format)
   E. and many more
7) Users may enter their posit in short DTMF:
   A. XXYY will place you with 1 mile ambiguity 
      anywhere within 100 miles of the repeater 
      (10,000 square miles)
   B. XXYY can place you anywhere within 10 miles
      using 0.1 mile ambiguity (100 sq mi)
   C. XXXYYY can place you exactly within 10 miles
   D. XY can place you at any of 99 checkpoints 
      or listed locations at an event
   E. RRNN can place you at mile mark NN 
      on ROUTE RR.

APRStt brings the full dimensions of APRS to all amateur radio operators with nothing but their exissting HT or mobile radio.  I really do think (and have since 2001) that it is the next best thing for APRS and will make some author that writes it for Windows a very popular contributor to ham radio.

Oh, APRStt also included sending(and receiving) all this stuff to the FRONT panel of those dosens of thousands of old DTMF paging radios (FT51 and TH78's) that are out there too, and hence this thread.  see www.aprs.org/FT51-TH78.html

Since after 8 years, I still have not been able to find anyone to write APRStt for Windows (APRStt is in BASIC on DOS), I am now trying to break down the tasks into smaller chunks.  So writing the simple code to just display messages on those DTMF paging radios would be a good start to get this ball rolling.

The voice-synthesizer can be a second independent chunk for just speaking the simple messages and bulletins...

Adding the DTMF input would follow as the momentum builds.

Bob, WB4APR