[aprssig] Satellite positions: User Statistics

[Bob Bruninga]

> I'm not sure where your 40,000 APRS users in 
> the field came from, In the past 2 hours there 
> were 18,342 unique callsign-SSIDs active,

WHAT???  Completely Meaningless Statistic.  Taken at 7 PM on a saturday?  Surely you understand the use of APRS mobile radios is not very well represented by a 2 hour snapshot at such a time.  

> but 4,811 were objects.  6,047 stations indicated 
> that they were messaging capable... of which 
> 1,155 were Kenwood radios (534 D710s, 449 D700s, 
> 89 D72s, and 83 D7s) where some unknowable 
> percentage of the D700/D710 users have speech 
> synthesizers. 

If there were over 1000 APRS mobile radios (also include the Yaesu FTM-350) at 7 PM on a saturday, then that's pretty good.  Most HT's are NEVER in use, until they are...  And then there is actually a HUMAN there, playing APRS radio, and maybe asking for satellites in view.   Your target user.

Also the target user is the mobile enroute to or from work.  He sends out a query to ISS and then his radio will capture all he needs for the next pass.  If it is more than a few minues away, he will then have it there in his MESSAGE list to remember when to comeout and do the pass.

Bob, WB4APR