[aprssig] 18 Wheeler APRS pix?

[Stephen H. Smith]

On 1/26/2010 1:25 PM, Robert Bruninga wrote:
>>> I might be able to get a short article
>>>        
>> into a Trucker periodical for ham truckers...
>>
>> You should seriously consider the consequences
>> of this before you submit it.  Do we really want
>> hundreds, if not thousands, of "good
>> buddies" running APRS?
>>      
>
> I doubt it will.  But at least a live APRS operator will be
> there and someone with useful information to the mobile
> operator.
>    
>
> Bob, WB4APR
>    


Live Operator !!!   Can you say dumb tracker?????


I would suspect that the main attraction for this audience would be the 
" Gee whiz -- FREE AVL!!! -- now my wife/girl friend/whatever can see me 
on findu" meme .   My guess is that they would be more likely to go for 
a transmit-only appliance like a MicroTrak AIO rather than a 
fully-interactive two-way radio setup.

Are you not concerned by the potential for 144.39 to be flooded by 
hordes of the dumb (or rather should I say "deaf") TX-only trackers 
instead of new interactive hams that also use voice channels.

[I have seen this take on APRS already on private-pilot-related 
websites; i.e. basically "Look!!!  FREE aircraft tracking - get a ham 
license by just memorizing 20 questions, buy this box to stick to the 
window, and then go to findu.com". ]


On the other hand, to be honest and balanced in this debate, one of the 
few regulars on my Echolink node (#14400 in Pasadena, CA --  outputs on 
438.15 MHz) is an over-the-road trucker. He runs up and down I-5 between 
Cascadia & SoCal, and discovered my node from my APRS object beacon on 
144.39.

During his layovers at shipping terminals in the L.A. basin, he now gets 
on my link to talk to his buddies back home in the Columbia River Gorge. 
Even more amzazingly, he is actually going RF-to-RF (i.e. another LINK 
at the other end; not someone with a mic and speaker on a computer)!    
So I guess there must be at least a few truckers with full interactive 
two-way APRS setups out there.


------------------------------------------------------------------------

--

Stephen H. Smith    wa8lmf (at) aol.com
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