[aprssig] MGATES for IS-Mobiles

[Pete Loveall AE5PL Lists]

Eric,

My attitude is that amateur radio is amateur radio, not Internet networks.  Yes, amateur radio can use the Internet for transport but using the Internet by itself is, by definition, NOT amateur radio.  Amateur radio is a licensed service defined by international agreement to be the licensed use of a certain spectrum of frequencies to communicate with other amateur radio operators, only.  I work with more technology than you probably ever dreamed of but I also understand that amateur radio is a licensed service that is defined only with regards to using RF.  I am not against you using your smartphone to communicate with another licensed amateur via amateur radio frequencies.  I am against the mistaken belief that just because you decided to buy a cell phone that can send its location to the Internet instead of a dumber phone and an amateur radio transceiver that automatically makes it mandatory your packets will be sent to amateur radio RF frequencies by other hams' radios.  That is a very mistaken belief and has NOTHING to do with technology.  If someone is driven away from amateur radio because they find out they need a radio to communicate, so be it.  That is what amateur radio is.  If you find that attitude mean spirited, then you obviously are very misinformed on what that license you hold (I assume you are a licensed amateur) means.

Off soapbox.  You folks have fun trying to break APRS-IS.  It isn't hard and once you do, you will find that the world-wide network disappears as the amateur radio operators who run it get tired of being told by others how they must give away their bandwidth and resources to please a few folks that don't think amateur radio involves actually communicating on RF.

73,

Pete Loveall AE5PL
pete at ae5pl dot net

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