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<p>I would like to add my name to the list of software authors that
are supporting the creation of a non-profit to carry on the
administrative caretaking of APRS, specifically updating,
modernizing, and open-licensing the APRS Spec. I stand in good
company with Lynn, Andrew, Steve and Hessu on this[1], and I'm
willing and able to give the time, effort, and (some of) the money
needed to make this happen. My sole intent is to honor and extend
Bob's vision and legacy, and make APRS something worth keeping
around for the next generation or two of hams.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>John Gorkos<br>
AB0OO</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>[1] I realize there are many more authors and contributors than
these 5, but they're the ones I've specifically seen supporting
the creation of a new, more open "working group", which is
specifically what I'd like to see.<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/14/22 22:07, Jeff Hochberg wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CA+qYBssOkdyzCOA3DXnwjQi+aJh74WBp-usUTU=H3pGLcynf=g@mail.gmail.com">
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<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">All,</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We are so pleased to see the responses from everyone!</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">A few high-level points:</span></p>
<br>
<ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">
<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:10pt" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">A few people have emailed John T. and I directly. Steve Dimse asked me to ensure that all discussions related to my original post stay within aprssig. </span></p></li>
</ol>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">While it's great that you want to reach out directly, </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">please ensure you keep aprssig looped in</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">If this is going to be a group decision, then it's best to keep </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">everyone</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> abreast of the latest updates.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" start="2">
<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:10pt" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">There was mention in my original email of two others that have shown interest in the initial proposal. </span></p></li>
</ol>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">John Langner - WB2OSZ (author of Direwolf) provided me with his permission to share his name.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">That leaves one remaining "masked" individual that needs to give me the "thumbs up" to reveal their identity - or they can reveal their identity themself (</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">you know who you are</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> - LOL!). :-)</span></p>
<br>
<ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" start="3">
<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This is not a technology discussion - rather it's to discuss the future of APRS at a high-level. Please keep the conversation relevant. This is not the time or place to solve technology issues. That will come in due time! It’s what we all want to work on.</span></p></li>
</ol>
<br>
<br>
<ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" start="4">
<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I can understand and appreciate the concerns about whatever is proposed being based in the United States. </span></p></li>
</ol>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Don't forget that Robert Bruninga was based in the United States from the inception of APRS as well as long before it. Somehow, APRS made its way around the world and has a global community and it will continue to.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We are 100% on board with equality and diversity - </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">there will </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">NEVER</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> be any biases towards anyone from any cultural, political, religious, ethnic, racial, sex, or any other traits that would otherwise be cause for prejudice.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We come from backgrounds of working with teams that span the globe. There is absolutely ZERO chance of anything that we are championing would end up pigeonholed in a cause that is exclusively within the confines of the United States.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We recognize the efforts of hams around the world - and will continue to do so as long as we are involved.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In fact, as far as I am concerned, anyone that breaches that is cause for immediate termination from the association. </span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This is a GLOBAL effort. We ask that anyone that wants to join in to be respectful and courteous to your peers. There’s no need to draw any boundaries around anything we do together. Technology knows no boundaries.</span></p>
<br>
<br>
<ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" start="5">
<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I am not a fan of paralysis through analysis as it’s one of the leading causes that stifles progress. If there are business-level topics that you feel must be discussed prior to moving forward, then this would be an appropriate time to do so.</span></p></li>
</ol>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">But again, we ask that the conversations be elevated to a high-level and do not get bogged down in the bits and bytes of APRS.</span></p>
<br>
<br>
<ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" start="6">
<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">There were points raised about the cost/expense and legal implications of doing this. Again, don't focus on the specifics. We aren't going to allow bureaucracy and politics scare us from doing what needs to be done.</span></p></li>
</ol>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Truthfully, the cost associated with creating a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation is not as expensive as you might think. I've talked with some people that think it costs thousands of dollars. It isn’t cost-prohibitive if you go about it in an economical manner.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The point in setting up a non-profit corporation is to provide a foundation on which to work with other organizations that would otherwise not work with individuals. Especially in cases where we might want to seek funding from other organizations.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Plus, it provides protections in cases where there are legal issues such that officers cannot have their personal assets seized.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">At the end of the day, an organization needs to own the trademark and the domain and there has to be some entity to spearhead the effort.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Please don't focus on the fiscal aspects (or legal for that matter).</span></p>
<br>
<br>
<ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" start="7">
<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">It’s a little premature to be thinking of asking manufacturers to join at this juncture. It’s something to think about down the road, but not right now.</span></p></li>
</ol>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Please do not get wrapped around in the minutiae. Let's work together as a team effort to further APRS into the future - in whatever form it may take.</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">For anyone that expressed interest in being part of this effort, your interest has been noted. We appreciate your support and will take you up on your offer!</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Think boldly - think strong - and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Best Regards,</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">-JeffH</span></p>
</span><br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline">
</div>
<div>
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data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(32,33,36)">Jeff
Hochberg</span><br>
</font></div>
</div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">W4JEW</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Atlanta, GA</font></div>
<div><a href="mailto:jeff@w4jew.com" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif">jeff@w4jew.com</font></a><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Feb 14, 2022 at 3:55
PM Andrew Pavlin <<a href="mailto:spam8mybrain@yahoo.com"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">spam8mybrain@yahoo.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<div style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<div dir="ltr">You can't practically run both protocols on
the same RF channel because it wastes channel bandwidth
on signals some (single-protocol) stations can't
understand. We have enough problems with collisions and
hidden transmitters without making it worse with doubled
transmissions from the same stations. Plus, there are
some digipeaters that can't handle two AX.25 frames
back-to-back (i.e., one APRS, one OpenTRAC).</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">An alternate frequency would be much
better, so the stations that understand a particular
protocol tune to that frequency (just like we don't do
APRS on the Winlink or PBBS frequencies). Merging is a
problem, because if you're going to have a translating
digipeater, that doubles the traffic on the output side
from all the dual-protocol stations. And it would be
quite difficult to write a good OpenTRAC<->APRS
translator, because some single OpenTRAC packets map
into multiple APRS packets, and not cleanly (for
example, how is an OpenTRAC sub-entity represented in
APRS? how are APRS Telemetry packets mapped into
OpenTRAC entity values when there is no fixed meaning of
APRS telemetry fields?). I know this, because my YAAC
program speaks and receives both protocols, and has a
tough time coming up with consistent data display to
end-users, and that's just doing the merge at the
presentation layer, rather than translating and
re-transmitting.<br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">And promoting OpenTRAC still doesn't deal
with the existing hardware base of APRS-only devices
(ex.: Kenwood D700's don't do OpenTRAC natively). For
that matter, do all the existing digipeaters behave
correctly when asked to digipeat an OpenTRAC packet
(using APRS-standard New-N digipeat aliases)?</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">And no one has written an OpenTRAC I-gate
yet.</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">Interesting ideas for a future or parallel
project, but it doesn't work with APRS As She Is
Written.</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">Andrew, KA2DDO</div>
<div dir="ltr">author of YAAC<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<div
id="gmail-m_-4524585848750221348ydpbc6dbafyahoo_quoted_5497884786">
<div style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(38,40,42)">
<div> On Monday, February 14, 2022, 03:29:42 PM EST,
Jason Rausch <<a href="mailto:jason@ke4nyv.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">jason@ke4nyv.com</a>>
wrote: </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div
id="gmail-m_-4524585848750221348ydpbc6dbafyiv5844903425">
<div>
<div style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px">
<div>
<div dir="ltr"
style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px">>> <span><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">What
makes more sense is to look at replacing
APRS with OpenTrac.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr"
style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br
clear="none">
</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">I absolutely support this and
have thought this was the way to go for
years. I know people are worried about
backwards compatibility support. Can we
viably run dual protocol on the same channel
as people migrate over? With the exception
of Scott's example of the balloon running
OpenTrac and choking some server code, I
haven't seen a good example of why we
couldn't. Maybe we propose an alternate
frequency, such as 144.790 for OpenTrac and
then merge the data together at the
digipeater level. Dual port TNC, dual
radios.</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr">Remi VE2YAG and I are dusting
off some tracker/digipeater hardware designs
based on the ESP32. I'm sure we could look
into the idea of creating a dual port
version to support something like this.</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr">Just a thought.</div>
<div style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><br
clear="none">
</div>
<div style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px">Jason
Rausch
<div><a href="http://www.ke4nyv.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">www.ke4nyv.com</a></div>
</div>
</div>
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Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><br
clear="none">
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Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><br
clear="none">
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<div
id="gmail-m_-4524585848750221348ydpbc6dbafyiv5844903425yahoo_quoted_5605485670">
<div style="font-family:"Helvetica
Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(38,40,42)">
<div
id="gmail-m_-4524585848750221348ydpbc6dbafyiv5844903425yqt04501">
<div> On Monday, February 14, 2022, 12:05:14
AM EST, Gregg Wonderly <<a
href="mailto:gregg@wonderly.org"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">gregg@wonderly.org</a>>
wrote: </div>
<div><br clear="none">
</div>
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<div
id="gmail-m_-4524585848750221348ydpbc6dbafyiv5844903425">
<div>Ultimately, the concepts of APRS
are interesting. But the
implementation is problematic for
future use. What makes more sense is
to look at replacing APRS with
OpenTrac. It is much more rigorous in
design, less bandwidth and trivial to
use on small processor systems where
data processing needs to be memory and
power friendly.
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<div>Gregg Wonderly</div>
<div>W5GGW<br clear="none">
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<div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div>
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<blockquote type="cite">On Feb 13,
2022, at 11:20 AM, Jeff Hochberg
<<a
href="mailto:jeff@w4jew.com"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">jeff@w4jew.com</a>>
wrote:<br clear="none">
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<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div
id="gmail-m_-4524585848750221348ydpbc6dbafyiv5844903425yqt66583">
<div
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><span
id="gmail-m_-4524585848750221348ydpbc6dbafyiv5844903425gmail-docs-internal-guid-9fd06595-7fff-f004-b229-fc0e101a5095"></span>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Hello,</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">My name is Jeff Hochberg (W4JEW) and I’m located in Atlanta, GA.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I chatted with Steve Dimse earlier this week about what I am about to cover here. He asked that I ensure this is an open discussion with aprssig, hence the reason for this message.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I’ve been a member of the aprssig mailing list for quite some time now but haven’t been an active participant - primarily due to other commitments, work, and most importantly family.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Some of you might be familiar with the annual Appalachian Trail Golden Packet (ATGP) event that Bob Bruninga started back in 2009. </span></p>
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<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Bob and I connected shortly after he was first diagnosed with cancer and he asked me to take on managing ATGP just shy of 3.5 years ago. Not only have I been managing the group, I’ve been coordinating the annual event, and running a new monthly ATGP Knowledge Share series that is focused entirely on APRS. </span></p>
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<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">APRS has been at the forefront of my time with amateur radio and is something that I am extremely passionate about. I, along with a core group within ATGP have been very concerned with the future of APRS and have been watching closely to see what would happen after Bob left us.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">With Kenwood’s uncertain demise - discontinuing the TH-D74 and not making any official statement of their future on continuing with production of the TH-D72 and TM-D710 has left a dark spot on APRS. Granted, there are other manufacturers that continue to support APRS and there’s a strong community of hardware manufacturers that are still shipping TNCs, as well as a wide array of open source and closed source software projects (Direwolf, APRSIS32, PinPoint APRS, to name a few.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Yaesu’s implementation of APRS is probably the strongest outside of Kenwood - which isn’t saying much. Icom’s conscious decision to not include analog APRS in their radios baffles me. And there are other manufacturers such as AnyTone that are limping along with half-rate implementations of APRS that do more to harm the ham community than help. Thankfully they seem to realize the error in their ways and have been making a slightly concerted effort to remedy their sophomoric attempts with the original AT-D878 and AT-578 with the recent release of the AT-D878UV2 Plus and the AT-D578UV3 Plus - both still leave a lot to be desired. </span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I think we can all agree that the APRS standard stagnated and has largely remained the same for the past several years. We’ve been stuck at the current version for far too long and have fallen out of the limelight. The time has come for that to change!</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">And I know there’s some that feel as though it’s time for APRS to publish a final chapter and close the book forever as there’s been advancements in other areas of amateur radio that overlap APRS either in part or in full.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I couldn’t disagree more strongly! There’s plenty of lifeblood left and there’s tremendous opportunity to bring it back with a vengeance!</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">What APRS needs is an overhaul. The standard needs to be updated to include relatively recent extensions as well as a group of people that are invested in driving it’s future. I’ve been reading through an active discussion on a replacement for APRS - that is also something that could be considered. Truthfully, there are lots of directions this can go in.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">What is needed at this juncture is an organization - more specifically a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation that will represent APRS at a global scale that is focused on a renaissance as well as adding to an already strong foundation that can compliment the some of the latest and most exciting areas of amateur radio including, but not limited to, the likes of the M17 Project.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">John and I are putting forth a motion.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This email serves as an official proposal to kick off this effort. I, Jeff Hochberg, along with John Tarbox (WA1KLI) are proposing the creation of a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation who’s charter is to re-establish APRS as a kingpin of the ham radio world. To take on the trademark and the <a shape="rect" href="http://aprs.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">aprs.org</a> domain, with the mission to ensure that APRS continues to thrive.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">But that’s not all. This corporation will have an open door policy where any like-minded licensed amateur radio operators around the world can join provided they are committed to advance APRS into version 2.0 and beyond!</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">While this is still very early stages, it is something that we are willing to commit to 100% and begin with the formation of an organization immediately.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">There are two other prominent members of the APRS community that we are all familiar with (and are also members of aprssig) that have also shown interest, but I do not want to name them without their permission.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Who is Jeff Hochberg? That's an excellent question!</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Just to share a little bit more about me... I live in Atlanta, Georgia with my wife Charity and my stepdaughter Tatam. </span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I currently hold a General Class license and have been a licensed amateur radio operator since 2015 (originally KM4KPI). I am currently pursuing my Amateur Extra license and intend to take the exam in the not so distant future.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I’ve been working in the Information Technology sector (specially in the networking and security world) for the past 26 years. I am a Field Solutions Engineer (a.k.a. "Sales Engineer") focused on enterprise customers for one of the world's leading cloud providers - a name many of you are likely familiar with.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In addition to sales engineering, I also have several years experience in the realms of technical marketing and business development and a proven track record of solving complex problems for some of the worlds largest organizations in the Fortune 100 and Fortune 50.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">John has been a ham since the 1960s and holds an Amateur Extra license (WA1KLI). He has worked in the IT field his entire career as a programmer, IT Manager, and currently as Adjunct Faculty in Computer Science. He is a life member of ARRL and a member of Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA). He has participated in ATGP for over ten years, first from Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine and, more recently, from Mount Washington in NH.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">John resides in Phillips, Maine, and in 2020 earned an MS in CIS with a concentration in Cybersecurity from Boston University. During 2019-2020 he served with Americorps as a Digital Literacy Instructor.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Besides ham radio, John enjoys Sailing and outdoor activities with his partner, Carolyn KC1MGI. SOTA and POTA figure prominently in his plans for this summer.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">You can review our profiles on LinkedIn to learn more about our professional backgrounds:</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a
shape="rect"
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhochberg"
style="text-decoration-line:none" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhochberg</span></a></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a
shape="rect"
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarbox/"
style="text-decoration-line:none" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarbox/</span></a></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This new organization can use the help and support of all the hams who have worked so hard to make APRS what it is today, as well as those who will join us to advance and promote APRS as we go forward.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We intend for this organization to be as <i>open and inclusive as possible</i>, and thus we welcome all who wish to join us on this exciting journey to make APRS move forward in the 21st century.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As mentioned, there are a couple of others in the APRS community that are actively giving consideration to joining John and I, but wanted to take additional time to give it thought. It was important to John and I to make sure we reached out to aprssig as quickly as possible.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We are excited at the prospect of this opportunity and hope we can count on your support!</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Please do not hesitate to let John Tarbox and or myself know if you have any questions or concerns via this thread on aprssig. At the request of Steve Dimse, it is important that all discussions related to this matter remain in the public domain.</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Thank you for your consideration!</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Best Regards,</span></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Jeff Hochberg - W4JEW</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Atlanta, GA</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a
shape="rect"
href="mailto:w4jew@arrl.net"
style="text-decoration-line:none" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">w4jew@arrl.net</span></a></p>
<br clear="none">
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">John Tarbox</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Philips, ME</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a
shape="rect"
href="mailto:wa1kli@arrl.net"
style="text-decoration-line:none" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="font-family:Verdana;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">wa1kli@arrl.net</span></a></p>
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clear="none">
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href="http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig_lists.tapr.org"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig_lists.tapr.org</a></span><br
clear="none">
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</div>
<div
id="gmail-m_-4524585848750221348ydpbc6dbafyiv5844903425yqt00962">_______________________________________________<br
clear="none">
aprssig mailing list<br clear="none">
<a shape="rect"
href="mailto:aprssig@lists.tapr.org"
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clear="none">
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href="http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig_lists.tapr.org"
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<div
id="gmail-m_-4524585848750221348ydpbc6dbafyqt68822">_______________________________________________<br
clear="none">
aprssig mailing list<br clear="none">
<a shape="rect" href="mailto:aprssig@lists.tapr.org"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
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class="moz-txt-link-freetext">aprssig@lists.tapr.org</a><br
clear="none">
<a shape="rect"
href="http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig_lists.tapr.org"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
aprssig mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:aprssig@lists.tapr.org">aprssig@lists.tapr.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig_lists.tapr.org">http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig_lists.tapr.org</a>
</pre>
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