The rule that amateur radio operators might run into is the prohibition
against commercial use.
snip
I suspect that if you asked three different real experts you'd get three
different answers about what's OK and what's not. *But if the on-air use
of the amateur radio results in income, it's arguably a violation.

It doesn't sound to me like the use described earlier falls into this
category, but if there's money (or non-monetary compensation) involved,
you should be careful. *

Good grief.

We use these radios to entertain ourselves, engage our crews, and to
provide
some flight safety/emergency response at very low cost, with
information
available to the people most motivated to respond in an emergency.
(That would be our fellow pilots . . . . )

Think what this could have meant in shortening location time in
Slovenia
this week. Terrain and forest meant the folks overhead couldn't find
an airframe.
Had an APRS-radio continued to do it's job, folks would have been able
to
respond to the location immediately by GPS coordinates.

I wish folks weren't in such a hurry to rush out with 'prohibitions
and
cautions', when the intention was simply to provide exposure to
another useful tool for pilots who choose to be licensed radio
operators. It turns out that there are many folks in US soaring who
are also licensed amateur radio operators.

You can choose to watch a given geographic area, and see
ALL the active transmitters, whether sailboats, hikers, cars/trucks or
aircraft through the web site. I simply provided a list of
preselected
radio call signs, to watch some call-signs on the move.

Technology and software currently exists to have mapping displays
in the 'cabin' to display APRS data, like ATC displays transponder
returns, like FLARM displays relative targets. Is this useful?
I don't know.

I'm not trying to make a buck off this. I'm just spreading
information.
Folks with more radio and technology savvy than I have might
take something from this and make a more useful product.

Hoping to fly with my KI6RFR-7 tomorrow.

Cindy
www.caracole-soaring.com