[amsat-bb] AMSAT info to the mobile

[Robert Bruninga]

Are you promoting AMSAT activities to area mobiles?

Now that there are 3 Kenwood and 4 Yaesu radios with front-panel
APRS displays, and TT4, OT2, HAMHUD and other add-on displays to
older radios, the Ham community is starting to finally see what
APRS was always about - the desimination of
local/relevant/real-time ham radio activities and information to
other operators.  It was not about vehicle tracking!  

It is an information sharing channel so that everyone can see
everytrhing happening on ham radio in the area.  This means INFO
that is pushed to the front panel of APRS radios and operators:

* Locally reecommended Travelers Repeater
* Local Echolink or IRLP Freq, tone and codes
* Local NETS or Meetings planned or in progress
* Location of next HAMFEST (drive right to it)
* Azimuth, elevation, freq and doppler of any AMSATS in view
* Bulletins and Announcements, Weather alerts.
* and many more.

So, if you are doing *anything* AMSAT related and you want
people within your area to see your activity, then you should be
posting an APRS AMSAT object so that everyone will see it.  For
example, HAMFEST Objects are posted up to 2 weeks in advance and
so everytime someone gets in his car, or drives through the
area, he will be alerted to this coming hamfest on the front
panel of his radio.

We should be doing this for AMSAT activities too.  Even if you
are just doing a demo in a parking lot.  Send it out on APRS and
everyone in the county will see what-when-where and why.  I have
prepared a web page to show you how to post these objects:

www.aprs.org/hamfest.html

But it is like any dead band.  If no one is posting these
objects, then there is nothing to see.  That's why we call it
"amateur radio operating", not "sitting" or "listening".  If you
don't post these objects, who will?

This is just part of the larger APRS Information Initiative to
push relevant info TO visitors and mobile operators. See
www.aprs.org/localinfo.html

Bob, WB4APR