Talk:Automatic Position Reporting System

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Contents 1 Expert? 2 All three are correct. 3 Why is it useful? 4 100-mile endurance run

[edit] Expert?

Why is this tagged with an expert attention needed tag? It seems fairly concise and straightforward. There are a few minor grammatical errors that I may address later, but I don't see where it "needs the attention of an expert". I will check back later for anyone's comments prior to removal but I intend to remove the tag in 7 days barring any non-consensus.Radiooperator 15:37, 16 July 2007 (UTC) Update* I take it back, I went back through the changes history and found that the tag was added, seemingly randomly, by 68.65.49.185 on June 6, 2006. I think that enough editors have contributed to the overall scope of the article that the expert tag can be removed without further discussion. Any gripes, please post them here before reverting. Radiooperator 16:02, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

What does APRS stand for? The article seems to indicate that it is merely a derivative of Bob Bruninga's callsign, but I've heard that it stands for Automatic Position Reporting System, or (less frequently) Automatic Packet Reporting System. Are these just backronyms or are they the real name? either way the article should be changed to reflect this. -Lommer 03:54, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Per an email from Bob Bruninga 3/4/05, the idea to name it APRS was derived from his call letters. The idea occurred to him "...in early 1992". The official name is "Automatic Position Reporting System," per Bob's web page at the USNA.

[edit] All three are correct.

While "APRS" was in fact derivative from Bob Bruninga's callsign, in his (Bob's) original documentation he called it "Automatic Position Reporting System". It stayed that way for many years until he decided to "expand the concept" (i.e., muck with it) beyond positioning and AVL (automatic vehicle location) applications. At that time "Automatic Packet Reporting System" started showing-up in his docs. In 2003 (...I think...) several of us cornered Bob and confronted him with the ambiguity this created, and he relented, changing it back to "Position".

[edit] Why is it useful?

After reading this, could someone add to the main page a laymen's explanation of what it is used for?

It is useful to radio amateurs participating in group activities, like public service in support of sport events, emergency response activities etc., especially when involving mobile stations (cars equipped with amateur radio).

Sv1xv (talk) 20:01, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

APRS is also quite heavily used for high-altitude balloon projects, and other projects where real-time and/or historical positioning data is needed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jgw (talk • contribs) 16:52, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Also, outside amateur radio, systems based on the same concept are used for vehicle fleet management, they are installed on ships (AIS), on aircraft (collision avoidance system) etc. Sv1xv (talk) 18:29, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Just to be clear: APRS is not able to determine a position itself, but it is used to 'broadcast' known position and object information locally? Stefan. 81.1.92.241 (talk) 19:53, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 100-mile endurance run

Which race was this? Was this race the Tevin Cup or whatever? Is there a citation/reference?