Mar 26, 2015
Topics to be covered
• What is APRS?
• Why do I want APRS?
• How do I view APRS?
• OK, now how do I go mobile?
• Current software
• The internet piece of the puzzle
• Upcoming goodies
What is APRS
• Automatic
• Position
• Reporting
• System
• By Bob Bruninga, WB4APR
• Brief history
History of APRS
• Initial use as we know it in 1990 to track boats during summer cruises. The following flavors followed.
• MacAPRS
• WinAPRS
• APRS+
• pocketAPRS just released
• PerlAPRS
• XAPRS released as beta at 1999 Dayton Hamvention
Why do I want APRS?
• For Starters….
• Ok, Joe Ham tells me he has a bike rider down but has no clue were he is.
• Or, Joe Ham has hail coming down and still has no clue were he is.
• Joe Ham is part of a disaster evaluation team.
How do I view APRS?
Basic setup f or a fi xed station
TN C P C w ith m ap s R ad io on loca l freq u en cy
H om e S ta tion sTh is can b e :
E O CN E T C on tro l o r H om e
Software
• There are many flavors to APRS• DOS APRS• WinAPRS and APRS+SA• MacAPRS• XAPRS for Linux (currently in beta)• pocket APRS (Palm Pilot)• APRSdigi, digi software• PerlAPRS
OK, now how do I go mobile?
• TNC route
• Mic-E route
• Pic-E route
• GPS receiver
• Do I have/want to use a laptop?
Mobile Equipment
TNC Verses Mic-E or Pic-E
• TNC route requires a separate radio
• Mic-E and Pic-E can go in-between radio and mic.
• Either route can be run on separate radio
• Either route is referred to as a “TRACKER”
Definitions
• A tracker is a mobile station
• Posits are position reports
• UI Frames are frames that do not employ error correction techniques, entirely that is.
• Digipeaters are stations that act as a simplex repeater except in a digital format
• IGATES are stations that feed data to and from the internet
Definitions
• GATES are stations that take the HF APRS data and retransmits them on VHF and possible the internet.
• APRServers are stations that IGATES send data to and redistribute them to the IGATEs
How does it work, basically?
• A tracker or fixed stations sends out a UI frame that has lat/long and possibly other data.
• If the packet burst passes the checksum, the info is then displayed on the screen.
• If the checksum fails, the packet is lost. This is not a big deal since the posit will be transmitted again soon.
The Next Level
• IGATES, why would I want to do this?
• IGATES provide a feed to the net so everyone can see what is going on and allows for messaging on a world level
• Balloons, mobile stations, weather events you want to track, using automated watch/warning data to transmit in your area.
What else can I do with APRS
• Connect your weather station
• DF abilites
• track vehicles (balloons, trucks, space vehicles, hurricanes)
• messages
• Propagation, PropNet
Guy Story:
W8XF baloon launch on 8.3.97. The X indicates max altitude achieved.
Guy Story:
W8XF baloon launch on 8.3.97. The X indicates max altitude achieved.
Digipeater does and don’ts
Other station tips
• What is my tnc deviation?
• The target is 3 kHz deviation
• Greatly improves channel throughput.
• Go to http://www.febo.com/layer-one/index.html for more data.
• Open squelch??????
• Hidden and deaf transmitters
Credits
• Bob Bruninga, WB4APR
• TAPR
• Mark, KB2ICI and Keith, WU2Z, Sproul
• Brent Hilderbrand, KH2Z
• Steve Dimse, K4HG
• Mike Musick, N0QBF
• Rich Perry, W9IF
• John Ackerman, N8UR