SYMBOLS.txt 6.0 APRS DISPLAY SYMBOLS APRS supports a number of different display symbols for differentiating objects on the map. The symbol type is indicated by the 44th character in the APRS standard position report. Although these special characters are automatically inserted into the APRS position reports, they are specified here for manual TNC stations. Remember that any TNC can still show up on APRS maps and displays as long as a properly formatted APRS position report is placed in the TNC BText. By placing one of these special characters as the delimiter after the LONGITUDE field, a station with only a dumb terminal can control his appearance on other APRS displays. For more information on manually formating APRS reports using only a dumb terminal, see the README.DUM file. The following table describes the symbols available and the special characters used to represent them. Notice that there are several generic shapes without designated descriptions, so that users can tailor their symbology to the particular APRS net application. If you have any suggestions for other symbols, please send them in... NOTE! Any particular symbol only has the meaning defined by the APRS net that is using it. So DO NOT INFER that an EMERGENCY or QUAKE symbol is a bonafide emergency! I particularly like to use the QUAKE symbol to indicate a location of special interest to everyone. The quake symbol is simply a bull's eye. At Dayton, for example, we used the Bull's eye to mark the location of the HARA arena! Specific symbols like TORNADO and HURICANE which ARE specific shapes should use the object name of TEST or similar if not real, to avoid exciting people unnecessarily... SYMBOLS ON MAPS! Not only can APRS symbols represent stations and objects off-the-air, they can also be permanently embedded in maps. To embed a label in a map, simply make the first three characters of the label be a $ followed by the symbol character, followed by a hexidecimal number from 1 to F that indicates the desired color for the symbol. The remaining 8 characters can be used for a conventional label at the same location. An example are the VORTAC nav-aids in Alaska. The Anchorage VORTAC appears as ANC on all maps below 128 miles. The label entry is $VFANC,LAT,LONG,128. AREAS ON MAPS! New in version 6.0, you can define BOX/CIRCLE/LINE or TRIANGLE areas in all colors, either open or filled in. They can be any size from 60 feet up to 100 miles. Simply move the cursor to the location, press HOME, move the cursor to te lower right corner of the AREA and hit INPUT-ADD-OBJECTS- AREA. You will be prompted for the type of area shape, and the color. Please note that AREA shapes can only be defined by selecting the upper left corner first, then the lower right second. The line is an exception. It is still top to bottom, but the lower point can be to the left of the beginning point. These symbols are useful for defining areas on MAPS in real-time to everyone in the net. For example, defining the area for a search-and-rescue, or adding a special ROAD or ROUTE for a special event. Be cautious in using the color fill option, since all other objects in that area that occur earlier in your PLIST will be obscured. AND you do NOT know the order of other stations P- lists. See the section below SHAPES, BORDERS, etc for details. SYMBOLS WITH STAND-ALONE GPS TRACKERS: Since the stand-alone GPS/PACCOMM TNC trackers output the raw GPS data over the air, instead of an APRS formatted position report, there are two methods that I have included for you to be able to specify the symbol type. The first, is to simply place the desired symbol character surrounded by braces as the first 3 characters of the TNC BText. Once the BText has been received, all stations will begin to use that symbol for all position reports from that station. Secondly, there is a default SSID convention which will be used if no other position data is available according to the following table: SSID DISPLAY SYMBOL -4 Bike -5 Helo -6 Yacht (sailboat) -7 Aircraft -8 Ships (powerboats) -9 Cars -10 Space (orbiting objects) -11 Balloons The actual symbol character used in the APRS position report formats are shown in the following table. The special character is the character that represents the symbol and is what is transmitted as the 44th character in an APRS formatted position report: SYMBOL TYPE SPECIAL CHARACTER COMMENTS ------------ ----------------- ----------------------------------- BOXES 0-9 Useful for close in ops since each one is CIRCLES A-K unique and therefore you don't need calls AIRPLANES ' Also for all -7 SSID's (heaven) ADVISORY(smallcrft) < AMBULANCE a ANTENNA (radio) r AREAS l Can be Circle,Line,Box etc BBS [ BALLOONS O BIKES b BUS U CALLSIGNS c Results from Callsign database in DX mode CIRCLE o Default for NMEA reporting stations CLOUDY ( " DIGIpeaters # EMERGENCY ! FIRE : added for stations in Calif FIRE DEPT d FLOODING w " FOG f " GALE WARNING g " GATEWAY & GRID SQUARE q four digit GRID SQUARE ? six digit HUMP ) Generic shape HURRICANE @ HELO X HOSPITAL h IOTA i Islands-On-The-Air TCPIP } Jay (J) , Generic shape JEEP j Kross + More like a RED CROSS Location . generic MAILBOX ] PBBS's etc NODE's x OBJECT / Default symbol PARTLY CLOUDY?SUNNY p " POLICE P PORTABLE ; Looks like a tent QTH - RAIN " " RAIL = trains, etc RecreationalVehicle R SAIL Y like a yacht SHIP s Also for all -8 SSID's SCHOOL K SNOWFLAKE * " SUNNY $ " SLEET e " TRIANGLE \ DF STATION: CSE and SPD will show BEARING TORNADO t THUNDERSTORM ` All of the following symbols are included TRUCK k U u Generic shape VEHICLE > Also for all -9 SSID's (engn, engn, #9) VAN v VORTAC V Aircraft naviagtional aid WEATHER _ (I used underline for ground conditions) DX Cluster % YACHTS (sailboats) Y for SAILBOATS Z z Generic shape 4 Char grid SQ q No symbol for 4 digit Grid Square reports 6 Char grid SQ ? No symbol for 6 digit Grid Square reports (this preserves the ambiguity of GS rpts) (note that these symbols are NOT xmted) Note that Weather stations will always show up as blue. This overides all other APRS colors. Weather stations will also not be dead reckoned since their course and speed indicates wind conditions and not station movement. I also made the sun show up as yellow overriding all other color conventions. SHAPES BOUNDARIES AND BORDERS In version 6.0, I have added a new format for specifying special areas. These shapes can be a rectangle, circle and triangle (for now) and can be any color and any size from 100 miles down to 60 feet. Since these shapes will be used to draw borders on the maps and to indicate boundaries, etc, they will not move. Therefore, I have used the CSE/SPD field to provide the additional information needed. Here is the definition: $CSE/SPD... Normal Field description lTyy/Cxx... Where: l (lower case L) is the symbol for "LOCATION SHAPES" T is the Type of shape: 0=circle, 1=line, 2=elipse 3=triangle 4=box add 5 to these => color-in C is the color from 0 to 15. For colors geater than 9, the / is replaced with a 1. yy is the sqroot of the latitude offset in 1/100ths xx is the sqroot of the longitude offset These offsets are ALWAYS positive to the right and down, except for the special case of a lower right quadrant line, these are given the Type of 6 and are drawn down and to the left. EXTENSION ALPHABET: Also in version 6.0 I have begun the definition of a alternate symbol alphabet. This alternate alphabet is indicated by the @ character to replace the / character between the CSE and SPD fields. This adds the restriction that new symbols that are NOT moving will still require a $000@000 course and speed field where, before, it was optional. So far, I have NOT defined any new symbols to use this alternate alphabet. But if you just GOTTA have that special symbol, lemme know. Now there is room to add it.