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Add explanations to the beacon symbol selection field #250

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opened 2026-10-05 05:54:14 +02:00 by adam · 4 comments
adam commented 2026-10-05 05:54:14 +02:00
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I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. I absolutely don't want to sound elitist or overly correct.

As an APRS beginner one might not be familiar with the different standards regarding beacon symbols that have evolved over time and/or are even part of the original APRS recommendations.

I asked myself before if there was any specific meaning to the 4 different symbols we can select on the iGate web-interface (Black, red, green, blue).

And yes, there of course is, what I found out later: https://noahkrasser.com/amateur-radio/02/02/2026/lora-aprs-igate-symbol-usage-guide/

I see lots of iGates/Digis being built that use a random symbol, probably "because it looks coolest".

My proposal is to either add an explanation to the selection field explaining the different icons meaning OR hardcode the symbol depending on which features are used.

The blue lora WX symbol is actually already hardcoded in the firmware. When a BME/BMP280 or similar is connected the symbol choice is overwritten and defaults to the blue circle symbol.
The other symbols could be hardcoded the same way. The green star for the digipeater activated; the red diamond for when TX iGating is activated and the black diamond for normal iGate mode.

As I said - this is of course low priority and relatively unimportant. But I believe many users ask themselves the same when trying to figure out which symbol to use.

Thank you Ricardo for your efforts!

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. I absolutely don't want to sound elitist or overly correct. As an APRS beginner one might not be familiar with the different standards regarding beacon symbols that have evolved over time and/or are even part of the original APRS recommendations. I asked myself before if there was any specific meaning to the 4 different symbols we can select on the iGate web-interface (Black, red, green, blue). And yes, there of course is, what I found out later: https://noahkrasser.com/amateur-radio/02/02/2026/lora-aprs-igate-symbol-usage-guide/ I see lots of iGates/Digis being built that use a random symbol, probably "because it looks coolest". My proposal is to either add an explanation to the selection field explaining the different icons meaning **OR** hardcode the symbol depending on which features are used. The blue lora WX symbol is actually already hardcoded in the firmware. When a BME/BMP280 or similar is connected the symbol choice is overwritten and defaults to the blue circle symbol. The other symbols could be hardcoded the same way. The green star for the digipeater activated; the red diamond for when TX iGating is activated and the black diamond for normal iGate mode. As I said - this is of course low priority and **relatively unimportant**. But I believe many users ask themselves the same when trying to figure out which symbol to use. Thank you Ricardo for your efforts! <!-- github-sync-id:3887680689 -->
adam closed this issue 2026-10-05 05:54:14 +02:00
adam commented 2026-10-05 05:54:15 +02:00
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Hi,

you already explained the proposed symbols that explain the usage of the station. So please , what is the question then?

PS: Blue Circle + L is hardcoded when sending Wx data because if not , the data won't be decoded as Wx telemetry on different APRS pages (like www.aprs.fi)

Hi, you already explained the proposed symbols that explain the usage of the station. So please , what is the question then? PS: Blue Circle + L is hardcoded when sending Wx data because if not , the data won't be decoded as Wx telemetry on different APRS pages (like www.aprs.fi) <!-- github-comment-id:3841985009 -->
adam commented 2026-10-05 05:54:16 +02:00
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Hi, my proposal is to add a short explanation to each icon so new users can easily understand when to use which icon. For example like that:

Image

But as I said it's just a minor detail and an idea that I wanted to share.

Hi, my proposal is to add a short explanation to each icon so new users can easily understand when to use which icon. For example like that: <img width="1209" height="547" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/aec57d53-4e96-4d70-80df-3f0f12a6b6de" /> But as I said it's just a minor detail and an idea that I wanted to share. <!-- github-comment-id:3843213461 -->
adam commented 2026-10-05 05:54:17 +02:00
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this is a good explanation! will try to add this for sure ;)

this is a good explanation! will try to add this for sure ;) <!-- github-comment-id:3843366293 -->
adam commented 2026-10-05 05:54:17 +02:00
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I've add it now (will be added to next release very soon ;) ) thanks a lot

I've add it now (will be added to next release very soon ;) ) thanks a lot <!-- github-comment-id:3843415670 -->
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Reference: adam/LoRa_APRS_iGate#250