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

[wa7skg]

I stand (OK, sit) corrected. OpenTRAC was not from Australia. SARTrack 
is from New Zealand and is alive and well and has developed into a 
significant resource management suite.
https://www.sartrack.co.nz/

It looks like this may be something like the OP was looking for.

It looks like OpenTRAC may have been an idea to "fix" APRS as a lot of 
what it wanted to accomplish is in today's APRS protocol. It looks like 
it was kind of a "flash-in-the-pan" thing and has fallen by the wayside.

Michael WA7SKG





wa7skg wrote on 8/7/23 6:48 PM:
> 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.
>>