Repeater mapping

[KXX8820]

Now that the ARRL has a relationship with RFinder, they are dropping TravelPlus.

ARRL Announces Partnership with RFinder

I don't even know enough to be dangerous.Seems that solution get the info to your Android device, computer or ?? but not to the radio? It is dinner/movie time here so I only skimmed it.

I think it was the RTS program I saw that connected to a map and you told it your routed...actually picking the coverage on a map and then sending to to their program to transfer to the radio....at least I think that is what and where I saw it

Thanks

 

[Rred]

IIRC Rffinder is just a plain database, that can send the search results out as a flat file to some other device like your radio.

What some clever person is going to do, is either a Google Maps mashup, or a query on Garmin's computer routing. Then take the actual ROUTE, search all of those locations, and generate a POI file that can be sent to the Garmin Nuvi along with their route, or a list of places that can be sent to the user's Maps file, so that the repeater list is now matched to the actual route and shown on the route display. Sending it to the radio is the most trivial task.

But just plain databases...that's so 1980's. There's room for something more.

 

[KXX8820]

IIRC Rffinder is just a plain database, that can send the search results out as a flat file to some other device like your radio.

What some clever person is going to do, is either a Google Maps mashup, or a query on Garmin's computer routing. Then take the actual ROUTE, search all of those locations, and generate a POI file that can be sent to the Garmin Nuvi along with their route, or a list of places that can be sent to the user's Maps file, so that the repeater list is now matched to the actual route and shown on the route display. Sending it to the radio is the most trivial task.

But just plain databases...that's so 1980's. There's room for something more.

What I saw them doing was dragging or click a mouse along a route they were going to drive and it used that input location data to generate the repeater list which then got copied over to the radio.

Since I am ignorant, I am going to ask why you would need or want to coordinate with GPS? I assumed you would be scanning all repeaters in the memory, regardless of where you were on the route or whatever was closest.

 

[Rred]

I haven't seen an app (certainly haven't seen them all) that said I could trace a route on my computer (or tablet, whatever) and then have that route sent to a repeater-finder. If they've already done this, great. Now it is time to TELL PEOPLE they can do this.(G)

Sending the repeaters back to the map as POI or other information, would be of use in case you are, for instance, driving a thousand miles on the interstate. Or three thousand, Maine to San Diego. Do you want to scan all those repeaters for all those days? Heck no, if you could see what repeaters were around, you'd know who to select (manually) if you wanted to make a call, like "I've got a flat, where can I get lunch and a tow?" Or, even better, if the system could tell the radio at some point "Here's the list that's within 500 miles of you, just scan these now."

All trivial programming exercises compared to what computers have been doing for the last 20 years.

It's like the way hams go all wild over FLDIGI. Yes, it is nice. yes, it is a good tool. yes, kudos to the many who put in long hours doing the donkey work to make it work so nicely. But the heart of it, is that it behaves just like the 300 baud acoustic modem couplers we used in 1980. (I just KNEW I should have kept one of those, that it would come in handy again someday!(G)

If Gasbuddy can show me every gas station along a 3000 mile trip, in real time, then why shouldn't a repeater-finder do the same trick? (And for that matter, Gasbuddy still can't figure out "that's on the wrong side of the road, don't ask me to drive back where I came from for two miles."(G)

 

[KXX8820]

The demo I happened to see was TravelPlus. RT Systems was demoing how you would go into TP, draw a route on the screen, have it generate a list, then import it into their software. This was the title of the demo you YT you can search for: RT Systems Radio Programming Overview

I can understand the desire not to want to scan every repeater when you can only hit 3% of the list.

Anyway, whether you were creating a route, or one location, the TravelPlus product seemed to create the list, and then you would have to get that list into whatever product you wanted to work with.

I saw the parting of ways with TP but that is a different issue.

Gas Buddy relies on tens of thousands of people daily to input dozens of prices. They just sit back and collect ad revenue. It isn't "free" because the users click on ads, on purpose or by mistake.

There would be less people putting in data, but then the data wouldn't fluctuate like it does with gas prices. Someone is going to want to make money somehow if they were going to make a national database. It would rely on getting the word out they existed, then get people to input all the info they know, and to keep it current as they go up and down.

Then someone would have to host the info and pay for the bandwidth and what would be their end game, unless wealthy.,

I haven't seen an app (certainly haven't seen them all) that said I could trace a route on my computer (or tablet, whatever) and then have that route sent to a repeater-finder. If they've already done this, great. Now it is time to TELL PEOPLE they can do this.(G)

Sending the repeaters back to the map as POI or other information, would be of use in case you are, for instance, driving a thousand miles on the interstate. Or three thousand, Maine to San Diego. Do you want to scan all those repeaters for all those days? Heck no, if you could see what repeaters were around, you'd know who to select (manually) if you wanted to make a call, like "I've got a flat, where can I get lunch and a tow?" Or, even better, if the system could tell the radio at some point "Here's the list that's within 500 miles of you, just scan these now."

All trivial programming exercises compared to what computers have been doing for the last 20 years.

It's like the way hams go all wild over FLDIGI. Yes, it is nice. yes, it is a good tool. yes, kudos to the many who put in long hours doing the donkey work to make it work so nicely. But the heart of it, is that it behaves just like the 300 baud acoustic modem couplers we used in 1980. (I just KNEW I should have kept one of those, that it would come in handy again someday!(G)

If Gasbuddy can show me every gas station along a 3000 mile trip, in real time, then why shouldn't a repeater-finder do the same trick? (And for that matter, Gasbuddy still can't figure out "that's on the wrong side of the road, don't ask me to drive back where I came from for two miles."(G)

 

[Rred]

"you would go into TP, draw a route on the screen, "
That's a big difference in what we're talking about. I don't want to go into someone's map screen, I want them to take my existing, route from one of the major mapping applications, and generate the list from there. No, I realize the exact routing isn't critical and if I draw a line from here to there it is probably good enough. But that's donkey work, and I expect the donkey to do it--not me.

 

[KXX8820]

"you would go into TP, draw a route on the screen, "
That's a big difference in what we're talking about. I don't want to go into someone's map screen, I want them to take my existing, route from one of the major mapping applications, and generate the list from there. No, I realize the exact routing isn't critical and if I draw a line from here to there it is probably good enough. But that's donkey work, and I expect the donkey to do it--not me.

I think you are going even further than I would....

I don't know if it has been done or not, but you can add a layer to Google Maps. There are a lot of layers you would have to know about to find. It seems someone could feed the repeater database which should have freq info and gps location. Easy enough to transfer that to a map layer.

 

[Rred]

"I think you are going even further than I would...."
Yes, I have been accused of making the donkey work for a living. And even putting the harness on it and sending it out to do work.(G)

Layers with GMaps can be vexsome. Every time they update the app, they find ways to change and break things. But still, there are programing hooks and interfaces and a number of 3rd parties manage to use GMaps for years without problems.

Then again, what I love about GMaps are the times when I'm driving south on a highway, and need to make a right turn ahead, and the voice will tell me "Continue north for 1000 yards then make a U-turn..."
Uhuh, yes, continue north while I'm driving south, so I can drive south again...

I can see why some 3rd parties wouldn't want to touch that.(G)

 

[W2CYK]

IIRC Rffinder is just a plain database, that can send the search results out as a flat file to some other device like your radio.

What some clever person is going to do, is either a Google Maps mashup, or a query on Garmin's computer routing. Then take the actual ROUTE, search all of those locations, and generate a POI file that can be sent to the Garmin Nuvi along with their route, or a list of places that can be sent to the user's Maps file, so that the repeater list is now matched to the actual route and shown on the route display. Sending it to the radio is the most trivial task.

But just plain databases...that's so 1980's. There's room for something more.

Hey Bob here W2CYK the creator of RFinder....apparently you have not seen RFinder or you would know that we have created a database WITH state of the art software, 3rd party interfaces...mapping, coverage maps, etc...the first truly geo-based database of repeaters that covers the entire earth...60,000+ machines in over 170 countries...look again! LOL Bob

 

[W2CYK]

I haven't seen an app (certainly haven't seen them all) that said I could trace a route on my computer (or tablet, whatever) and then have that route sent to a repeater-finder. If they've already done this, great. Now it is time to TELL PEOPLE they can do this.(G)

Sending the repeaters back to the map as POI or other information, would be of use in case you are, for instance, driving a thousand miles on the interstate. Or three thousand, Maine to San Diego. Do you want to scan all those repeaters for all those days? Heck no, if you could see what repeaters were around, you'd know who to select (manually) if you wanted to make a call, like "I've got a flat, where can I get lunch and a tow?" Or, even better, if the system could tell the radio at some point "Here's the list that's within 500 miles of you, just scan these now."

All trivial programming exercises compared to what computers have been doing for the last 20 years.

It's like the way hams go all wild over FLDIGI. Yes, it is nice. yes, it is a good tool. yes, kudos to the many who put in long hours doing the donkey work to make it work so nicely. But the heart of it, is that it behaves just like the 300 baud acoustic modem couplers we used in 1980. (I just KNEW I should have kept one of those, that it would come in handy again someday!(G)

If Gasbuddy can show me every gas station along a 3000 mile trip, in real time, then why shouldn't a repeater-finder do the same trick? (And for that matter, Gasbuddy still can't figure out "that's on the wrong side of the road, don't ask me to drive back where I came from for two miles."(G)

Routes.rfinder.net does this, but without drawing..works like Google Maps...define your route and find your machines....and this routing function is bult into RT Systems...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaeRzcnNNdQ

 

[Rred]

Thanks for clearing that up, Bob.

So if I understand you (and the information on the Google Play Store, which is hidden "under the fold" and not up top, then:
1) If I'm taking a thousand mile road trip
and 2) I enter that route manually in Rfinder
and 3) I subscribe to Rfinder ($9.99 for life, not tied to one device?)
and 4) I also buy the RT systems software

Then Rfinder can prepare a repeater directory for my trip, and RT can program all of them into my radio?

Except, that would be "one load" into the radio, there's no provision, say, to automatically update what the radio might be scanning every q/2 hour or 50 miles or by live GPS location, is there?

That's what I mean by going beyond a database and into an interactive live "application" that updated the radio based on where it was, on an ongoing basis.

How close does the rf/rt combination do this? Loading "everything between here and here" in one shot is nice, but I think your work is not yet done.(G)