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

[Keith VE7GDH]

Bob WB4APR wrote...

> See the web page.  All any user has to do is send an APRS
> message on the national APRS channel and ALL systems globally
> will see that and capture the tag-to-callsign association
> (including the local one)..  The message is TO RFID and the
> message simply has the 10 digit tag number and checksum
> ddddddddddkk.

MYCALL>APxxxx,path::RFID.....:dddddddddd 

Ah... I didn't see that. Yes, that seems like a good way of creating
the association, and no extra hardware / software is needed at the
card reader to make it work.

> We've been looking for that solution for years, and all of the
> longer range cards and programmable cards are too expensive.

I still like the idea of a smart card instead of a generic RFID
card, but I can see how the higher cost of the cards and card
readers might put a crimp on things.

> I agree, but my experience is that nothing that is a new-start
> in ham radio takes off unless it is something the home-brewer
> can do at low cost.  So this low-cost $2 approach will get
> things rolling, and then as demand builds for more applications
> and longer range and programmabliity, then I am sure the
> smart-cards will find their way into the APRS system too.

Like you say, maybe you launch the concept with "budget" cards
and card readers. If the idea really catches on, perhaps people
wouldn't mind spending a bit more to include extra data programmed
into the smart card.

Do many hams carry PDAs with them? You could add an interface
to intercept "business cards" beamed by infra-red and connected to
the same TNC that the "HotSpot" card readers are connected to.
A microcontroller could take the received text and convert it into
something useable for APRS.

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