[aprssig] Venting about malformed packets

[John Langner WB2OSZ]

Thank you for bringing up this very important topic.

Only 34 bad packets out of 1000?   I would have expected it to be much
larger based on my limited observations.

Rather than examining each of them visually, I put all the packets into a
text file and fed it into the decode_aprs utility included with the direwolf
software TNC.


WD4HMR-7>MBX,N4YOT-1*,WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1,qAO,N5BXP-2:Mail for: ALL
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "M"

VE7KU-15>UIDIGI,qAR,VA7DWC-1:UIDIGI 1.9
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "U"

G0TAI-3>BEACON,qAR,MB7UMK-10:Ian, Great Linford, Milton Keynes.
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "I"

KC5YOC-1>APTT4,W5FOW-2,WIDE1*,WIDE2-1,qAR,NY5V-1:none
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "n", Tiny Track

VK4FSD-9>APTT4,VK4RMC-3,WIDE1*,WIDE2-1,qAR,VK4RBT-1:37C
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "3", Tiny Track

PU2LYJ-15>BEACON,PY2HY-15,WIDE2*,qAO,PY2PE-1:DIGI SUMARE SP
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "D"

WB5GCL-1>APMI06,BTR*,WIDE2-1,qAR,W5MCC-1:@290356z3003.35N/09038.5 at W,PHG5
Invalid character in longitude.  Found '@' when expecting 0-9 for hundredths
of minutes.
Position with time, Boy Scouts, SQ3PLX http://microsat.com.pl/
N 30 03.3500, Invalid Longitude
Note: PHG should be followed by 4 digits.

WB5GCL-1>560/ www.gulfcoastlink.com
ERROR - Could not parse monitoring format input!


KC1SPC>IDENT,qAR,W1AW:Winlink P2P
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "W"

KI0AU-1>APMI06,W0JRT-3,CARROL,WA0SDO-10,WIDE2*,qAS,KA0GFC-1: <UI>:
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator " ", SQ3PLX
http://microsat.com.pl/

DISABL>ID,qAR,K0SUN-3:Network Node
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "N"

VA7VRO>BEACON,qAO,AF4PM-2:View Royal Fire Hall
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "V"

IZ3QBN-B>APDG02,TCPIP*,qAC,IZ3QBN-BS:!441216.80ND12332.40E&RNG0001/A=000
ERROR - Could not parse monitoring format input!


IZ3QBN-B>010 440 Voice 435.95000MHz +0.0000MHz
ERROR - Could not parse monitoring format input!


WX8OH-7>ID,qAR,KB8UVN-7:Network node (WLOH)
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "N"

KJ4VCX-7>SR5V1W,WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1,qAR,W5NGU-3:4P4T4X4\`|O$l >/]"5S}=<0x20>
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "4"

KJ4VCX-7>SR5V1W,W5NGU-3*,WIDE2-1,qAR,KS5S:[ binary data ]<0x20>
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "["

KJ4VCX-7>SR5V1W,W5NGU-3*,WIDE2-1,qAR,W5DXM-1:4P
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "4"

KI6SZ-2>UIDIGI,qAR,KA0AZS:UIDIGI 1.9
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "U"

PI1LAP-7>ID,qAO,PI1ZLD-2:PI1LAP-7 - PI8LAP - JO11VN
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "P"

KC0QNA-1>APMI04,WIDE1-1,qAR,NX0P:KC0QNA-1 APRS, GREEN ISLE, MN
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "K", SQ3PLX
http://microsat.com.pl/

VK1KW>ID,VK1RGI-1,qAO,VK1MA-1:VK1KW.AMPR.ORG 44.136.3.92 [QF44MT] Charnwood
AUS Digi=VK1KW-2 BBS=VK1KW-6 147.575 1200bd
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "V"

VR2WUK>APDW14,TCPIP*,qAC,T2TAIPEI:https://github.com/0x9900/igate_telem
ERROR - Could not parse monitoring format input!


K5WH-4>ID,WIDE,qAR,KC5TT-10:K5WH-4/R MARATH-4/D K5WH-1/B
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "K"

IR3UJH-15>APRS,WIDE1-1,WIDE2-2,qAR,IR3BT:IT-DMR - DIGIPEATER APRS - Bolzano
(BZ)
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "I"
Use of "APRS" in the destination field is obsolete.  You can help to improve
the quality of APRS signals.
Tell the sender (IR3UJH-15) to use the proper product identifier from
http://www.aprs.org/aprs11/tocalls.txt

OE8NDR-11>APMI06,TCPIP*,qAS,OE8NDR:@Greetings from Fritz-OE8NDR
Invalid character in compressed latitude.  Must be in range of '!' to '{'.
Invalid character in compressed longitude.  Must be in range of '!' to '{'.
Position with time, Restrooms w/overlay 6, SQ3PLX http://microsat.com.pl/
1099 km/h (683 MPH), course 288
-OE8NDR

CALICO>ID,WIDE1-1,qAR,KG6PJG-10:CALICO ID:KO6BOB-10, WIDE1/2, Calico, CA
Email: ko6bob at gmail.com
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "C"

VE7CRP>BEACON,qAO,AF4PM-2:VE7CRP-7, K-NET NODE STACK ACCESS TO 440.125 VIA
VE7CRP-6
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "V"

VE7CRP-7>ID,qAO,AF4PM-2:Network Node (569CRP)
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "N"

KB7OKE>BEACON,qAR,W7VW-1:KB7OKE
Digi1 Address "qAR" is a "q-construct" used for communicating with
APRS Internet Servers.  It should never appear when going over the radio.
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "K"

NE4SC-12>ID,WIDE2-2,qAR,KW4BET-3:NE4SC-12/R NE4SC-1/B
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "N"

KM6RFB-N>APDG04,TCPIP*,qAC,KM6RFB-NS:!3854.14ND121282400.00W&/A=00000044
ERROR - Could not parse monitoring format input!


KM6RFB-N>0 MMDVM Voice 446.52500MHz +0.0000MHz, KM6RFB_Pi-Star_ND
ERROR - Could not parse monitoring format input!


ON7DS>APMI06,TCPIP*,qAC,T2BELGIUM:@290403z<5114.16N/0424.24E>\L ON9BD
LightShip Westhinder 3
ERROR - Could not parse monitoring format input!


KA0GFC-3>APN391,WIDE2-2,qAS,KA0GFC-1: <UI>:
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator " ", Kantronics KPC-3 rom
versions

KM6FDI-B>APDG02,TCPIP*,qAC,KM6FDI-BS:!31320200.00ND12153.16W&RNG0001/A=0
ERROR - Could not parse monitoring format input!


KM6FDI-B>00010 440 Voice 432.10000MHz +0.0000MHz
ERROR - Could not parse monitoring format input!


SR8NWF>UIDIGI,qAR,SP8JCF:UIDIGI 1.9
ERROR!!!  Unknown APRS Data Type Indicator "U"
  

The vast majority of the examples here have free form text in the
information part rather than making the slightest effort to create a
position or object report.

I have a whole collection of more creative ways that people violated the
protocol specification.  

As good elmers, we should reach out to these station owners to educate them.

73,
John WB2OSZ