New TMS/SMS-services

Jens, do1jg, implemented some new BrandMeister services. Now it is possible to request your own or another stations APRS position (with complete postal address!) via TMS/SMS. Also weather reports for the own or another location can be requestet, and the METAR airport weather can be retreived with the ICAO airport designator.

All services are triggered with command to 262993. The radio must be configured for TMS/SMS usage, and the dashboard must be set at https://brandmeister.network/?page=selfcare for the correct radio type. When the repeater info command RPT to 262994 already works, nothing needs to be done.

A small overview is available with sending the the command HELP. All commands are not case sensitive. The doumentation in our B;262-wiki is not yet translated, only in German: http://wiki.bm262.de/doku.php?id=servicenummer.

Jens really did a fabulous job with these features. They are not only gimmicks but hae a real use case. IT is quite impressive what happens when someone knocks on the BM door, “hey, I have an idea”. Interfaces are supplied, configurations and functionalities in the network are adjustes or even extendet (when needed), and this way our small team builds new features in amazingly short time. My first reaction two weeks ago with the first demo was, “How awesome is this – WTF?!”. Then a small user base tested and gave feedback, had lots of ideas and suggestions. Jens took this all into account quite straight, and with every test the features became better.

We expect that the project is not yet finished. The concept is open and flexible enough to improve and extend the functionality quite a bit.

Have fun with this!

Ralph, dk5ras, for the German BM262.de-Team.