You are correct Dave, the responsibility is on APRS-IS client authors to do some level of validation that a passcode request is from a licensed amateur radio operator.  I am indebted to the group admins for assisting me with this ongoing task.  We field probably 10 or more requests per week, sometimes less, sometimes more.

Rob, you are correct that the algorithm isn't complicated nor secret nor secure, but we work with what we're given.

Please do NOT publish links to APRS passcode sites.  We know they exist, we know they're easy to find, but we don't condone their usage.  That said, if someone asks you for a passcode and you KNOW they hold a current amateur radio license, feel free to use such a site to generate one for him/her.

But in the meantime, let's try to adhere to the specification at http://www.aprs-is.net/Connecting.aspx which says (emphasis their's):

passcode=computed passcode for your callsign. -1 is used for receive-only. It is the responsibility of each software author to provide the proper passcode to their individual users on a request basis. This is to aid in keeping APRS-IS restricted to amateur radio use only.

and further admits:

While the algorithm to generate the passcode is available from some open-source locations, I will not publish it here. If you are an Amateur Radio operator writing software for APRS-IS, contact me directly for the algorithm; otherwise, contact the software author for your passcode.

Lynn (D) - KJ4ERJ - Author of APRSISCE for Windows Mobile and Win32

I'm sure one of the admins in this group has a link to the Wiki that will tell you that the only ones that are supposed to 'give out' pass codes is the owner of the program. That prevents hopefully the unauthorised use of ham frequencies, I in the past shared a link to one of those sites and was made aware of that fact.

 Dave N8PU

On Wed, Sep 16, 2020 at 10:39 AM Rob J. <kd2grs@...> wrote:

Steve,

I don't know Gary so I can't directly help you. But a tidbit of information on passcodes that might be of interest to others in the group. The algorithm to generate a passcode is nothing secret or special. You don't kneed to "apply" to anyone for a passcode, any site or service that needs a passcode uses the same passcode,  there is no approval process, the FCC is not involved or anything like that.

Go to a web site like DELETED , type in your call sign and you will get your passcode. Use it anywhere for APRS that needs it - in any radio, software or app.

73, Rob - KD2GRS