John Woods wrote:
The map display is great, but it's very pale on screen, it's quite difficult to see map details clearly at a glance. Is it possible to alter this from within the application?
The left/right arrow keys will vary the transparency of the maps. It defaults to 50% which is why it appears pale. If you crank it down (left) to zero, expect to see your stations jump as it switches from a Mercatur Projection required by the maps to a circular distance and bearing display centered on the screen center. Make some rather interesting displays if you're connected to a full feed.
(Incidentally, to see a full feed on the Win32 version, close the program, edit the APRSIS32.XML file in the directory with the .EXE and change the <APRSPort> from 14580 to 10152. You'll see TONS of stations RIPPING by!)
I'm not sure what the various boxes in the corners and at the bottom of the screen do yet, I think I need to feed a GPS into the PC to activate them. Would it be possible to have some stock text displayed to inform the user what the boxes are for , even if they're not in use?
Would it be possible to put some basic documentation in the archive along with the application for download?
.
I've listed a pertinent part of APRSISCE.TXT from the Files section of the web site below. It talks about the various corners of the screen, but in a portrait orientation. If you have your View/Map/Wide checked, the screen layout should match the description.
I'll see if I can maybe do a mouse-hover popup on them or something. However, once you learn which is what, any sort of popup or hover would simply get annoying. Read the text below and see if it answers your questions. I don't include this file in the release zip because it's right there in the Files section where you downloaded the .ZIP from. And you probably only need to read it once...
I don't own a phone that will support APRSISCE (yet!).
I'm looking forward to the RF enabled win32 version, it's great to see new software being developed for APRS.
I JUST got the KISS RF feeding APRS packets into the screen within the past 30 minutes. I've got too much hard-coded (like the BlueTooth serial port name) to release it just yet, and I want to have RF beaconing working as well. And I believe I need to support some KISS setup/takedown strings for those foolish TNCs that don't remember to stay in KISS mode when power is cycled.
Can you all drop a note describing your APRS RF station and particularly the TNC you use and what it takes to enter and exit KISS mode? If you tell me what it takes, you improve the chances of having your TNC support on the first RF release of the program.
Oh, and if all goes well, if you have a BlueTooth serial (rather than a true RS-232 port or a USB serial) adapter to connect to your TNC, the Windows Mobile version will also be able to do direct RF for those SmartPhone users without Internet access.
Thanks and regards - John G1EUH.
You're welcome and thanks for the feedback and the questions!
Lynn (D) - KJ4ERJ - Author of APRSISCE for Windows Mobile and Win32
From APRSISCE.TXT in the Files section of teh Yahoo group (I have NOT recently read this for accuracy, but it should be close).
Here are some notes about the other program features:
Double-Clicking the top center rectangle will show a series of message boxes
enumerating the connections configured on your device. This is for my
debugging lost connections. - Note that in some network situations, the
client may appear to hang for 30-60 seconds. You can access other
applications on your phone and APRSISCE will eventually recover.
Clicking an Icon in the center brings up a message box providing some data
about who/what that thing is including range (distance) and bearing, their
last known coordinates, and the time that information was received. The
"via" in the title is the name of the IGate that ported that packet to
APRS-IS.
The along the center of the left edge changes the zoom level for the
circle. If you have up/down buttons or a thumb wheel, they may also drive
the zoom. It defaults to 8 miles radius (16 miles across). Plus will
increase the viewable range (zoom out - show more) and minus will decrease
the viewable range (zoom in - show fewer). The icons will automatically
shrink if you zoom out really far.
The upper left corner shows the "local" stations as they report in. You can
double-click any one of these to see the same information accessible from
the center circle.
The upper right corner shows your speed and immediately under that is your
heading. Below that is an accumulated odometer. Double-clicking the
odometer will offer to clear it along with your current track (the black
line drawn in the center circle when you move).
The bars on the right are (from outside (right) to inside): current battery
state, number of track points accumulated, and number of stations stored.
If the station bar goes full range and red, it starts replacing the oldest
station. The program is currently built to hold
128 stations.
The box in the lower right corner shows the status of the GPS fix and the
bars along the bottom show the satellites in use and in view.
Above the satellites in the lower left corner is your altitude with
background color bars showing the vertical and horizontal DOP (dilution of
precision).
Above the altitude and below the bar is the current zoom radius in miles
or feet (with a ').
If you double-click a station that APRSISCE believes can receive messages,
you can send it a message. To send a message to any station, use Menu/Send
Message from the lower right corner. Select or key in the To: callsign and
enter your desired text. A pop-up will appear when/if you receive an Ack.
Received messages will be accessible in the upper left corner box
immediately below the scrolling incoming stations. Double-click it if it
goes green to read your messages and optionally reply.
