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<DIV><SPAN class=647443012-20102005><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff
size=2>Eric, info the group:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=647443012-20102005><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=647443012-20102005><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff
size=2>I agree Eric that we're all responsible to patrol the RF spectrum. A D700
is not necessarily the best tool to do so, and a check of findu.com to confirm
any suspicions, or further check of your home station computer if you have one
(you probably do) would have easily confirmed the status text including my
callsign. On top of that, it's not even necessary to transmit the status text on
the same output path as the position reports. Ergo, any tracker could use a
position path of WIDE7-7, and no path on the status text, meaning it goes out
but does not get digipeated as far as the position report (which would include
the tactical call only). The rules are satisfied as they call for a transmission
of the info, not necessarily the receipt of that info by someone monitoring the
frequency. So it is not a fair assumption that the tracker is out of whack just
because you don't receive the data. That used to bother me, but not as much
anymore as I know our people are responsible enough, and we ask them to set up a
similar path for both status text and position info. You just need to be
cautious and do your homework for some sort of confirmation of your suspicions
before "complaining" on a huge list like the aprssig. I've been playing this
game with trackers and APRS since 1993 when is was APRSdos and nothing else. I'm
still learning, but have a pretty good base of knowledge built up. The
comment you quoted does not say I'm not interested in watching too. It was my
tracker, my postings to the sigs, my time spent getting pictures and text for
the web page, and my personal email exchanges with several people along the way
who reported watching with interest. That should be the obvious "I'm interested"
comment I previously posted.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=647443012-20102005><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=647443012-20102005><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff
size=2>Dave K7GPS</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Christensen,
Eric [mailto:CHRISTENSENE@MAIL.ECU.EDU] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 20,
2005 4:43 AM<BR><B>To:</B> David Dobbins<BR><B>Cc:</B>
aprssig@lists.tapr.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: N1547C
tracker<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV id=idOWAReplyText77690 dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Courier New" color=#000000 size=2>My assumptions,
sir, came directly from your website.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>"I am installing a tracker for
friends and family to keep up with their progress, using their N number as the
tracker callsign."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Courier New" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>That sounds an awful lot like you
installing a tracker for a non-ham so other non-hams can keep up with
him. AND, I watched well over fifteen minutes position reports come
across my D700 without seeing a callsign. Maybe I didn't get the ones
that did have a callsign or maybe the callsign wasn't showing up on the
D700. As my original e-mail stated, I was mobile and couldn't look
at the packets and wanted someone to take a look at them for me. It
is every ham's job to patrol the RF spectrum to protect it from commercial
ventures or we might just loose our spectrum.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Courier New" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>And, no, I don't have a problem
with tactical callsigns. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Courier New" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>Eric KF4OTN</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=idSignature30594>
<DIV><FONT face="Courier New" size=2></FONT><BR>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> David Dobbins<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thu
20-Oct-05 00:15<BR><B>To:</B> Christensen, Eric<BR><B>Cc:</B>
aprssig@lists.tapr.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> N1547C
tracker<BR></FONT><BR></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=2>I'm watching every inch of the N1547C travels on both
findu.com and<BR>APRS. The tracker was not installed for the express use of
the pilot's<BR>family/friends. What a ridiculous assumption, as was the
oversight of<BR>not watching for a couple of minutes and seeing the status
text which<BR>properly included my call when using a non-ham tactical callsign
for the<BR>tracker. While I doubt the Delaney's will run out and get their
ham<BR>licenses, I've already heard from Tim that his nephew in California
has<BR>been watching too, is taking a ham class right now, and is sharing
the<BR>excitement of watching his Uncle and Aunt fly around the country.
The<BR>flight will be completed in early Nov, when the Delaney's return
to<BR>Santa Rosa (not Santa Clara), CA. Then they'll send the tracker back
and<BR>I'll get it ready for one of our local marathon's and continue
using<BR>tactical callsigns. It seems some people have issue with the
tactical<BR>callsign being the same as the N number of their airplane. I don't
see<BR>the issue here, and believe me, this tracker is operating well
within<BR>FCC part 97. I also have contact with Tim while he's flying, or on
the<BR>ground, via cell phone, so if the tracker suddenly locks up or
goes<BR>awry, I just give him a call. The cell phone is wired into his
headset,<BR>along with aircraft radio and XM satellite. I just talked with
Tim<BR>today, and it looks like they may have to detour some because
of<BR>Hurricane Wilma. In advance of their trip, I posted a message to
both<BR>the nwaprssig and aprssig mailing lists. I included all the data that
is<BR>also posted on the <A href="http://nwaprs.info/n1547cexpedition.htm"
target=_blank>http://nwaprs.info/n1547cexpedition.htm</A> web page. If<BR>you
still have a gripe about the tracker, then send it to me. My
email<BR>addresses are posted all over the place, or you can try
k7gps@arrl.net<BR>as I've reactivated that one again to see if the spam and
porno offers<BR>are finally gone, as ARRL has promised. I guess I'm more
surprised at<BR>the bitching going on rather than people watching some cutting
edge use<BR>of APRS that keeps things interesting here. When the fellow flew
around<BR>the country last year in his plane, the tracker loaned him used a
ham<BR>club call that had no connection to the pilot, and the pilot was not
a<BR>ham either. He turned the D7A and GPS on and off manually. My tracker
in<BR>N1547C is wired to the ignition. So I guess the issue is the use of
a<BR>tactical callsign, which is really a non-issue, because
tactical<BR>callsigns are used/have been used everywhere APRS can be found.
Need I<BR>ramble on further, or can we return this threads to more
positive<BR>comments?<BR><BR>Dave
K7GPS<BR><BR><BR></FONT></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>