I'm not trying to make it a competition between the two products...I was just answering a specific question in the thread. It was implied that Repeaterbook may not be geo-enabled, when in fact it is. All repeaters have coordinates associated with them (accuracy cannot always be verified) and can be mapped. Mobile devices like iPhones and Droids can take advantage of their onboard GPS chips to locate repeaters near them.
Garrett
-----Original Message----- From: Dan Smith [mailto:dsmith@danplanet.com] Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 11:09 AM To: chirp_devel@intrepid.danplanet.com Cc: Repeaterbook Admin Subject: Re: [chirp_devel] Repeaterbook.com
However, RFinder is ALWAYS GPS enabled...EVERY record has Lat/Lon worldwide!!!
Thanks for the laugh, but just to keep the reality distortion field in check:
I think what Garrett was getting at was the fact that many coordination bodies do not share the actual coordinates of the repeaters for security reasons. Most of the coordinates that do get shared are the nearest city, landmark, or the top of the mountain on which the repeater is sited.
I just spot-checked several repeaters in the local area for which I know the real locations. RFinder reports the same coordinates that the coordination body does, and that repeaterbook.com does, which are in some cases, a few miles and thousands of vertical feet away from where the actual repeater site is.
I think the risk for repeaterbook sharing the coordinates is low, given that they're usually either (a) already shared via some other mechanism or (b) already sufficiently ambiguous to the owner's satisfaction. However, keeping with the practice of most coordination bodies is more than sufficient for the purposes of a repeater directory and certainly a respectful hat tip to the owners of the hardware itself.
(CC: Garrett as I don't think he's on the devel list here)
-- Dan Smith www.danplanet.com KK7DS