Station Status
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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 |
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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.
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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: 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". |
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That's the thing. There are many variables and a wide range of experiences. Sure, in some events, I can be dispatched to a location, set up there and stay for the duration, pack up and go home and out of service. OTOH, for some events I may need to transport materials to one location, stay there for a short time, move to another location for another purpose, finish there and move again, etc. The need changes day to day, event to event. The ability of net control to see my location and status relative to needs greatly improves the efficiency of the operation. Further the ability to send short messages that don't need my instantaneous attention and can be readily seen when I return to my vehicle is a big plus, unlike voice traffic which, if I am out of the truck, may be missed or delayed.
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I refer you to my other message about my configuration for more info, but, I do have a keyboard in my mobile installation, but it is small and normally stowed. It is only pulled out when stopped and needed for text entry, not normal operations. I am considering a small set of buttons connected to GPIO pins on the RPi that may be useful for triggering actions. I have no idea how viable that is for this situation. There are also available external "button boxes" that connect via USB that operate similar to a keyboard with programmable keys that basically issue canned keystroke sequences. These are much smaller than a full keyboard and may have as few as two or three buttons, or big panels with a dozen or more buttons. Perhaps this may be an option to consider. I know that your current configuration is mainly dependent on using a mouse to navigate, pull down menus, and select options. Many programs offer keystroke alternatives (i.e. ctrl-C for copy, ctrl-V for paste, ctrl-Q for exit, ctrl-P for print, etc.), as you have mentioned below. While these normally require multiple keystrokes, or multiple keypresses, the ability to use a programmed keyboard "button box" could meet the need. As we boot around ideas and ask/answer questions, results are sure to appear. Michael WA7SKG Andrew P. wrote on 12/28/19 2:32 PM: 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. |
Michael WA7SKG