[aprssig] Open Source/Commercial Use acceptable APRS Alternative?

[wa7skg]

IIRC, OpenTRAC was something going on in Australia. There was an 
offshoot SARTrac used for Search and Rescue operations that is still 
used in some areas. There are a few SAR teams around here that use 
SARTrac on both amateur and public safety frequencies (not the standard 
APRS channels) to keep track of search teams and put them up on big 
screens at the search base.

Michael WA7SKG

Stephen H Smith via aprssig wrote on 8/7/23 9:58 AM:
> On 8/7/2023 8:33 AM, Greg Troxel wrote:
>> John Gorkos<jgorkos at gmail.com>  writes:
>>
>>> In the deep corners of my brain, I recall there was an alternate
>>> protocol written Once Upon A Time that supported location
>>> tracking/telemetry/messaging over AX.25, but was NOT APRS and not
>>> limited to non-commercial use.  Does anyone have the name and/or links
>>> to something like that?  I'm working with a non-profit for event asset
>>> tracking, and I don't want to cross any lines.  We're using LoRa for
>>> short- to mid-range vehicle/personnel tracking and I'd rather not
>>> reinvent wheels.
> 
> 
> You may be thinking of Scott Miller N1VG's  (of Argent Data and 
> OpenTracker fame)   OpenTRAC   protocol. It was proposed as an 
> alternative to the increasingly kludged APRS protocol.  It was 
> intensively discussed on this list in the 2003-2004 time frame, but 
> apparently went nowhere.   It's website still exists at:
> 
> <http://opentrac.org/>
> 
> but there appears to have been no activity for nearly 20 years.     A 
> standards document IS on the web site that you might find useful as a 
> starting point for your project.
> 
>