Hello Joel:

The original post was not for the purpose of encouraging a non-ham to have a
permanent APRS installation. The point of the original post was to
familiarize those not acquainted with APRS about the possibilities for use
with soaring. It has some real benefit over SPOT in that fellow pilots can
follow each other, even though they do not have internet capability. And,
there is no service fee. I know a number of soaring pilots who are hams.

The post also included the fact that the benefits can be utilized by
non-hams. There is no gray area about that. That was somewhat like a
footnote, since it was not the main purpose of the post. I posted a website
which contained further information, for those that were interested.
Suddenly, The thread turned to "it cannot be done", so that has consumed
much of the content. Note that I did not advocate that a ham should install
hundreds of APRS systems and then walk away. I am going to build a couple
and try them out in my glider and a friend's glider. I am going to turn
them on and turn them off. I did not advocate a permanent installation, and
you yourself admitted you would be comfortable letting a non-ham fly with
one.

In days of old, we went down to the FCC office and had to pass a code test,
with some government official breathing over our shoulder. I did that. No
more. Code has gone away and the written test is no longer taken in an
office. You can memorize the question pool in a day and take the exam - if
there is a benefit from becoming an amateur. APRS might be that benefit.

In essence, the thread started selling the benefits of amateur radio,
demonstrating that amateur radio can provide safety and convenience to the
glider pilot. It was not to promote an outlaw operation. The FCC knows
exactly what is going on with APRS and has not handed down one adverse
ruling, letter or public statement even suggesting anything that I advanced
in my statements is in a gray area. I expect the reason is that they wish
to advance technology and promote technical growth. Remember that the
original application of APRS was a unit that was placed on a non-ham. I
recall it was a blind runner in a marathon. As a result of this experiment,
APRS is now used by many agencies and services.

Colin Lamb