--- In dstar_digital@yahoogroups.com, "Nate Duehr" <n...@...> wrote: > > > On Thu, 14 May 2009 14:18:26 -0700, "John Hays" <j...@...> said: > > > Here is my thought on this. > > > > Radios should be identified by their official callsign (and optional > > designator character), tactical / special event callsigns can be put > > into the 4 char comment, on voice, or in the message field for SMS. > > Certainly, the local repeater could be allowed to pass tactical radio > > callsigns, but across the network you are just asking for routing > > errors if more than one station decides their callsign of the day is > > "TAC1" or "BASE" or "EOC" (mitigated by registration, but then only > > one station in the entire network can be "TAC1", in a dynamic > > addressed network it would be anarchy). > > It hasn't been "anarchy" yet... I disagree. Yes, you have to watch out > that you aren't using some tacticals that someone else is using on the > same day. How often has that happened in the real world yet? :-) >
I think in the "real world" you would find that quite often a "tactical callsign" is in use in multiple locations. (For example, during a hurricane in the Gulf coast, multiple EOC stations may be on D-STAR at the same time.) In the dynamic design, you really don't have a database of who's using what callsign (though such a design would probably have query tools) I see this design being very dynamic with routing lookups "on demand" with caching. So the local "gateway" sees your local special callsign and marks it as being on local repeater "X" and reports to the central data servers, that "EOC" is now on repeater "X" (based on the "MY EOC" field). The gateway also services another repeater "Y" and someone now calls "UR EOC" and it routes to repeater "X", good so far. Now another station on a remote gateway, servicing repeater "Z", has "MY EOC" set and keys her microphone. The remote gateway dutifully updates the central data servers that "EOC" is now on repeater "Z" and sends an advisory notice to your local gateway of this information. Your local gateway says, oh, "EOC" has moved, I'll update my hashtable, now the station at repeater "X" keys with "UR EOC" and the gateway dutifully routes it to remote repeater "Z" ... ooops! As I said before, the radio should ID its official callsign ... solving this problem. Certainly, my aforementioned alternatives would allow net or event participants to still use "tactical callsigns", an accepted practice in emergency communications. The use of "tactical callsigns" does not relieve a station of the responsibility of identifying his transmissions with his own callsign, so using the official station callsign in the MY field also frees the operator from having to remember to ID when in the heat of action during an event. > > The filter would have to be pretty "loose" but keep it to looking > > something like a callsign and definitely could filter certain profane > > words. > > Ohh.. now you've opened Pandora's box. Is it the Network's > responsibility to stop someone from transmitting naughty words in their > callsign field? :-) > As a repeater trustee, one would have the responsibility to follow rule (in the US) 97.113a4, if she is aware of such transmissions. > On both of the above ... I say "no filters". Transmissions are the > responsibility of the transmitting station... as always. Software in > charge of "human policy" always ends up a mess, and people figure out > ways around it anyway. > > Nate WY0X I would say the filters should be available at the gateway so that a trustee can have some management of its use, but they should be optional. -- John, K7VE
