[aprssig] UI-view add-on for RFID?

[Keith VE7GDH]

Bob WB4APR wrote...

> This will be a problem, because having more than one
> "conversion" anywhere in the APRS system has always lead to
> problems, because even the slightest SINGLE byte difference in
> the conversion, ends up generating multiple APRS-IS copies and
> dupes and problems.

But is there anything converting the raw data to something that
is useable for APRS yet? Something needs to do it if it's going
to be useable, and it must be universal, not just for one particular
APRS client... albeit the most popular and most used one,
even with no further development except for add-ons since
Roger became SK.

> I only threw up the requirement for a central processor to get
> the ball rolling and to find someone to get started.

If it isn't a central processor, there would at least have to be a
way for a callsign to be entered the first time a new RFID card
was used. However, what happens when the card holder goes
somewhere else where there's an "APRS card reader" and it
is used. Without some central server to remember the association
with the card, it would have to be associated with the card again,
by something.

> THE END GOAL is a local central processor that hears the LOCAL
> RFID packets and does the conversion LOCALLY to RF. Then what
> gets HEARD on RF, then gets into the APRS-IS via IGates in the
> normal fashion. That is the only way to make sure that there is
> a proper one-for-one translation... I think.

I think to be doable as you are describing it, the card reader and
"processor" would have to be tied together, whether they were local
to each other or not.

What would really make the whole thing more workable would be if
there was a way of programming a card so it contained the callsign
of the card holder. Callsigns are unique, even if the licensee changes
from time to time. If the data was stored right in the card, no translation
would be required. I know you are trying to do this with low cost
off-the-shelf equipment, but for it to really take off, you might smart
cards instead of one that just contained a hex identification code.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contactless_smart_card

Bar codes anyone? They could be printed out on any printer, but
it wouldn't be as snazzy as an RFID card reader.

73 es cul - Keith VE7GDH
--
"I may be lost, but I know exactly where I am!"