[OZAPRS] Foundation and RF APRS

[Marcus B]

Hey all (and I know VK3FJTS is here as well),

I noticed an interesting solution to the foundation call and AX.25 issue,
and I'm also keeping in mind the discussions about odd callsigns breaking
all kinds of things back in the DPRS days. And I have not seen discussion
on this topic really anywhere, other than "no, it's not possible, it's the
way it is; wait until they fix the callsigns".

Firstly I did a search of the group and found Jack (3FJTS) discussing the
inability to put a 7 character callsign into his radio, that is a
limitation of the AX.25 protocol written in the 1970's where the main part
of the callsign can only be 6 characters, no exceptions sadly. After that
the number is a 4-bit number that's only 0 to 15. Any change to update the
protocol would likely break a lot of (meaning all) equipment from the past
40 years. There are better & longer explanations in the history of this
group.

So, back to the story, on my HT, going through Victoria today, I saw
"3FJTS" on my screen, firstly I had a double take (what country was 3F?!),
and I thought that was a neat solution, and I'm pretty sure, as the VK can
be inferred in Australia, it should be legal, as long as we all recognise
that "3FJTS" == "VK3FJTS". The identification is not being hidden and
logical, and the full callsign is in the comment.

But what about being fed into APRS IS? I've never been an admin or really
been involved with the infrastructure, is this fine to propagate?

If so, could this be pushed out as a solution for foundation licencees that
would allow many of them to take full advantage of their radios. This would
also be a great solution for using packet as well. I happy to promote this
wider, talking to the WIA, etc...

Oh, and anyone that doesn't agree, please be tactful and factual with your
responses, this is not about bashing, it's about enabling. Unless its about
the decision to create 7-letter calls, then I totally agree :P

73,
vk3tst / vk5wtf
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