Okay, here is a system recap.
Mobile installation:
* Raspberry Pi 3B+ running up to date Raspbian Buster OS
* TNC-Pi hat mounted on RPi
* Official Raspberry Pi 7" Touchscreen Display, Screen resolution 800x480 pixels
- These are all mounted in a Smarti-Pi Touch case with VESA mount attached to a mobile monitor mount.
- This is normally operated via the touchscreen. There is a small wireless keyboard (Rii-tek model RT-MWK01) that is usually stowed but can be retrieved for data entry when stopped.
- These are connected to an IC-V8000 radio dedicated for APRS and not used for any other purpose except in an emergency.
I have attached two pictures of my mobile installation so far. The first picture shows a rear view of the APRS head showing the TNC-Pi mounted on the Rpi. Radio interface and power connections are not hooked up in these pictures. The second picture is the overall mobile environment. Not shown is the yet to be installed V8000 radio and some additional hardware. The V8000 will be installed in front of the TurboTuner2 at the bottom of the picture. One mod I am considering is the addition of a small panel of buttons on top of the monitor that will provide a power on/off for the RPi and possibly some programmable buttons connected to GPIO pins on the RPi.
I would like to share some thoughts from Bob, WB4APR (inventor of APRS), which helped develop some of my goals.
"APRS is not a vehicle tracking system. It is a two-way tactical real-time digital communications system between all assets in a network sharing information about everything going on in the local area. On ham radio, this means if something is happening now, or there is information that could be valuable to you, then it should show up on your APRS radio in your mobile." ()
"APRS is not about vehicle tracking. It is a single information resource channel where everything that is going on in ham radio in the surrounding area can be announced and updated in real time. It presents to the viewer on his APRS radio front panel all that is happening right now, where it is, and all the info he needs to participate whether it is an event, happening, net, activity, announcement, future activity, or situation. The APRS channel is his one-stop look at everything that could be going on in the local area, and his one-stop place to post what he might be doing that might be of interest to others. APRS is not about GPS positions, it is about a situational map display of everything that is happening, and most of that is OBJECTS containing INFO on the activity and how to contact other operators." ()
In my case, I operate in a dispatch/response environment. As such, I may spend my entire day in one place, or I may go to multiple destinations in one day. Knowing my status in real time helps the success of this operation. The ability to provide, update, and display real-time status information and short messages in a timely, easy to use system, is a great benefit to efficiency. It frees up voice time on the radio, provides a timestamped record, reduces the necessity of someone always at the mic on the other end, and covers a wide geographic area that would otherwise require multiple repeaters and voice channels.
I hope this helps clarify my situation.
Michael WA7SKG
Andrew P. wrote on 12/28/19 2:19 PM:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Let's get this thread back on the correct subject line.
Michael, please describe the hardware and O/S platform that you are using. What O/S (Windows, Linux, etc.) are you running? What is the screen size in pixels? Is it a touch screen? I need a few more details if I'm going to be able to help.
Regarding displaying current Mic-E status on the map, it can be done by selecting View->View Map Layers...->View Mic-E Status. That will put a colored circle around each station reporting Mic-E status (no circles around stations not reporting Mic-E status). Solid-line circles for standard Mic-E status codes, dashed-line circles for custom codes. The colors corresponding to statuses are documented in the online help; look up Mic-E in the help index. Note this is different from the filled-in circles behind station icons that report APRSdos-style item status (emergency, mobile or fixed, your objects or someone else's, or just plain old and probably out-of-date).The status is also printed as text if you click on a station icon with the mouse on the map; the popup box includes all the current information about that station, including its Mic-E status.
Hope this helps.
Andrew, KA2DDO
author of YAAC
________________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 4:19 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
For my desired purpose, I am using equipment dedicated to the
purpose, in place and in use all the time. The goal is to provide
position and status reporting in real time, as well as to send and
receive short messages. I would also be interested in seeing other
stations in my vicinity. When I originally brought this up on various
forums, the overwhelming reply was to use YAAC for the purpose, even
after explaining my equipment configuration.
At this time, a larger, higher resolution screen is not an option for
me. Granted, I may have to consider that option in the future, but it
would require a significant restructuring of my installation. To arrive
at a location and need to change my status a bunch of times per day, I
don't have time to connect a laptop in the vehicle, fire it up, launch
programs, run through menus and make a status update.
If there is a non-graphical client for APRS that will provide the
information I need and able to quickly update status and message
information, and run on my existing hardware, that would be fine. As of
now, I have yet to find such software.
|
I want to make one thing absolutely clear here. I most certainly am not putting down Andrew or discrediting his work in any way. Yes, I have had a hard time understanding parts of it, but that is more my fault than his.
Let me go on record that I highly regard Andrew and his work on this subject. He has gone far and above the call in his endeavors and is to be commended. I think he is really bending over backward in his patience with me and working these issues both on and off the forum.
I may not always communicate things well, and often, especially in a new (to me) subject area, I may not necessarily describe things in a manner that those who have been using the system for years may recognize. I think Andrew recognizes this and I greatly appreciate his patience and willingness to work with me on this. Whether this results in a successful implementation of YAAC for my mobile operation remains to be seen. If it does not and I need to follow another route, so be it. However, for my base operation, it seems to be meeting the needs nicely and, as Andrew continues to work with me, should result in a robust system that meets by objectives.
Thank you for your time.
Michael WA7SKG
Bob Evans wrote on 12/28/19 1:41 PM:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Also wanted to say that Andrew is doing a great job meeting the various
constituencies within amateur radio with YAAC and many kudos to him for
doing this and also for free!
Bob AB2NE
|
Frankly, I didn't think status would be changing that rapidly when I designed the UI. The events I was working, I would be "En Route" going to the event, "In Service" the whole time I was there, and "Returning" when going home afterwards. On the other hand, I was generally stationed at a fixed location rather than being a mobile unit for such events. But this is certainly something changeable. I was looking at some similar easy status change control idea when I was thinking about putting a telemetry system in my RV (a side-project that, alas, still hasn't come to fruition, partly due to the same low-res UI design issue). Michael, do you have a keyboard on your mobile setup? There's only so much room on a low-res screen (especially if it's a touch screen) for more controls. But I could take advantage of the PC function keys for easy switching. Alas, neither of the two Bluetooth keyboards I acquired for experiments for the RV telemetry system had an extra row for the Fn keys, so you would have to hold down two keys to be the equivalent of an Fn function key on an PC104 keyboard. And no better to do Ctrl-1, Ctrl-2, etc., for such switching. Andrew, KA2DDO author of YAAC ________________________________________ From: [email protected] < [email protected]> on behalf of Eric H. Christensen via Groups.Io <eric@...> Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 4:50 PM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Station Status This is an interesting idea. To me, the MicE status has always been a useless piece of information *because* it was too difficult to change the status and most (all but DOS APRS?) clients don't really show the MicE status. It would be interesting to have a mobile GUI that would have these buttons (when MicE is enabled?) across the top to make it easy to select. It could be useful during events and such. I suspect this could be a complete redesign of the GUI, though. 73, Eric WG3K
|
Let's get this thread back on the correct subject line. Michael, please describe the hardware and O/S platform that you are using. What O/S (Windows, Linux, etc.) are you running? What is the screen size in pixels? Is it a touch screen? I need a few more details if I'm going to be able to help. Regarding displaying current Mic-E status on the map, it can be done by selecting View->View Map Layers...->View Mic-E Status. That will put a colored circle around each station reporting Mic-E status (no circles around stations not reporting Mic-E status). Solid-line circles for standard Mic-E status codes, dashed-line circles for custom codes. The colors corresponding to statuses are documented in the online help; look up Mic-E in the help index. Note this is different from the filled-in circles behind station icons that report APRSdos-style item status (emergency, mobile or fixed, your objects or someone else's, or just plain old and probably out-of-date).The status is also printed as text if you click on a station icon with the mouse on the map; the popup box includes all the current information about that station, including its Mic-E status. Hope this helps. Andrew, KA2DDO author of YAAC ________________________________________ From: [email protected] < [email protected]> on behalf of Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...> Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 4:19 PM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box For my desired purpose, I am using equipment dedicated to the purpose, in place and in use all the time. The goal is to provide position and status reporting in real time, as well as to send and receive short messages. I would also be interested in seeing other stations in my vicinity. When I originally brought this up on various forums, the overwhelming reply was to use YAAC for the purpose, even after explaining my equipment configuration. At this time, a larger, higher resolution screen is not an option for me. Granted, I may have to consider that option in the future, but it would require a significant restructuring of my installation. To arrive at a location and need to change my status a bunch of times per day, I don't have time to connect a laptop in the vehicle, fire it up, launch programs, run through menus and make a status update. If there is a non-graphical client for APRS that will provide the information I need and able to quickly update status and message information, and run on my existing hardware, that would be fine. As of now, I have yet to find such software.
|
I’ve been following this topic with interest as I have been using APRS
since it started in ‘92 and downloaded it from BBS’s! It sounds to me that
Bob Bruninga’s original APRS would suit your purpose fine. It is low
resolution and easy to use for messaging etc as that was one of his
original concepts
You can still get APRS876 from Bob’s site and then run it under QEMU on the
RPi.
Also wanted to say that Andrew is doing a great job meeting the various
constituencies within amateur radio with YAAC and many kudos to him for
doing this and also for free!
Bob AB2NE
On Sat, Dec 28, 2019 at 16:19 Michael WA7SKG < wa7skg@...> wrote: Okay, I am new to this. I am happy you have $600 for a new radio for
APRS, I do not. To begin with, I have to use existing or low cost
equipment. For my desired purpose, I am using equipment dedicated to the
purpose, in place and in use all the time. The goal is to provide
position and status reporting in real time, as well as to send and
receive short messages. I would also be interested in seeing other
stations in my vicinity. When I originally brought this up on various
forums, the overwhelming reply was to use YAAC for the purpose, even
after explaining my equipment configuration.
My biggest complaint with ham radio operators today, is they don't
understand why their particular solution is the only one and if it works
for them, then everybody should accept that is the way to go. If your
solution works for you, that is great. However, if your particular
solution does not fit my need, there is no need to chastise me for
wanting something different than you do.
At this time, a larger, higher resolution screen is not an option for
me. Granted, I may have to consider that option in the future, but it
would require a significant restructuring of my installation. To arrive
at a location and need to change my status a bunch of times per day, I
don't have time to connect a laptop in the vehicle, fire it up, launch
programs, run through menus and make a status update.
If there is a non-graphical client for APRS that will provide the
information I need and able to quickly update status and message
information, and run on my existing hardware, that would be fine. As of
now, I have yet to find such software.
rhclinton wrote on 12/28/19 9:26 AM:
> Hmm,? maybe I'm missing the point too - of WA7SKG's complaint.? I have
> been using APRS or nearly
> 20 years, fixed station and mobile.? Most of the time mobile I have been
> satisfied with the
> non-graphic display of a Kenwood D700/710.? When I needed a full graphic
> display of APRS-FI,
> UI-View or YAAC it wasn't a big deal to use my iPad or connect a
> laptop.? No doubt? a format
> suitable for a 7" display connected to an RPi would be useful but APRS
> has been useful without
> it for a long time.? If Andrew can come up with a suitable layout for
> use with YAAC that would
> be great but it is more important to get it right than? to? just get it
> released.
>
> Bob? G0BUX/W0BUX
>
>
> On 2019-12-28 17:07, Andrew P. wrote:
>> Let me clarify.
>>
>> YAAC's screens were designed for a conventional laptop PC, with
>> minimally 1024x768 pixels to work with. They weren't designed for
>> low-resolution screens, because it's too hard to draw a usable map
>> with limited pixels. So the screen layout assumed that there would be
>> enough width to display all the messaging controls at the bottom of
>> the map window.
>>
>> The menu choice Message->Station provides the same functionality in a
>> popup dialog window, but has the fields in different lines, so it may
>> not require as much screen width.
>>
>> I have been contemplating an alternate screen for low-res mobile
>> operations (such as the 7" touchscreen for Raspberry Pi), but haven't
>> come up with a layout I like yet that will fit in such a tiny space
>> and still be operable with fat fingers on a touchscreen.
>>
>> Andrew, KA2DDO
>> author of YAAC
>> ________________________________________
>> From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of
>> Christopher Rose <kb8uih88@...>
>> Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 11:13 AM
>> To: '[email protected]'
>> Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
>>
>> Michael, Andrew said menu choices will get you where you want to go
>> on your smaller screen. Then you say too bad? Did I misunderstand this
>> exchange?
>>
>> Chris
>>
>>
>> -----------------------------------------
>>
>> From: "Michael WA7SKG"
>> To: "Andrew P.", "[email protected]"
>> Cc:
>> Sent: Saturday December 28 2019 6:05:11AM
>> Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
>>
>> That is too bad. Perhaps I am misinformed or have misunderstood, but I
>> thought the whole purpose of APRS was to cater to the mobile user to
>> provide a quick and easy method of reporting position, status, and brief
>> messages. Mobile operation, by its nature, necessitates smaller screens
>> and demands minimal operator actions to accomplish a task. The system
>> should be driven to meet that situation, rather than make it more
>> difficult for the primary purpose.
>>
>> Maybe I am missing the point of APRS. Perhaps further investigation is
>> in order.
>>
>> Michael WA7SKG
>>
>>
>> Andrew P. wrote on 12/27/19 6:24 PM:
>>> It's because your window is too small. The rightmost controls in the
>>> footer are being drawn off-screen because they don't fit in the allowed
>>> window space.
>>>
>>> There are menu choices to get you the same functionality in a smaller
>>> window.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
>>>
>>>
>>> -------- Original message --------
>>> From: Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
>>> Date: 12/27/19 20:16 (GMT-05:00)
>>> To: [email protected]
>>> Subject: [yaac-users] Message box
>>>
>>> Another question. On my base configuration, at the bottom of the screen,
>>> there are three boxes, TO, VIA, and Message, followed by a SEND button.
>>> I can put in a callsign, a path, and some text, hit send and it goes to
>>> that station. However, on my just configured mobile, only the TO and VIA
>>> boxes are visible. The TEXT box and the SEND button are missing.
>>>
>>> Is this a configuration issue? Or because I am using a much smaller
>>> screen (22" on base, 7" on mobile)?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Michael WA7SKG
>>>
>>
|
I’ve been following this topic with interest as I have been using APRS
since it started in ‘92 and downloaded it from BBS’s! It sounds to me that
Bob Bruninga’s original APRS would suit your purpose fine. It is low
resolution and easy to use for messaging etc as that was one of his
original concepts
You can still get APRS876 from Bob’s site and then run it under QEMU on the
RPi.
Also wanted to say that Andrew is doing a great job meeting the various
constituencies within amateur radio with YAAC and many kudos to him for
doing this and also for free!
Bob AB2NE
|
This is an interesting idea. To me, the MicE status has always been a useless piece of information *because* it was too difficult to change the status and most (all but DOS APRS?) clients don't really show the MicE status.
It would be interesting to have a mobile GUI that would have these buttons (when MicE is enabled?) across the top to make it easy to select. It could be useful during events and such. I suspect this could be a complete redesign of the GUI, though.
73,
Eric WG3K
|
Okay, I am new to this. I am happy you have $600 for a new radio for APRS, I do not. To begin with, I have to use existing or low cost equipment. For my desired purpose, I am using equipment dedicated to the purpose, in place and in use all the time. The goal is to provide position and status reporting in real time, as well as to send and receive short messages. I would also be interested in seeing other stations in my vicinity. When I originally brought this up on various forums, the overwhelming reply was to use YAAC for the purpose, even after explaining my equipment configuration.
My biggest complaint with ham radio operators today, is they don't understand why their particular solution is the only one and if it works for them, then everybody should accept that is the way to go. If your solution works for you, that is great. However, if your particular solution does not fit my need, there is no need to chastise me for wanting something different than you do.
At this time, a larger, higher resolution screen is not an option for me. Granted, I may have to consider that option in the future, but it would require a significant restructuring of my installation. To arrive at a location and need to change my status a bunch of times per day, I don't have time to connect a laptop in the vehicle, fire it up, launch programs, run through menus and make a status update.
If there is a non-graphical client for APRS that will provide the information I need and able to quickly update status and message information, and run on my existing hardware, that would be fine. As of now, I have yet to find such software.
rhclinton wrote on 12/28/19 9:26 AM:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hmm,? maybe I'm missing the point too - of WA7SKG's complaint.? I have been using APRS or nearly
20 years, fixed station and mobile.? Most of the time mobile I have been satisfied with the
non-graphic display of a Kenwood D700/710.? When I needed a full graphic display of APRS-FI,
UI-View or YAAC it wasn't a big deal to use my iPad or connect a laptop.? No doubt? a format
suitable for a 7" display connected to an RPi would be useful but APRS has been useful without
it for a long time.? If Andrew can come up with a suitable layout for use with YAAC that would
be great but it is more important to get it right than? to? just get it released.
Bob? G0BUX/W0BUX
On 2019-12-28 17:07, Andrew P. wrote:
Let me clarify.
YAAC's screens were designed for a conventional laptop PC, with
minimally 1024x768 pixels to work with. They weren't designed for
low-resolution screens, because it's too hard to draw a usable map
with limited pixels. So the screen layout assumed that there would be
enough width to display all the messaging controls at the bottom of
the map window.
The menu choice Message->Station provides the same functionality in a
popup dialog window, but has the fields in different lines, so it may
not require as much screen width.
I have been contemplating an alternate screen for low-res mobile
operations (such as the 7" touchscreen for Raspberry Pi), but haven't
come up with a layout I like yet that will fit in such a tiny space
and still be operable with fat fingers on a touchscreen.
Andrew, KA2DDO
author of YAAC
________________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of
Christopher Rose <kb8uih88@...>
Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 11:13 AM
To: '[email protected]'
Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
Michael, Andrew said menu choices will get you where you want to go
on your smaller screen. Then you say too bad? Did I misunderstand this
exchange?
Chris
-----------------------------------------
From: "Michael WA7SKG"
To: "Andrew P.", "[email protected]"
Cc:
Sent: Saturday December 28 2019 6:05:11AM
Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
That is too bad. Perhaps I am misinformed or have misunderstood, but I
thought the whole purpose of APRS was to cater to the mobile user to
provide a quick and easy method of reporting position, status, and brief
messages. Mobile operation, by its nature, necessitates smaller screens
and demands minimal operator actions to accomplish a task. The system
should be driven to meet that situation, rather than make it more
difficult for the primary purpose.
Maybe I am missing the point of APRS. Perhaps further investigation is
in order.
Michael WA7SKG
Andrew P. wrote on 12/27/19 6:24 PM:
It's because your window is too small. The rightmost controls in the
footer are being drawn off-screen because they don't fit in the allowed
window space.
There are menu choices to get you the same functionality in a smaller
window.
Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
Date: 12/27/19 20:16 (GMT-05:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject: [yaac-users] Message box
Another question. On my base configuration, at the bottom of the screen,
there are three boxes, TO, VIA, and Message, followed by a SEND button.
I can put in a callsign, a path, and some text, hit send and it goes to
that station. However, on my just configured mobile, only the TO and VIA
boxes are visible. The TEXT box and the SEND button are missing.
Is this a configuration issue? Or because I am using a much smaller
screen (22" on base, 7" on mobile)?
Thanks,
Michael WA7SKG
|
Re: Bug: Clearing monitor frequency
-‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ On Saturday, December 28, 2019 3:11 PM, Andrew P. <andrewemt@...> wrote: You need to press the Enter key after changing the supplemental Tx I-gate filter. That will cause the new expression (which can be a zero-length string) to be applied. Yep, that worked! *sigh* Thanks!
|
I'll second the vote for a smaller footprint display, if it's possible.
In my case, I have the Pi hooked into my car's in-dash unit (back-up
camera port), which has a VGA display resolution. Mostly it seems to
affect the configuration pages, where stuff ends up below or off to the
side of the screen, but there aren't any scroll bars to access it. I
think simply triggering the scroll bars for those screens would make it
usable.
Lacking the scroll bars, what I do now is to access the Pi with VNC, and
that display is configured for 1024/768 resolution.
Greg KO6TH
rhclinton wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hmm, maybe I'm missing the point too - of WA7SKG's complaint. I have
been using APRS or nearly
20 years, fixed station and mobile. Most of the time mobile I have
been satisfied with the
non-graphic display of a Kenwood D700/710. When I needed a full
graphic display of APRS-FI,
UI-View or YAAC it wasn't a big deal to use my iPad or connect a
laptop. No doubt a format
suitable for a 7" display connected to an RPi would be useful but APRS
has been useful without
it for a long time. If Andrew can come up with a suitable layout for
use with YAAC that would
be great but it is more important to get it right than to just get
it released.
Bob G0BUX/W0BUX
On 2019-12-28 17:07, Andrew P. wrote:
Let me clarify.
YAAC's screens were designed for a conventional laptop PC, with
minimally 1024x768 pixels to work with. They weren't designed for
low-resolution screens, because it's too hard to draw a usable map
with limited pixels. So the screen layout assumed that there would be
enough width to display all the messaging controls at the bottom of
the map window.
The menu choice Message->Station provides the same functionality in a
popup dialog window, but has the fields in different lines, so it may
not require as much screen width.
I have been contemplating an alternate screen for low-res mobile
operations (such as the 7" touchscreen for Raspberry Pi), but haven't
come up with a layout I like yet that will fit in such a tiny space
and still be operable with fat fingers on a touchscreen.
Andrew, KA2DDO
author of YAAC
________________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of
Christopher Rose <kb8uih88@...>
Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 11:13 AM
To: '[email protected]'
Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
Michael, Andrew said menu choices will get you where you want to go
on your smaller screen. Then you say too bad? Did I misunderstand this
exchange?
Chris
-----------------------------------------
From: "Michael WA7SKG"
To: "Andrew P.", "[email protected]"
Cc:
Sent: Saturday December 28 2019 6:05:11AM
Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
That is too bad. Perhaps I am misinformed or have misunderstood, but I
thought the whole purpose of APRS was to cater to the mobile user to
provide a quick and easy method of reporting position, status, and brief
messages. Mobile operation, by its nature, necessitates smaller screens
and demands minimal operator actions to accomplish a task. The system
should be driven to meet that situation, rather than make it more
difficult for the primary purpose.
Maybe I am missing the point of APRS. Perhaps further investigation is
in order.
Michael WA7SKG
Andrew P. wrote on 12/27/19 6:24 PM:
It's because your window is too small. The rightmost controls in the
footer are being drawn off-screen because they don't fit in the allowed
window space.
There are menu choices to get you the same functionality in a smaller
window.
Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
Date: 12/27/19 20:16 (GMT-05:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject: [yaac-users] Message box
Another question. On my base configuration, at the bottom of the
screen,
there are three boxes, TO, VIA, and Message, followed by a SEND button.
I can put in a callsign, a path, and some text, hit send and it goes to
that station. However, on my just configured mobile, only the TO and
VIA
boxes are visible. The TEXT box and the SEND button are missing.
Is this a configuration issue? Or because I am using a much smaller
screen (22" on base, 7" on mobile)?
Thanks,
Michael WA7SKG
|
Re: Bug: Clearing monitor frequency
You need to press the Enter key after changing the supplemental Tx I-gate filter. That will cause the new expression (which can be a zero-length string) to be applied.
Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
-------- Original message --------
From: "Eric H. Christensen via Groups.Io" <eric@...>
Date: 12/28/19 12:54 (GMT-05:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Bug: Clearing monitor frequency
-‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Sunday, December 22, 2019 4:23 PM, Andrew P. <andrewemt@...> wrote:
> What frequency did you specify? If you want to turn it off, you have to specify a frequency of 000.000.
Ahh, yes, this worked well.? I had specified a VHF frequency but setting it to 0 cleared it.
I'm having a similar problem the Supplemental Tx I-Gate filter.? I had it set for b/AKQTOR/MHXTOR during Hurricane Dorian but I'd like to clear this out.? Replacing this text with anything or removing it completely doesn't seem to work.
73,
Eric WG3K
|
I believe you misunderstood the intent. Perhaps you only read the first sentence and did not read and comprehend the full message thread for context. The meaning was, it is too bad the only way to update the status was to go through multiple menus requiring at least six clicks on a tiny touchscreen for a simple status change. If this was something that only changed say once a month or so, that is one thing. For something that could conceivably change a dozen times per day, it is too bad it is so complex a function.
I hope that clears it up for you.
73,
Michael WA7SKG
Christopher Rose wrote on 12/28/19 8:13 AM:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Michael, Andrew said menu choices will get you where you want to go on your smaller screen. Then you say too bad? Did I misunderstand this exchange?
Chris
-----------------------------------------
From: "Michael WA7SKG"
To: "Andrew P.", "[email protected]"
Cc:
Sent: Saturday December 28 2019 6:05:11AM
Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
That is too bad. Perhaps I am misinformed or have misunderstood, but I
thought the whole purpose of APRS was to cater to the mobile user to
provide a quick and easy method of reporting position, status, and brief
messages. Mobile operation, by its nature, necessitates smaller screens
and demands minimal operator actions to accomplish a task. The system
should be driven to meet that situation, rather than make it more
difficult for the primary purpose.
Maybe I am missing the point of APRS. Perhaps further investigation is
in order.
Michael WA7SKG
Andrew P. wrote on 12/27/19 6:24 PM:
> It's because your window is too small. The rightmost controls in the
> footer are being drawn off-screen because they don't fit in the allowed
> window space.
>
> There are menu choices to get you the same functionality in a smaller
> window.
>
>
>
> Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
> Date: 12/27/19 20:16 (GMT-05:00)
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [yaac-users] Message box
>
> Another question. On my base configuration, at the bottom of the screen,
> there are three boxes, TO, VIA, and Message, followed by a SEND button.
> I can put in a callsign, a path, and some text, hit send and it goes to
> that station. However, on my just configured mobile, only the TO and VIA
> boxes are visible. The TEXT box and the SEND button are missing.
>
> Is this a configuration issue? Or because I am using a much smaller
> screen (22" on base, 7" on mobile)?
>
> Thanks,
> Michael WA7SKG
>
|
Re: Bug: Clearing monitor frequency
-‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ On Sunday, December 22, 2019 4:23 PM, Andrew P. <andrewemt@...> wrote: What frequency did you specify? If you want to turn it off, you have to specify a frequency of 000.000. Ahh, yes, this worked well. I had specified a VHF frequency but setting it to 0 cleared it. I'm having a similar problem the Supplemental Tx I-Gate filter. I had it set for b/AKQTOR/MHXTOR during Hurricane Dorian but I'd like to clear this out. Replacing this text with anything or removing it completely doesn't seem to work. 73, Eric WG3K
|
Hmm, maybe I'm missing the point too - of WA7SKG's complaint. I have been using APRS or nearly
20 years, fixed station and mobile. Most of the time mobile I have been satisfied with the
non-graphic display of a Kenwood D700/710. When I needed a full graphic display of APRS-FI,
UI-View or YAAC it wasn't a big deal to use my iPad or connect a laptop. No doubt a format
suitable for a 7" display connected to an RPi would be useful but APRS has been useful without
it for a long time. If Andrew can come up with a suitable layout for use with YAAC that would
be great but it is more important to get it right than to just get it released.
Bob G0BUX/W0BUX
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 2019-12-28 17:07, Andrew P. wrote: Let me clarify.
YAAC's screens were designed for a conventional laptop PC, with
minimally 1024x768 pixels to work with. They weren't designed for
low-resolution screens, because it's too hard to draw a usable map
with limited pixels. So the screen layout assumed that there would be
enough width to display all the messaging controls at the bottom of
the map window.
The menu choice Message->Station provides the same functionality in a
popup dialog window, but has the fields in different lines, so it may
not require as much screen width.
I have been contemplating an alternate screen for low-res mobile
operations (such as the 7" touchscreen for Raspberry Pi), but haven't
come up with a layout I like yet that will fit in such a tiny space
and still be operable with fat fingers on a touchscreen.
Andrew, KA2DDO
author of YAAC
________________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of
Christopher Rose <kb8uih88@...>
Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 11:13 AM
To: '[email protected]'
Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
Michael, Andrew said menu choices will get you where you want to go
on your smaller screen. Then you say too bad? Did I misunderstand this
exchange?
Chris
-----------------------------------------
From: "Michael WA7SKG"
To: "Andrew P.", "[email protected]"
Cc:
Sent: Saturday December 28 2019 6:05:11AM
Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box
That is too bad. Perhaps I am misinformed or have misunderstood, but I
thought the whole purpose of APRS was to cater to the mobile user to
provide a quick and easy method of reporting position, status, and brief
messages. Mobile operation, by its nature, necessitates smaller screens
and demands minimal operator actions to accomplish a task. The system
should be driven to meet that situation, rather than make it more
difficult for the primary purpose.
Maybe I am missing the point of APRS. Perhaps further investigation is
in order.
Michael WA7SKG
Andrew P. wrote on 12/27/19 6:24 PM:
It's because your window is too small. The rightmost controls in the
footer are being drawn off-screen because they don't fit in the allowed
window space.
There are menu choices to get you the same functionality in a smaller
window.
Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
Date: 12/27/19 20:16 (GMT-05:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject: [yaac-users] Message box
Another question. On my base configuration, at the bottom of the screen,
there are three boxes, TO, VIA, and Message, followed by a SEND button.
I can put in a callsign, a path, and some text, hit send and it goes to
that station. However, on my just configured mobile, only the TO and VIA
boxes are visible. The TEXT box and the SEND button are missing.
Is this a configuration issue? Or because I am using a much smaller
screen (22" on base, 7" on mobile)?
Thanks,
Michael WA7SKG
|
Let me clarify. YAAC's screens were designed for a conventional laptop PC, with minimally 1024x768 pixels to work with. They weren't designed for low-resolution screens, because it's too hard to draw a usable map with limited pixels. So the screen layout assumed that there would be enough width to display all the messaging controls at the bottom of the map window. The menu choice Message->Station provides the same functionality in a popup dialog window, but has the fields in different lines, so it may not require as much screen width. I have been contemplating an alternate screen for low-res mobile operations (such as the 7" touchscreen for Raspberry Pi), but haven't come up with a layout I like yet that will fit in such a tiny space and still be operable with fat fingers on a touchscreen. Andrew, KA2DDO author of YAAC ________________________________________ From: [email protected] < [email protected]> on behalf of Christopher Rose <kb8uih88@...> Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 11:13 AM To: ' [email protected]' Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box Michael, Andrew said menu choices will get you where you want to go on your smaller screen. Then you say too bad? Did I misunderstand this exchange? Chris ----------------------------------------- From: "Michael WA7SKG" To: "Andrew P.", " [email protected]" Cc: Sent: Saturday December 28 2019 6:05:11AM Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box That is too bad. Perhaps I am misinformed or have misunderstood, but I thought the whole purpose of APRS was to cater to the mobile user to provide a quick and easy method of reporting position, status, and brief messages. Mobile operation, by its nature, necessitates smaller screens and demands minimal operator actions to accomplish a task. The system should be driven to meet that situation, rather than make it more difficult for the primary purpose. Maybe I am missing the point of APRS. Perhaps further investigation is in order. Michael WA7SKG Andrew P. wrote on 12/27/19 6:24 PM: It's because your window is too small. The rightmost controls in the
footer are being drawn off-screen because they don't fit in the allowed
window space.
There are menu choices to get you the same functionality in a smaller
window.
Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
Date: 12/27/19 20:16 (GMT-05:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject: [yaac-users] Message box
Another question. On my base configuration, at the bottom of the screen,
there are three boxes, TO, VIA, and Message, followed by a SEND button.
I can put in a callsign, a path, and some text, hit send and it goes to
that station. However, on my just configured mobile, only the TO and VIA
boxes are visible. The TEXT box and the SEND button are missing.
Is this a configuration issue? Or because I am using a much smaller
screen (22" on base, 7" on mobile)?
Thanks,
Michael WA7SKG
|
Michael, Andrew said menu choices will get you where you want to go on your smaller screen. Then you say too bad? Did I misunderstand this exchange?
Chris
----------------------------------------- From: "Michael WA7SKG" To: "Andrew P.", " [email protected]" Cc: Sent: Saturday December 28 2019 6:05:11AM Subject: Re: [yaac-users] Message box That is too bad. Perhaps I am misinformed or have misunderstood, but I
thought the whole purpose of APRS was to cater to the mobile user to
provide a quick and easy method of reporting position, status, and brief
messages. Mobile operation, by its nature, necessitates smaller screens
and demands minimal operator actions to accomplish a task. The system
should be driven to meet that situation, rather than make it more
difficult for the primary purpose.
Maybe I am missing the point of APRS. Perhaps further investigation is
in order.
Michael WA7SKG
Andrew P. wrote on 12/27/19 6:24 PM:
> It's because your window is too small. The rightmost controls in the
> footer are being drawn off-screen because they don't fit in the allowed
> window space.
>
> There are menu choices to get you the same functionality in a smaller
> window.
>
>
>
> Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
> Date: 12/27/19 20:16 (GMT-05:00)
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [yaac-users] Message box
>
> Another question. On my base configuration, at the bottom of the screen,
> there are three boxes, TO, VIA, and Message, followed by a SEND button.
> I can put in a callsign, a path, and some text, hit send and it goes to
> that station. However, on my just configured mobile, only the TO and VIA
> boxes are visible. The TEXT box and the SEND button are missing.
>
> Is this a configuration issue? Or because I am using a much smaller
> screen (22" on base, 7" on mobile)?
>
> Thanks,
> Michael WA7SKG
>
|
That is too bad. Perhaps I am misinformed or have misunderstood, but I thought the whole purpose of APRS was to cater to the mobile user to provide a quick and easy method of reporting position, status, and brief messages. Mobile operation, by its nature, necessitates smaller screens and demands minimal operator actions to accomplish a task. The system should be driven to meet that situation, rather than make it more difficult for the primary purpose.
Maybe I am missing the point of APRS. Perhaps further investigation is in order.
Michael WA7SKG
Andrew P. wrote on 12/27/19 6:24 PM:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
It's because your window is too small. The rightmost controls in the footer are being drawn off-screen because they don't fit in the allowed window space.
There are menu choices to get you the same functionality in a smaller window.
Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
Date: 12/27/19 20:16 (GMT-05:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject: [yaac-users] Message box
Another question. On my base configuration, at the bottom of the screen,
there are three boxes, TO, VIA, and Message, followed by a SEND button.
I can put in a callsign, a path, and some text, hit send and it goes to
that station. However, on my just configured mobile, only the TO and VIA
boxes are visible. The TEXT box and the SEND button are missing.
Is this a configuration issue? Or because I am using a much smaller
screen (22" on base, 7" on mobile)?
Thanks,
Michael WA7SKG
|
This will be used in a mobile environment. The various status reports of "off duty", "en route", "in service", "returning", "committed", "special", and others will be changed frequently throughout the day. Right now, that requires at least six mouse clicks, even more difficult to do on a small touchscreen. A stylus would help, but it is still a lot of clicks and double taps and easy to make errors, taking even more time. Far from convenient. And, making the change does not seem to trigger a beacon transmission to announce the change in status.
Having some buttons at the top of the screen, say after the start and stop message processing buttons could be an option. Lacking the buttons, perhaps a pulldown to select the status options and a SEND button to force a beacon with the updated status. Or possibly a way to utilize an outboard hardware button bar with maybe six programmable buttons that could utilize the GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi. And have those buttons be configured to initiate a beacon transmission with the updated status when pushed.
Any of these would be preferable to needing six or more mouse clicks or screen taps just to change status.
BTW, related to this, is there any way for the screen icon to readily display the status of the mobile station?
Back in the old days of basic packet radio that used keyboard-to-keyboard comms, re-purposed MDTs were used with programmable macro keys that sent a beacon with similar status information, which was displayed as a timestamped list on the recipients screen. Not as fancy as the graphic APRS representations we have now, but plenty effective at the time.
Thanks,
Michael WA7SKG
Andrew P. wrote on 12/27/19 7:56 PM:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I didn't expect that the MicE status would be changed that often, and it mostly applies to mobile stations, since a fixed station can't really be "en route" or "returning".
I didn't think it was that hard to edit that one beacon setting from the expert-mode configuration dialog.
Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Michael WA7SKG <wa7skg@...>
Date: 12/27/19 15:55 (GMT-05:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject: [yaac-users] Station Status
In going through the configuration part of the manual, I see in the
BEACON tab, there is a choice for Station Status if you are using the
MicE Beacon Type. I haven't found everything yet in this manual. Is
there a quicker way to set the status than going through the whole
configuration routine? It would be nice to have something like macro
buttons or something on the screen to change this on the fly.
I'm sure I am missing something, as this seems like a fairly dynamic
thing that should be readily changeable.
tnx es 73,
Michael WA7SKG
|
Andrew...
I did a restart and didn't see anything in the startup messages or the syslog related to an exception. I really don't see any errors. It's just as if the web server isn't being enabled.
|
Another question. On my base configuration, at the bottom of the screen, there are three boxes, TO, VIA, and Message, followed by a SEND button. I can put in a callsign, a path, and some text, hit send and it goes to that station. However, on my just configured mobile, only the TO and VIA boxes are visible. The TEXT box and the SEND button are missing.
Is this a configuration issue? Or because I am using a much smaller screen (22" on base, 7" on mobile)?
Thanks,
Michael WA7SKG
|
Michael WA7SKG
