I was waiting for a Linux kernel to compile the other day, so I was attempting to use the time to clear out my inbox, when i came across an email on the amsat-bb mailing list. It was from g7iii announcing aprstlm.

A telemetry viewer for APRS telemetry capable satellites. aprstlm connects to an APRS server, and monitors the APRS stream for telemetry packets from the appropriate satellite. It can also (optionally) connect to a predict server, to retrieve details about the satellite, such as longitude, latitude, range, orbit number, and eclipse.

I was interested, as I’ve never really had the time to write one myself (and I’m supplying telemetry data for PCSAT2), so I downloaded the source and had a look. It compiled and ran first time, and, as I’m working in the general area, I fired off an email to Iain asking if he had any interest in adding Ipv6 support.

Shortly thereafter my compile finished, I rebooted and had to go again ( I forgot to include the IDE subsystem). As it was a slow machine I decided to have a go at adding IPv6 support myself.

As it turns out, it wasn’t that difficult. As aprstlm is only new, it was pretty much a clear cut case of following the examples given in this howto. Hopefully he will include my patch in the next release.

That then got me thinking again, why is there still code been written today to support Ipv4 only?