[aprssig] Replacement for UI-View any one

[Amateur Radio WB8NUT]

I use two APRS programs on Windows - Xastir and AGWTracker. AGWTracker 
needs some work and still waiting for features George said he would 
implement years ago. If he ever finishes what he said he would do, 
AGWTracker could be an excellent replacement for UIView. For instance, 
George said he was going to add an interface that would allow all the 
existing UIView modules to work with AGWTracker - that would be great 
and would bring all the UIView users to his program. But its been years 
and still nothing.

So until AGWTracker comes around, I run Xastir under a Xubuntu virtual 
machine using the free VMware Player on Windows. It "talks" to AGWPE 
with is the engine running under Windows 7 which communicates to all my 
TNCs. This is all very easy to set-up, use and run. Also, for those 
interested, it lets them have a Linux system to run and learn without 
leaving the comfort of Windows.

Xastir has an excellent group of users always ready to help and a very 
detailed wiki to help you through setting up Xastir, running on a 
virtual machine, etc. Just about everything you need to know is in the 
wiki. Absolutely wonderful program.

Duffy
www.wb8nut.com

Bob Burns W9RXR wrote:
> At 10:06 PM 1/21/2010, Peter Mallett wrote:
>
>>> Ok I am not looking for a fight here , but reality is that we are 
>>> going to need a WINDOZE APRS program along the lines of UI-View with 
>>> some improvements  sooner than later !!!
>>>
>>> Is there any-one out there working on something similar and if so I 
>>> would be interested in hearing from you off list is fine ..
>>
>>  There is already, it`s called *Xastir* and it is* *under continual 
>> development.
>>
>> Either run on a Linux box ( the best ) or Windows / VMWare ( yuk )
>
> I have to disagree (oops, here comes the "fight" <grin>).
>
> I don't discount Xastir's value to the APRS community. It appears to 
> be a good program. However, we should face some realities.
>
> First, we live in a Windows world. Like or not, the majority of the 
> computers in U.S. homes and businesses are running Windows. Users are 
> familiar with Windows. It's easy to find Windows support. And you can 
> buy a Windows computer almost anywhere. Yes, you will counter that you 
> can load some version of Linux on just about any Windows computer, but 
> I will counter that the average computer user doesn't want to bother 
> with trying to make Linux work.
>
> Second, APRS is viewed by many in the amateur radio world as a 
> "techie" mode. When I talk to other hams about APRS, some are 
> interested and want to try it, but many just shut me out because they 
> don't want to climb the learning curve. Kenwood and Yaesu have helped 
> raise APRS awareness with their hardware solutions, but as we all 
> know, that only takes you so far. Eventually, you need to run an APRS 
> client on a computer to take full advantage of the mode. In order for 
> APRS to gain more interest among hams, there has to be an easy way 
> into it.
>
> OK, some of you are sitting back there saying "Gee, Bob, you're 
> talking about dumbing down APRS to the lowest common denominator." I 
> suppose maybe I am. My fear, though, is that if we don't make APRS 
> easy, it will eventually die due to lack of interest. Remember 20 
> years ago when just about every town had somebody running a 1200 baud 
> Packet BBS? Where did they all go? I write it off to lack of interest. 
> Do we want the same thing to happen to the APRS digis? I don't think so.
>
> Enough of my philosophizing. I think we need an answer to Phillip's 
> question. We need a new APRS client program--one that is easy to set 
> up for the ARPS newbie while fully implementing all APRS features for 
> the more experienced user. Initially, I think it should be a Windows 
> program, but a portable program that can run on MacOS and Linux would 
> be a real plus. And it should have solid mapping support with zoom and 
> pan. Yes, Xastir running under VMWare may be a viable answer, but the 
> instant you mention something like VMWare or Cygnus to a newbie, they 
> start to turn away. It has to be easy and it has to run in an 
> environment they are familiar with.
>
> Bob...
>
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