APRS is a registered trademark Bob Bruninga, WB4APR

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1 Matt Welch KB1LCS DEC District 10 Lake County, OH

2 What s on the Agenda? APRS Definitions & History Ham Radio Applications Typical Equipment Setup Mapping/Tracking Programs Weather Reporting Public Service Events APRS in Space? Resources

3 Definitions beacon a TNC function that permits a station to automatically send unconnected packets at user-defined intervals. Callsign, Course, Speed, Altitude, Comment. digipeater digital repeater, a device that receives, temporarily stores, and then transmits (repeats) packet radio transmissions that are specifically addressed for routing through the digipeater. Also called Digi IGate an APRS station connected to the Internet that relays the APRS data it receives locally to central Internet sites called APRS Servers.

4 Definitions path the route between two packet radio stations consisting of digipeaters and other packet stations. RELAY an obsolete APRS digi that has a small coverage area; it is intended to feed its packets to WIDE digi s. i WIDEn-n APRS digipeater protocol that simplifies digipeater addressing and promotes network efficiency.

5 What is APRS? Automatic Position Reporting System APRS was developed in the early 1990's by Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, for tracking and digital communications with mobile GPS equipped stations utilizing Amateur two-way way radio.

6 Key Highlights AX.25 Packet Protocol Based Authorized on ANY Amateur Band Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime Wireless Text Messaging Voice = Comms / APRS = Visual Mapping Many software versions available One to Many Communications RF and Internet (APRS-IS.net)

7 Applications to Ham Radio FEMA Drills / Exercises Search & Rescue Operations Bicycle Tours (MS150) Walk-a-thons Marathons (26.2 miles) Parades Direction Finding Damage Assessment SKYWARN Chase DX Dave W1RED

8 What Do I Need? Transceiver just about any radio will work. Power output not important! GPS Any GPS with NMEA port. Mobile / Portable Only! TNC Kantronics, AEA, MFJ

9 Basic Equipment (radio) A VHF Amateur Radio Transceiver operating on Mhz. (USA). Must be a transceiver as APRS uses a collision detection system to know when to send data. Range of coverage depends on the power of the transmitter MHz (USA)

10 Basic Equipment (GPS) There are 24 orbiting satellites used to pinpoint anyone's specific geographic location. They also provide ground speed and altitude measurements. Current accuracy ranges from 1-5 feet.

11 Basic Equipment (TNC) A TNC which is basically a radio (or RF ) modem. The TNC connects the transceiver to a GPS converting it s data into AX.25 Packet protocol. TinyTraks are simple Transmit Only stand alone APRS TNCs

12 Typical Mobile Setup GPS TinyTrak Mobile Radio GPS TNC Mobile Radio GPS Laptop Mobile Radio GPS Kenw ood TM-D700

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14 Typical Portable Setup PalmPilot GPS TinyTrak Standard H T TNC Standard H T GPS Battery GPS Kenw ood THD-7A

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16 TinyTrakT VHF Transceiver TNC V HF Transceiver TNC Laptop VHF Transceiver

17 Using TNC Function Radios Alinco DR-135T MKII with EJ-41U TNC Kenwood TH-D7A(G) Kenwood TM-D700A Kenwood TM-D710A Yaesu VX-8R (New in 2009) Connect a GPS and You re G2G! G

18 Kenwood TH-D7A(G) Built-in in APRS functions. Dual band 144/ MHz. Basic TNC at 1200 bps. On screen text t monitoring. i Plug in a GPS or key coordinates. Discontinued 2008

19 Kenwood TM-D700A A Dual band 144/440 MHz 50/35 Watts Built-in in 1200/9600 bps TNC including a digipeater Built-in in screen display of other APRS stations and messaging Add a GPS, and the proper cable, or simply key in your position coordinates

20 Kenwood TM-D710A 50W VHF/UHF Smartbeaconing GPS Connection Soundcard Interface

21 Yaesu VX-8R 5W 6M, 2M, W 220MHz 1100mA Battery 1800mA Battery Submersible Bluetooth Yaesu GPS

22 Alinco DR-135T MkIII / EJ-41U VHF ( ) 50W Allows direct input from any standard GPS. Unlike the Kenwood and dyaesu radios, it requires a PC to set it up, and there is no APRS display directly on the radio.

23 And Another Method Use PC sound card to transmit and receive signals from radio No TNC required AGWPE is an excellent Sound card interface for Packet Radio available free on the Internet. Simple interface circuitry (The same as PSK31). Requires a modest computer to operate

24 Adding a Soundcard Interface Allows you to see more than just local l RF. Utilize facilities available only on the Internet. t Low cost backbone between RF networks. World-wide availability.

25 How does the Signal Travel? Direct Relays

26 How does the Signal Travel? Relays and Digipeaters

27 How does the Signal Travel? Aa Straight through the Digipeater

28 How does the Signal Travel? Multiple Hops

29 How does the Signal Travel? Aa And to the Internet Gateway

30 Mapping/Tracking Programs APRS (DOS) WinAPRS Bob Bruninga Mark Sproul MacAprs Keith Sproul APRS+SA UI-View Xastir (Linux) XAPRS (Linux) PocketAPRS Brent Hildebrand Roger Barker Open Source Sproul Brothers Mike Musick

31 WinAPRS and MacAPRS Separate Windows and Mac programs Precision Mapping and Tiger Maps Supports GPS and weather station input Supports all standard Packet Radio TNCs Supports all standard d callbook CD-ROMs for lookup of call signs

32 WinAPRS (TigerMaps)

33 WinAPRS

34 WinAPRS

35 APRS + SA 32-bit Windows-based Delorme Street Atlas 4.0 through 9.0 TNC-2 or AGWPE for RF operation Standard NMEA GPS and Weather station support IGate to Internet Web Server

36 APRS + SA

37 UI-VIEW UI-View uses bitmap images for its maps. Also, the 32 bit version supports Precision Mapping. It supports TNCs in KISS mode and AGWPE host mode in addition to terminal mode - and host mode allows up to 16 RF ports. UI-View has a full-featured intelligent digipeater. UI-View has full support for connecting to APRS servers on the internet. A number of add-on applications providing additional functionality, i.e. UI-Radar, UI-NWS, UI- Terra

38 UI-VIEW Whether it is used just for WX, display only, or full TX /RX/internet. UIView is more than capable. With plug-ins, UI-View can receive NWS warnings and plot them on the map. UI-View can really shine in the emergency or event communications role.

39 UI-VIEW MAPS Full support for Precision mapping, plus you can capture many other mapping programs. SA virtual map. It makes it very easy to grab maps from Street Atlas V4, V5, V6, V7, V8 and V9 UI-Terra add-on allows you to make maps from Terraserver.

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41 Xastir Development is a collaborative effort of programmers from around the world. Xastir supports many map formats and is highly customizable. Xastir runs on Windows, MacOSX, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, and Lindows, with many more possible. On Unix-like operating systems, you can run your weather station or GPS on a separate computer as well, which is good for those hams who are already short on serial ports. Xastir is FREE! under the GPL license and comes with all source code.

42 I-GATE GATE, Two Way Street! An I-GATE is a local APRS station that utilizes the APRS Serve network to pass all packets heard on their local RF back to the Internet. It can also act as a gateway to pass messages addressed to local RF stations from Internet only stations. ti

43 Citizens Weather Corps The Citizens Weather Observer Program (CWOP) has become an interesting adjunct to the APRS Internet reporting system.

44 WXNET and CWOP Purpose Allows non-amateurs to access & utilize the APRS network to collect and report on local weather conditions. Does not require any kind of Radio Interface This data is available as a public service for any non-commercial use. Provides feedback and guidance to weather station operators to help them improve.

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46 Internet tracking developed by Steve Demise K4HG Findu.com

47 Public Service Events Net Control Event Coordinator Checkpoint Water Station First Aid Station SAG Vehicle Rover Vehicle Lead Vehicle Sweep Vehicle Law Enforcement Fire & Rescue EMS / Medical Emergency Mgmt. Park Ranger

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49 Into Space PCSAT The Prototype Communications i Satellite, is a US Naval Academy Aerospace student project. It was designed to give students real hands on experience in satellite design and operations APRS space frequency is published as

50 PCSAT was Launched in September 2001 from the Kodiak Alaska Launch Complex. PCSAT Satellite It was the first APRS satellite, and has since been joined by 3 other such satellites

51 PCSAT Enhancements Store-and and-forward Priority Comms feature onboard. Emergency / Priority Messages.

52 International Space Station International Space Station (ISS) was recently equipped with an APRS receiver on Used as a space digipeater in the APRS space satellite constellation Used by the crew to send messages to friends, family, and amateur radio operators

53 Resources GPS and Amateur Radio by Walter Fields, W4WCF. $18.95 from ARRL (#9922) APRS.org NWAPRS.info TAPR.org APRS Yahoo Group UI-VIEW Yahoo Group TM-D710A Yahoo Group

54 Terms & History Equipment & Gear Applications Weather Stations Public Events Satellites & ISS Resources SUMMARY

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