idea: multiple call signs

[DC7IA]

Everytime I'm in another country I had to change my pat config.

So an idea would be to allow setting multiple call signs or maybe even allowing to set it using the web interface.

Something like that. Just easier than editing the config. :D

What do you think? 🤔

[xylo04]

There's already an option for auxiliary/tactical callsigns in the config file, but I honestly haven't used it and don't know if it would fit your use case.

[DC7IA]

What are tactical call signs?

[xylo04]

There's an article on the Winlink website. I've mainly heard of them used in emergency communications; for example, there may be many operators working at an emergency operations center (EOC), and rather than trying to address one of them by callsign (trying to guess shift schedules), someone in the field may just address the EOC tactical call sign.

However, looking at the article, it looks like tactical callsigns are treated differently (no passwords for one thing) so it may not be appropriate for switching between multiple callsigns for different countries.

[martinhpedersen]

The auxiliary callsigns feature will allow you to fetch emails for multiple addresses (callsigns) at the same time. Please refer to the config docs for details on how to set this up.

You could also change the callsign temporarily with the --mycall command line option, or by having multiple config files and use soft links to switch between them (for more complex setups). Pair that with a bash script, and I think you should be covered.

But the real solution IMO would be to implement a config editor for the web gui. In fact, it's been on my wishlist for some time. Ref issue #5.

[DC7IA]

But the real solution IMO would be to implement a config editor for the web gui.

Yeah, that'd be great.

However, my idea is to be able to set multiple callsigns and choose between them when connecting.

That way I can save, for example, DC7IA, 5Q7IA and PA/DC7IA and choose between these three callsigns. :D

[martinhpedersen]

Yes, maybe we should consider adding a way to switch between multiple saved config files in the config editor (editor/selector). That could be very useful 👍

[DC7IA]

multiple saved config files

But please seperately for call signs and radios.

I use 5 call signs and 2 radios, so I need to do a lot of editing. 😅

[JoshuaCarroll]

There's already an option for auxiliary/tactical callsigns in the config file, but I honestly haven't used it and don't know if it would fit your use case.

I can't find any documentation on this. Can you please direct me to where I'd find how to configure tactical call signs?

[DC7IA]

@xylo04 Did you see @JoshuaCarroll 's question? I'd be interested in the answer as well.

[Mihara]

But please seperately for call signs and radios.

...Actually, since the config is json anyway, wouldn't it be easier to offer an option to supply multiple config files on the command line, where subsequent ones override the first one by merging the json object structure? So you'd have

{
 "mycall": "foo",
 ...
 "ardop": { "rig": "bar", .... },
 ...
}

and

{
 "ardop": { "rig": "baz" }
}

and

{
 "mycall": "quux"
}

and then list them in order of which bits you need.

[DC7IA]

and then list them in order of which bits you need

You mean I could select from a list of radios and call signs?

[Mihara]

You mean I could select from a list of radios and call signs?

With extra command line switches, yes.

You'd have one master config file, (~/.config/pat/config.json) which describes the default state. You'd have extra config files (~/.config/pat/radio2.json and (~/.config/pat/call2.json, etc) each of which only contains parts of the whole json configuration structure that are meant to be different.

Then you'd call pat with pat --config=~/.config/pat/config.json --config=~/.config/pat/radio2.json --config=~/.config/pat/call2.json to overlay them to get the combination you need.

There's even a ready-made library that does this: https://golangexample.com/a-universal-json-merge-library-for-go/