Posted: 5/26/2012 4:47:51 PM EDT
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So I've been getting interested in APRS and researching it a lot. I know it's more than a tracking system and you can pass information to other hams. My problem is I have no idea what all I've read is super-cool-potential-theory versus what people in the real world actually use APRS for.
What do you personally use APRS for? (Not just what you know it can do). Do you often pass messages or emails? Do you often use it to get alerted to other hams on the road and make contact with them? What do you personally do with it? Trying to decide if it's worth it to take the researching into doing. Thanks. |
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Don't use it here. Go look at APRS FI and see if there is anyone in your area using it. The whole idea behind notifing others of repeater freqs or location is neat but its easily solved with a repeater directory and Hams monitoring 146.520
No on the other hand using it for weather is what I think is neat. Plus the kenwood rigs will "sky command" my ts 2000. |
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I use it primarily for what inventor Bob Bruninga, WB4AP, says it was not intended for, vehicle tracking. :-)
I have had a Kenwood D710 for a little over 3 years and it is on and TXing my info almost all of the time I am in my car. I originally got a D7 to use to track high power amateur rockets and high altitude balloons and have used it for that. While messaging is possible and a couple of buddies of mine and I do it occasionally, it is quite awkward to enter the messages using the mic. Doing it while driving would be bad; worse than texting if you ask me. At least with texting one could hold the phone up near/in the line of sight. ***DO NOT TEXT OR APRS MESSAGE WHILE DRIVING!!!*** In theory, you should be able to send a message to any user anywhere (on Earth) if you hit an i-gate and the message gets i-gated and the recipient is near enough an i-gate. In practice, we've never had that work and the message distance is limited to the number of hops you have set up. Also, in theory you can specify a path or direction of propagation for messages and beacons but I have never tried that. Sometime I will have to try a file transfer using it, but have not done so yet. I have the radio set up so that I use Side A for comms and save side B for APRS and after a short time you get tired of hearing the APRS packets. A suggestion of WB4AP himself is to set up an ARPS memory using CTCSS (not "PL") tone of 100. Then you will not hear the beacons that are digipeated but your radio will receive and decode them, maintaining APRS usability. If someone also using CTCSS 100 is near enough to you to support simplex comms you WILL hear the packet from them. Give them a quick shout on 144.390 to arrange contact on another freq. |
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I've been thinking about building an APRS dog tracking collar for my dog. I have most of the parts. Now I just need some time to concentrate on it.
I've also been thinking about getting into HF APRS. They've been doing some pretty cool stuff in Europe and it's starting to catch on over here. Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c89MXcvgNN4 |
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I run my kenwood when I am in the forest our out hunting. Gives me a good idea of the APRS coverrage I get in my stomping grounds, any hams interested in my presence might be alerted, and it allows my wife to know where I "was" if something happened when I am out either alone of with a buddy.
I have also sent a quick email through it a time or two. |
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Quoted:
The only time I use it is when I'm SKYWARN spotting or deployed for emcoms. In those instances being able to locate me on a map is a good thing. Other times it's nobody's bidness where I am.  We use it for nearly every special event we do (marathons, bike rides/races, etc). |
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i used it a good bit with the toranodes here. we took my truck for disaster response as the PD chargers don't do rough terrain very well. we were sent to spot area damage and call reports back into the command/fema base. almost no street signs were left in our area so we used it to call in a report and they could pinpoint us directly on the map without us having to know exactly what address we were in front of. it made things easier on our end.
i also have several weather stations in the area so i use it a good bit for area weather reports while on the road. i have had much need for the text capabilities. |
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Apparently I'm late to this topic, but I use it for two way communications. For my day to day purposes, my opinion is that vehicle tracking IS a form of two way communications. I never have to ask my wife where she is, and if I'm on the road, she never has to ask when I'll be home. In an emergency, where radio were the only way to communicate, I don 't have to tie up a repeater or even a simplex frequency for such a simple but vital piece of information. I call it two way because it provides the answer to a question that doesn't have to be asked. It eliminates a step.
Also, we do message each other. For instance, the other day, I forgot my phone at the babysitter's house. I would have emailed my wife, but she forgot her phone at home. So, I ran out to my car, and sent her a message from my GPS. Later, she said she was monitoring the repeater to see if I'd try to get a hold of her there. I said, "which one," which points out that even day to day, it can be difficult to get two people on the same repeater. In an emergency, good luck getting any time on one at all. Of course, she could have sent me a message telling me which repeater to meet her on. In an emergency if one of the local digis fails, our trackers can also serve as digis. We can be a part of the solution, instead of part of the problem. If 144.390 is just too busy, we can always choose another VHF freq, or switch to the UHF freq. Frankly, we could if we wanted to switch to a repeater, or a voice frequency otherwise in use. It would be rude, but minimally disruptive. Quoted:
just scored a vx-8gr on ebay for 200.00. now i can track myself between my truck and mcdonalds  One thing I found handy on the GR is the "wires" key is a sort of soft key. You can set this key to be a shortcut to one menu option. Rather than set it to one of the standard menu options, I like to set it to a shortcut to the APRS Modem menu item in the APRS menu. This way, if I want to listen to a voice channel on the B band, I can quickly turn off the modem so that I don't send any packets on the voice channel, but more importantly, it will turn off the APRS Mute. If the APRS modem is on, and APRS mute is on, you can't hear voice. |
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Quoted:
I mostly use it for vehicle tracking, especially on long trips so my family knows where I am. This, and for public service special events that I help with. Local skywarn folks would use it, except for the lack of local digipeater coverage, and difficulty of getting an in-car display. The messaging system would be a great "killer app" for APRS, if it was readily accessible, unfortunately it's not for most. |
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Using APRSIS32 at the house for my IGATE, have a tiny tracker3 in my truck, and a kenwood700 with AVMAP5 for the long trips.
Latest APRS radio is an ICOM Dstar 92AD, even though the purpose was for DSTAR. It does not transmit on the APRS frequency though, the repeater gateway sends that GPS data to the APRS-IS servers. Fun stuff. |
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Quoted:
Quoted: I forgot my phone at the babysitter's house.
That right there is one of them statements that could require explanation. Which you might want to send via APRS text. I chose the term "babysitter" instead of the more accurate, "daycare lady," but now admit the two different phrases have entirely different connotations. |