[aprssig] Quick APRS hardware survey (APRS Hotspot)

[Scott Miller]

> yeah, but there's this whole IoT thing going on and lesser priority
> sensors are a good fit for wifi, even in the enterprise (IMO).  I
> wouldn't use it on an infrastructure server UPS, but for an access
> control system box that's located in a mechanical closet with no CAT5,
> I can throw a pi at it and be able to get health and status info from

My biggest problem with the current SR2 hardware is that there's no 
provision for wired Ethernet.  I started with code I'd already written 
for another project using a SiLabs WiFi module in network co-processor 
mode, but they have no wired equivalent.

For now, I'm just working on redoing my API into something more closely 
resembling Berkeley sockets, so down the road it'll be easier to switch.

Where all of this work would *really* pay off is if I could get a radio 
manufacturer interested in integrating it into their radios. You're 
probably not going to want to cram a Beaglebone Black or a Raspberry Pi 
into a dual-band HT running on battery power, but the SR2 could be cut 
down to an 8x8mm BGA, a 5x6mm WSON, optionally the 12x20mm WiFi module, 
and a handful of passives, FETs, and op amps. Basically postage stamp 
sized, with idle current of a few mA and active current in the tens of mA.

Scott
N1VG