I own an OLPC/XO but have never used APRS, although I'd like to participate in this mapping. I notice that the west coast is conspicuously empty.
Sorry, the APRS web page for XO's on this web page http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/APRS-OLPC.html Is only beginning and the map with the black background (showing all east coast) is totally fictitious. It was placed there as a "representative" map that we would like to get for XO's. It was actually a map from my Meteorscatter web page which only shows MS packets (usually limited to 500 to 1000 miles).
Now that we have the real map links developing, I suppose I should remove that suggested one. But we still need someone to write a tiny routine to send the once-every 10 minute position/activity report into the APRS-Internet system from each ham XO that is on line. Thanks Bob, WB4APR
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alex Perez Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 10:46 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] The future of amateur radio adoption... (was:Re: XO\APRS)
Hi folks, I'm new to the list (KD7OFR) and thought I'd
introduce
myself now, even though this is somewhat off-topic. I've been trolling for a week or so now on the list.
I own an OLPC/XO but have never used APRS, although I'd like
to
participate in this mapping. I notice that the west coast is conspicuously empty. I live in Oakland and work in San Francisco, and two of my friends/coworkers own OLPCs as well (one of them is
scheduled to become a ham soon).
Are there really just that many more active hams on the east coast? It seems hard to believe. I'm in my mid-20s and have been licensed since I was 19. Is this indicative of a larger social trend within
the
amateur radio community? I work in the tech sector and while there are plenty of very technical folks in their mid-20s through their mid-40s, none in the software engineering group I work in are licensed amateur radio operators, sans one other guy (on a team of over 20),
even
though there seems to be at least a casual interest in it by
many
members of my team. I am of course encouraging them to get
licensed
and emphasizing that getting one's technician ticket isn't
exactly
difficult ;-)
I'm concerned there's not much outreach going on by the most
active
sector of the amateur radio community. Can anyone speak to
that?
Perhaps I'm completely off-base, but from my perspective, there seems to be a slight bit of reserved apathy. I myself would love to
teach
teenagers about amateur radio.
I live a few blocks from Oakland Technical High School (http://www.oaklandtech.com ) and think introducing disadvantaged kids to amateur radio would be a great way to emphasize that there's a world outside of the
city of
oakland borders via a very real and tangible activity, while
at the
same time teaching some basic technical skills in the process.
Communicating with people and objects zooming through space is
not
something one would normally otherwise ever do ;-)
I myself am attempting to start a social event/group which is intended to bring together some of t
I hope you will all forgive my meandering first message to the
list,
but I'd love to hear all your thoughts on the matter. Feel
free to
reply off-list if you are uncomfortable with the level of
off-topic-
ness. This subject may even deserve its own mailing list. Anyone else interested in the subject? I can host an ML. Are there any organizations who teach kids/teenagers/young adults about
amateur
radio in a holistic manner? if so, I'd love to hear about
them!
Send me your thoughts, Alex Perez (KD7OFR)
On Jan 8, 2008, at 8:53 AM, Robert Bruninga wrote:
OK, the first XO laptops are starting to show on the APRS system. I have added a link to Steve Dimse's FINDU.COM that
can
selectively display them.
http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/APRS-OLPC.html
Bob, Wb4APR
-----Original Message----- From: Bob Bruninga [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 10:21 PM To: [email protected]; TAPR APRS Mailing List; 'Paul
Kronenwetter'
Cc: [email protected] Subject: OLPC positions and MESH-ing
In the DC area, I think we have several Hams with XO's. Maybe we should schedule a meeting and show-and-tell so that everyone can benefit from the fruits of our efforts?
Actually, I would like to build a map of all HAMS with
OLPC's
to help us play and possibly MESH together.. The map will include both your home and work locations which are two places where you might have your OLPC laptop for meshing.
If
you are retired, then include any other place you may
frequent.
Just email me your CALL, and LAT/LONGs for both of your locations. If you have other daily locations you may add them too. ALso indicate how many OLPC's you have. Here is the preferred format:
WB4APR:3909.12N/07629.34Wl Home, with access to 3 OLPC's
The LAT/LONG is in DEG and decimal minutes. The two spaces after the decimal points are for hundredths of minutes. If you replace them with two spaces, then your position can remain ambiguous to the nearest mile, if you like. The "l" (lower case L) after the W is the laptop symbol.
Everything
after that is free text to describe your OLPC.
Those that are into APRS can go ahead and just change your normal APRS station to the LAPTOP symbol for the next week
or
so, and I can capture your posit that way electronically.
TO make it easy to compute the centroid of local OLPC's, everyone could beacon their position on APRS using the LAPTOP symbol with a note about their OLPC. Then we can pick the centroid to plan a meeting...
Thanks! Bob, WB4APR
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