[MiQP-Mail] APRS ?

[Tim Mitchell]

To clarify a few things...

>OhQP allows packet use
This is true.

>(OhQP)... and self-spotting by single ops.
This is not true.  OhQP does not allow self spotting by anyone.  If it did, I would have just used packet-cluster rather than ARPS.  I can telnet to any packet-cluster from my iPhone just as I can use an app to get to the ARPS internet portal.

>Many times the system lagged behind and K9TM/m would be almost out of a county before the APRS status even showed their presence. 
This likely has more to do with the update rate I set on the app I was using than anything else.

>And in many places in rural Ohio the system did not update at all.
This is because when the app would fail, it was low priority so many times it wasn't working because of issues in the cockpit, not issues with ARPS.  If I happened to see it was offline, I'd reconnect but it was not constantly monitored or a priority.

Also, keep in mind that I was not using ham radio based ARPS.  Like most packet-cluster users who use the internet and telnet to a node, I was using an iPhone app and the cellular network to use the internet portal for ARPS.  So there was no testing of the ham ARPS network going on just as there isn't when using packet-cluster these days.

ARPS does have promise for fixed stations who don't really enjoy chasing mobiles as it gives one an idea of where a mobile is at a snapshot in time and when they may be in the next county.  It is an operating aid no matter how you look at it.

73, Tim K9TM

 
on Apr 15, 2013, David Pruett <k8cc at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
>
>All,
>
>There has been zero discussion on the reflector or sent to the MiQP 
>committee about the use of ARPS in MiQP prior to K8MR's e-mail today. 
>This would be a useful discussion if it were six months or a year ago. 
>But since it is a week before the contest, it's too late for 2013.
>
>As K9TM pointed out, the MiQP rules that are in place prohibit self 
>spotting. If APRS is used to broadcast information about the station 
>(current frequency/mode, county, etc.), then it is self spotting. And 
>if it isn't helping you make QSOs in MiQP, why bother?
>
>So the use of APRS to self spot is prohibited in the 2013 MiQP. End of 
>discussion. The committee will have a discussion about APRS and there 
>will be a definitive decision for the 2014 MiQP.
>
>BTW, the use of any sort of self spotting is not a question of "modern 
>technology" vs. "old school". The fundamental question, at least from 
>my viewpoint, is a question of equality and fairness. MIchigan is a 
>state which is largely rural; I know this first hand, having operated 
>MiQP mobile from every one of its 83 counties over a four year period. 
>I suspect there are large areas of the state where continuous Internet 
>or PacketCluster service is not available, which puts a number of MiQP 
>single-op competitors at a significant disadvantage from the very 
>start. The benefits to the contest of allowing packet have to be judged 
>carefully vs. the uneven competitive landscape it would create. And 
>that's the committee's job.
>
>OhQP allows packet use and self-spotting by single ops. As an 
>out-of-state station, I used APRS to follow K9TM/m in the 2012 OhQP as 
>they mobiled around the state and APRS was much less useful than I 
>thought it would be. Many times the system lagged behind and K9TM/m 
>would be almost out of a county before the APRS status even showed their 
>presence. And in many places in rural Ohio the system did not update at 
>all. So my real-life experience was that APRS wasn't very useful in the 
>contest context.
>
>So, drop it for 2013. 2014, maybe...
>
>Dave/K8CC
>
>
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