From bounce-tapr-bb-818@lists.tapr.org Fri Sep 29 12:45:07 2000 Received: from lists.tapr.org (lists.tapr.org [204.17.217.24]) by tapr.org (8.9.3/8.9.3/1.13) with SMTP id MAA05451 for ; Fri, 29 Sep 2000 12:45:06 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: To: "TAPR Announcement List" cc: tapr-bb@lists.tapr.org, aprssig@lists.tapr.org, netsig@lists.tapr.org, bbssig@lists.tapr.org, picsig@lists.tapr.org, hfsig@lists.tapr.org, tacgps@lists.tapr.org, tapr-org@lists.tapr.org, htaprs@lists.tapr.org Subject: [tapr-bb] TAPR Press Release Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 13:17:50 -0400 From: John Ackermann List-Unsubscribe: List-Software: Lyris Server version 3.0 List-Subscribe: List-Owner: X-List-Host: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Reply-To: "TAPR Announcement List" X-Message-Id: <200009291717.NAA28041@meow.febo.com> Sender: bounce-tapr-bb-818@lists.tapr.org Precedence: bulk FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TAPR Elects Officers at 19th Annual Digital Communications Conference John Ackermann, N8UR, was elected the new president of TAPR at the 19th ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference held in Orlando September 21-24. 135 hams, including a dozen from outside the US, attended the annual event, which includes presentation of technical papers, hands-on demonstrations, and beginner's sessions. Over 100 people attended Friday afternoon's APRS seminar, and 70 were present for a technical symposium on programming PIC chips held Sunday morning. Ackermann succeeds Greg Jones, WD5IVD, who had served as president since 1993, with Steve Bible, N7HPR, replacing Ackermann as vice president. Bob Hanson, N2GDE, will continue to serve as secretary, and Jim Neely, WA5LHS, remains treasurer. The elections were held at TAPR's annual board meeting, held in conjunction with the DCC. "Greg Jones led TAPR through a period of growth and innovation," Ackermann said. "On his watch, we brought significant new products to market, including the DSP-93 digital signal processing unit, Totally Accurate Clock, and Mic-E and Pic-E data encoders. Greg also laid the groundwork for our Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum Radio project. He guided us into the Internet age, along the way creating the TAPR SIG mailing lists that now handle thousands of messages per month. Greg is also responsible for our increased publishing activities. His retirement leaves a void in TAPR that will be hard to fill." Ackermann said that his primary objective will be to ensure that TAPR remains on the cutting edge of radio technology, with a special emphasis on emerging concepts such as Software Defined Radios. He will also focus on increasing membership and optimizing the organization's management structure. Ackermann (ex-AG9V), who lives in Dayton, Ohio, has served on the TAPR Board of Directors and as vice president since 1995. He was first licensed in 1974 and has helped build packet radio networks in Ohio and Wisconsin. Ackermann is active on APRS, runs a Linux-based Internet site at his home, and can occasionally be found on CW chasing DX. Bible lives in Kingsland, Georgia, and has been a TAPR Board member since 1996. He was project manager for TAPR's Totally Accurate Clock (TAC-2), EVM Radio Interface, PIC Encoder, and DGPS Reference Station kits. Bible is leading TAPR's development of a road map to develop Software Defined Radio technology for amateur use. In other news from the DCC: * TAPR announced that it will be offering the "EasyTrak" satellite rotor and radio controller. This PIC-based unit will control azimuth and elevation rotors for satellite use, as well as tune popular radios for Doppler correction. * PRUG, the Packet Radio Users Group of Japan, demonstrated the possibilities of low cost Internet-connected sensors and software mobile agent technology. PRUG also introduced the TINI-AMEDES, a Java based one-board computer with Ethernet interface which supports the Dallas Semiconductor 1-wire interface, and provided an update on their 2.4Ghz spread spectrum radio, which has been commercialized by Root, Inc. * Geoffrey Dick, WA4IKQ, was winner of the grand prize awarded at the Saturday evening banquet. Geoff won a TM-D700 APRS-capable mobile radio donated by Kenwood. DCC 2001 will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio from September 21-23, 2001. Conference coordinators will be Steve and Sheila Bible assisted by local coordinator Hank Greeb, N8XX. About TAPR TAPR (officially, Tucson Amateur Packet Radio, Inc.) is a non-profit research and development corporation dedicated to advancing amateur radio through digital technology. It focuses on development of hardware and software tools that enable ham radio operators to explore leading edge technologies. Despite its name, TAPR is an international organization with over 2000 members worldwide. Contact information: Telephone: (940) 383-0000 Email: tapr@tapr.org Web: http://www.tapr.org --- You are currently subscribed to tapr-bb as: lyris.tapr-bb@tapr.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-tapr-bb-818W@lists.tapr.org From bounce-tapr-bb-818@lists.tapr.org Fri Sep 29 12:51:00 2000 Received: from lists.tapr.org (lists.tapr.org [204.17.217.24]) by tapr.org (8.9.3/8.9.3/1.13) with SMTP id MAA06143 for ; Fri, 29 Sep 2000 12:50:57 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: To: "TAPR Announcement List" Subject: [tapr-bb] APRS Protocol Specification Version 1.0 Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 10:56:39 -0300 From: John Ackermann List-Unsubscribe: List-Software: Lyris Server version 3.0 List-Subscribe: List-Owner: X-List-Host: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Reply-To: "TAPR Announcement List" X-Message-Id: <200008311456.KAA12559@meow.febo.com> Sender: bounce-tapr-bb-818@lists.tapr.org Precedence: bulk I'm happy (you don't know *how* happy) to announce that APRS Protocol Specification Version 1.0 was approved by the APRS Working Group on August 29, 2000 and has been made available for download at the Working Group web page, http://www.tapr.org/tapr/html/Faprswg.html. This Version 1.0 (technically, due to change control, version 1.0.1) document is nearly 130 pages long and does a tremendous job documenting the APRS protocol as used on the air in the summer of 2000. We should all thank the Working Group members, and especially Ian Wade, G3NRW, the Technical Editor who actually wrote the thing, for their hard work. Although the process took far longer than anyone anticipated when we started, I think the end result is definitely worth the wait. Where do we go from here? Although this is an excellent document, it almost certainly still contains errors, omissions, and ambiguities. In addition, it reflects only the current protocol, and not any of the areas in which the protocol might be extended. The WG members will be meeting at the DCC in Orlando next month and electronically thereafter to put in place a mechanism to deal with requested corrections and enhancements. The WG Charter outlines a way to handle this, but experience has shown that some modifications may be necessary for a workable process. Also at the DCC and thereafter, the WG will consider adding new members. Since its founding, several new authors have come on the scene, and two of the original members have resigned. Any author of software or firmware implementing the APRS protocol who wishes to join the WG should contact me (jra@febo.com or n8ur@tapr.org) directly. Please -- we need to hear directly from those interested in joining, so rather than writing to ask that someone be considered, encourage that person to get in touch with me. Also, please remember that the WG is not affiliated with TAPR. Membership decisions will be made by the group, and I can't tell you now how many (if any) new members will be added. 73, John Ackermann N8UR Administrative Chair, APRS Working Group jra@febo.com --- You are currently subscribed to tapr-bb as: lyris.tapr-bb@tapr.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-tapr-bb-818W@lists.tapr.org