[Xastir] ADS-B (planes)

[Kurt]

Hmmmmmm,
  Nothing wrong with added features one can use or ignore as desired for their local pleasure.Only thing is to make sure one doesn't start dumping the feed into the national -IS stream as somemight take offense.  Also Xastir can take a second NMEA stream and plot it on the map with Jason's kg4wsv perl script:  http://www.ece.uah.edu/~jdw/rockets/gps2aprs.txtJust allow networking with xastir and modify the script with the port that the incoming NMEA data iscoming in on and one is good to go.  Technique is modify the script, make it executable, have Xastir running, pull up a console window, run the script and the data will be seen streamingin on the window.  Minimize the console/window and the data/icon is on the mapThis is the no-license-required ISM, NMEA GPS  amateur rocket tracker that works with this script:Eggtimer Rocketry - EggfinderOnce per second updates as long as valid packets are received.  Jason's script essentially turns theNMEA data into what I call a "pseudo" APRS packet 1/sec and the computing power makes this possible.Xastir doesn't have a problem plotting this once per second.Since I have digipeating turned off, no possibility of it being injected into the -IS stream.When out in the field, the laptop doesn't have access to the internet anyways so absolutely no way it clogs the -IS stream even if I were to have digipeating turned on.
The thing on my wish list is a map database that is "download and dump" and one is ready to go withoff line use on Xastir.  Personally, I have some of the old Tiger and Cloudmade maps but a simplemap database that new, inexperienced users could figure out and just "load and go" would have thepotential to add to the program popularity. 
As an aside, two instances of APRSISCE/32 can track an NMEA tracker like the EggFinder.  One instance monitors the NMEA EggFinder tracker in realtime and a minimized instance that is monitoring the local position from its GPS stream.The second instance then "beacons" over a local -IS server link to the 1st instance and both positions are plotted on the map.Advantage here is the program can cache mapsets for off line use.  Again, since this is used in the field for off internet use, no chance of clogging the -IS feed.  In fact if one just sets up the programs for the NMEA tracker, there really isn't any fearof clogging up the -IS servers.
Another aside is I once experimented with Xastir by seeing how fast an APRS packet could be beaconed.  Relax, as I experimented off of144.390 by having the incoming Eggfinder stream being digipeated out through Xastir on another 2 meter frequency.  I found that a packet could be reliably sent at once every 3 seconds.  You say you can't do that?  Well.........One can manually go into and edit the configuration file and decrease the rate from the lowest once every 5 seconds to even lower frequency.  As long as one doesn't go back to the config pull down it will stay at whatever one sets.  The Eggfinder came in at 1/sec and the fastestXastir could reliably digipeat was once every three seconds.  Any lower and their were too many collisions between incoming and outgoing data.  Any use for this with APRS?Nahhhhh, but was fun playing with it.  The high frequency position monitoring is of only interest to a person like myself to monitor a local situation like an amateur rocket flight.It would be discourteous to stream this over the -IS network or Rf at such a high frequency. 
Kurt KC9LDH

      From: Dexter N Muir <dexy at xtra.co.nz>
 To: xastir at lists.xastir.org 
 Sent: Friday, March 11, 2016 4:41 PM
 Subject: Re: [Xastir] ADS-B (planes)
   
Y'know I'm left wondering: Why 'planes? I mean, xastir - and APRS - is 
great for activity reporting and hazard alerts - fire, flood, quake etc 
- even its under-utilised messaging, particularly in SAR activity - but 
why aircraft? I'd think anyone wanting to watch them would have hardware 
to get info off-air or know of specific ADS-B feeds, and have software 
already available to display same. Anything capable of running xastir 
should be able to do ADS-B stuff alongside or instead at need - why 
clutter or feature-creep Amateur/SAR with that? Just because you can?

73
Dex, ZL2DEX
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