auto_rx v1.5.10 Released - DFM Updates, APRS restrictions

[Mark Jessop]

Hi all,

I have just released auto_rx v1.5.10, with the docker images also now available.

As of auto_rx version 1.5.10, we are limiting APRS output to only radiosondy.info, and only on the non-forwarding port.
This decision was not made lightly, and is a result of the considerable amount of non-amateur traffic that radiosonde flights are causing within the APRS-IS network.
Until some form of common format can be agreed amongst the developers of *all* radiosonde tracking software to enable radiosonde telemetry to be de-duped, I have decided to help reduce the impact on the wider APRS-IS network by restricting the allowed servers and ports. 

Michal SQ6KXY has also configured radiosondy.info to stop forwarding radiosonde traffic onto APRS-IS.

If you are using another APRS-IS server that *does not* forward to the wider APRS-IS network and want it allowed, then please raise an issue at https://github.com/projecthorus/radiosonde_auto_rx/issues

You are of course free to fork and modify this codebase as you wish, but please be aware that this goes against the wishes of the radiosonde_auto_rx developers to not be part of the bigger problem of APRS-IS congestion.
As of 2022-03-01, radiosonde traffic has been filtered from aprs.fi, so even if you do modify the code, you still won't see sondes on that map.

APRS-IS is a *shared resource*, intended for the use of all amateur radio operators, and for many years we have been treating it as a playground to dump large amounts of non-amateur traffic into, so we can see weather balloons on a map.
Instead of congesting this shared resource with non-amateur traffic, we should instead be moving to using databases and sites specialised for this purpose, such as sondehub.org

This release brings the following updates:
* Decoders: DFM decoder should now be somewhat more robust to multiple DFMs appearing on the same frequency. This is not that well tested, so reports on how it performs when multiple sondes are present would be appreciated. - Thanks @rs1729 !
* SondeHub: Inhibit errors relating to Z-Match filtering.
* APRS: Removed the synchronous upload feature, which will help reduce instantaneous load on APRS-IS servers.
* APRS: Restricted the APRS server to radiosondy.info, and the APRS port to the radiosondy.info non-forwarding port.

Other Known Issues:
* iMet-1 serial number generation still has issues, and will result in iMet-1 sondes being assigned 3-4 different serial numbers throughout the flight. This is due to the iMet-1 telemetry repeating data across multiple frames. iMet-4 sondes should not be affected.

There are no configuration file changes in this release, though a note has been added regarding the APRS changes.

Note: We are aware that new installations may display the following message on startup:
```
The WebSocket transport is not available, you must install a WebSocket server that is compatible with your async mode to enable it. See the documentation for details. (further occurrences of this error will be logged with level INFO)
```
This can be safely ignored. The web interface should still continue to work as usual. Eventually we will figure out how to suppress it...

The pre-built Docker Image (https://github.com/projecthorus/radiosonde_auto_rx/wiki/Docker) is now the recommended way to setup radiosonde_auto_rx on a new station. Using Docker avoids issues with updates to dependencies, and allows for fixes relating to system packages to be easily pushed out to users.

Please report any problems encountered either on the  mailing list (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/radiosonde_auto_rx), or by  raising an issue (https://github.com/projecthorus/radiosonde_auto_rx/issues) on this repository.

**PLEASE DO NOT USE THE GITHUB GENERATED RELEASE ZIP FILES - USE THE  INSTALLATION/UPDATE STEPS (https://github.com/projecthorus/radiosonde_auto_rx/wiki/Performing-Updates) DESCRIBED IN THE WIKI**

73

Mark VK5QI

[EC5M-EA5AEL Manuel Rico]

Cutting off access to APRS is a sad decision, although we all respect her in appreciation for her efforts on the AUTO_RX software. But the arguments are not convincing for me which is not important but which I would like to comment on.
APRS traffic is not compromised by that generated by the probes and access must be self-limited with the access code that is generated for each callsign and take into account that identity theft if the access code of another partner is used is reason of penalty. Although many do not express themselves, I really think that we would all like to have access to APRS. In any case, we accept the decisions with the utmost respect.
Seeing the traffic in APRS I think there are many less interesting data than the balloons. People training, or with their private cars I don't think they are of great interest and if they load the network with data.
Greetings Mark. 73

[James Zelazny jr]

Agree 100% ...losing the Sonde on APRS is sad with so much more useless data on APRS that would be better sacrificed. APRS is exactly useful for TRACKING objects. Especially for objects Sonde that randomly land among us.

I lost interest in APRS now that tracking balloons are seen as wasted resources...I do not need to get my weather reports from privater WX setups which by the way most are so inaccurate they are useless anyhow. Or to see people driving to work or the grocery store ?

Have to rely on HABUB for hunting Sonde. APRS was a bit better because you can see where they land a bit better on a better map and smaller icons and symbols.

Jim