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Introduction to APRS

Introduction to APRS. Ken Adkisson, WB4FAY www.wb4fay.com wb4fay@wb4fay.com. 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. A utomatic P osition

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Introduction to APRS

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  1. Introduction to APRS Ken Adkisson, WB4FAY www.wb4fay.com wb4fay@wb4fay.com

  2. 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

  3. What is APRS • Automatic • Position • Reporting • System • By Bob Bruninga, WB4APR • Brief history

  4. 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 • PerlAPRS • XAPRS • www.findu.com

  5. 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.

  6. How do I view APRS?

  7. Software • There are many flavors to APRS • DOS APRS • WinAPRS and APRS+SA • XAPRS for Linux • pocket APRS (Palm Pilot) • APRSdigi and Uidigi (digi software) • PerlAPRS

  8. OK, now how do I go mobile? • TNC route • Mic-E route • Soundcard as TNC • GPS receiver • Do I have/want to use a laptop ? • Use Sound Card for TNC ?

  9. Mobile Equipment

  10. TNC Verses Mic-E • TNC route requires a separate radio • Mic-E can go in-between radio and microphone • Either route can be run on separate radio • Either route is referred to as a “TRACKER”

  11. 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

  12. Definitions • GATES are stations that take the HF APRS data and retransmits them on VHF and possible the internet. • IGATES are stations that take the APRS data and retransmits it between an RF channel and the internet. • APRServers are stations that IGATES send data to and redistribute them to the IGATEs

  13. How does it work, basically? • A tracker or fixed stations sends out a UI frame that has lat/long and possibly other data (e.g. altitude, course, speed, wx info, etc.) • 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.

  14. 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.

  15. What else can I do with APRS • Connect your weather station • DF abilities • track vehicles (balloons, trucks, space vehicles, hurricanes) • messages

  16. Guy Story: W8XF balloon launch on 8-3-97. The X indicates max altitude achieved.

  17. Digipeater does and don’ts

  18. Other station tips • What is my tnc deviation? • The target is 3 kHz deviation • Greatly improves channel throughput. • Go to http://www.febo.com/packet/layer-one/index.html for more data. • Open squelch?????? • Hidden and deaf transmitters

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