[NLRS] Possible VHF rule changes & roving

[Clare Jarvis]

I keep hearing a thread.  APRS is too hard.  That it interferes with the 
other bands and modes. There are no digipeaters near where I operate.

Here is my opinion:

If it is too hard for the average operator then the people who use it 
should have an advantage.

If it interferes then that gives people without aprs the advantage.  Why 
wouldn't we let other operators do things that put them at a disadvantage?

If there are no digipeaters near where you operate then you are at a 
disadvantage to people who have digipeaters near.  That is true.  But I 
am in a valley that makes line of sight communication more difficult.   
I am in an area that does not have many contest operators.   That comes 
with the contest conditions I have chosen to operate under.  Just part 
of fair competition.

As far as I am concerned if APRS essentially destroys the fair 
competition then I do not want it.  If with aprs there is still fair 
competition and it produces more contacts then I am in favor of it.

It is not very interesting for me to work a contest,  get on and in the 
first 30 minutes or so work 5-10 contacts and then spend the next 23 
hours gaining another 5 contacts.   Its not very exciting.  If I knew 
where to point my antenna's then I would only have to find the right 
frequency and mode and successfully make the contact.

My opinion with no supporting facts is that you might get more activity 
with allowing aprs.

Clare




On 11/13/2014 05:58 PM, James Duffey wrote:
>
> I got some of the stuff for APRS here before I realized that there are no multi-multi op entries from this part of the country. I may have to rethink that now, but in much of the state, we have the same problem that K0BBC has, the density of digipeaters is pretty low away from main highways.
>
> To get back to Jon’s question, I have not used a direct app to spot, I think that has not been allowed up to now. But I do have some experience in using the cell phone while roving. In the July CQ contest, we used my iPhone to look at the MUF maps on DXMaps. That helped a lot to spot openings and see which areas would be open next. We would point the beam that way and usually be some of the first to open the band. We didn’t have phone coverage everywhere, but where we did, it worked great. Individual station spots didn’t help much when the band was open, and there was no one to spot when the band wasn’t open.
>
> I also used the iPhone during the Route66 event in 2013 where we went mobile along old Rte 66 the width of NM. In that case, I used the iPhone as a hot spot and connected the logging computer to it. We went on e-mail, microsoft outlook, to coordinate with other guys that were putting rte66 on the air so we weren’t on the same band mode at the same time. It worked very well, and with two ops it didm’t take up too much overhead.
>
> In both cases, I didn’t notice any particular increase in data usage, certainly less than when my daughter uses her iPhone as a surrogate car radio and when my wife uses it to amuse our grandson by streaming internet video and games.
>
> If this comes about, and I must admit to having mixed feelings about self spotting, I would envision that Tom may incorporate it into RoverLog and perhaps even the N1MM team into N1MM+. I would think that someone could write an app that did the spotting automatically.
>
> I realize that this is not a direct answer to Jon’s question, but I hope it helps. - Duffey KK6MC
>
>
> On Nov 13, 2014, at 2:25 PM, Glen Overby <gpoverby at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 13, 2014 at 1:39 PM, Jon Platt via NLRS <nlrs at mailman.qth.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Self spotting represents an added degree of complexity for a rover.  Yet
>>> more stuff to take.  2m APRS?   I have used it on a few occasions.  Does
>>> anyone have any experience with using their smart phone with an app going
>>> direct (ie, via cell, no 2m) ?  What app have they used and what kind of
>>> data usage to they see charged against their plan?
>>>
>> If Paul continues to host an activity spreadsheet, having a row for
>> "current location" would be an option.
>>
>> A quick search found: https://aprsdroid.org/
>>
>> It might be easier to use twitter.
>>
>> Glen
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> NLRS mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/nlrs
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:NLRS at mailman.qth.net
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> ______________________________________________________________
> NLRS mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/nlrs
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:NLRS at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>


-- 
Mr. Clare H. Jarvis III
Consultant
PO BOX 1264
WINONA MN 55987-7264
(507) 454-2575