[aprssig] APRS Foundation Inc. - Why?

[Ev Tupis]

 Of course, the two of you are right.  However,  APRS was (and still is in many ways) a canvass upon which many things can be "painted".  Where others see a protocol that "emerged", I see a robust "blank slate" of possibilities.
Fact-based (not "qualitative") propagation study?  APRSSmall message passing?  APRSSituational awareness?  APRSVHF Contesting support?  APRSLocal-area / off-grid event logistic communication?  APRSOh yeah, asset location?  APRS
All of these applications are in in stark contrast to the "single purpose" modes that have blossomed in the last decade.
My point is that APRS isn't a dead technology.  We have simply paused innovating with it.  Three (fully unbaked) thoughts include...
"Billboard" simplex beacons (not digipeaters) at altitude and with high power to beacon the widest-coverage repeater frequency/PL along with contact information for the area's three largest/most active clubs so newcomers are informed.  They would serve a second purpose as propagation-tracking signal sources for VHF Propagation Map (dxview.org)  I'm actually working on two of these myself.
Inexpensive low-power portable weather stations that EmComm groups could deploy around (but not "inside of the warning tape") some large "event", to feed wind speed and direction, etc to a central data aggregator that could repackage the datagram into a format that can be parsed by mapping systems used by official emergency responders and displayed as a layer for their use.  "Inexpensive" because if the event is a field fire, it is possible that they may get damaged/lost with a shifting wind. :-)
A test of NORAD's ability to scramble when an APRS enabled educational balloon is launched. :-)
Here's a sincere hope that the APRS Foundation is just what we needed to get to thinking more creatively again.
With sincere respect and hope,Ev, W2EV



    On Monday, February 26, 2024 at 11:47:23 AM EST, david vanhorn <kc6ete at gmail.com> wrote:  
 
 Not to diss Bob in the slightest, but it was a lot like Verifone's TCL language. It grew rather than being designed. 
Progress is made, and we should not lame the future to preserve the past. 


On Mon, Feb 26, 2024 at 9:39 AM Dana Myers <k6jq at comcast.net> wrote:

On 2/26/2024 8:32 AM, Gregg Wonderly wrote:
> I think there’s several things that matter.
>
> 1. Bob was not a software expert nor was he trained in network protocol design. The ability to process APRS packets is a 
> nightmarish exercise in string interpretation.  This is amplified by user constructed strings, instead of using real 
> applications that manage data/packet formations.

+1     So much so.

Dana  K6JQ
k6jq at comcast.net


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