Amateur Radio – a hobby where people talk about their hobby using their hobby.
I was able to get PocketAPRS up and running. Received APRS packets were plotting to the map and I was able to list out all the received stations (6 so far). Now I just need to get a cable that is a little more user friendly.
The application – pcktaprs.zip
maps…
World – World.PDB
North America – N__America.PDB
US Interstate – US_Interstate_Highways.PDB
Norfolk – Norfolk_Newport_News.PDB
I’ve been trying to connect my Palm IIIxe with the D7A and was partially successful.
PocketAPRS is a software application for Palm PDAs – it allows you to interface between a transceiver and a TNC.
The author of the software, Mike (N0QBF), no longer supports the software. I was able to get a copy of the software, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to register it – which leads me to believe it won’t work properly. We’ll see.
I did get the software loaded onto the Palm IIIxe and was able to get the Palm to talk to the D7A. But as of tonight, I wasn’t able to receive an APRS packet through the D7A and plot to a Norfolk map on the Palm. Maybe tomorrow.
I’m also thinking of getting a fabricated cable to connect the Palm to the D7A:
https://www.bluehillsinnovations.com/store/index.php?action=item&id=17&prevaction=pricelist
Or if I find some software for my Palm T3:
http://www.mobiledriven.com/2tnctopaunca.html
It’s the huricane that just wouldn’t go away.
I changed my UNPROTO to WIDE3-3,WIDE2-2 and met with some success. The following came off of www.findu.com:
KD7PJQ-6>S7PV8P,N4EVA-11,WIDE3*,WIDE2-2,qAo,W8JUK-3:`h8?o^2″3r}TH-D7A(G)
KD7PJQ-6>S7PV5S,N4EVA-11,WIDE3*,WIDE2-2,qAo,W8JUK-3:`h8Vo6)”4″}TH-D7A(G)
KD7PJQ-6>S7PU1X,N4EVA-11,WIDE3*,WIDE2-2,qAo,W8JUK-3:`h7C!SE”3z}TH-D7A(G)
KD7PJQ-6>S7PT4S,N4EVA-11,WIDE3,K4ROK-10*,WIDE2,qAo,KF4VTT:`h6N!S6″3x}TH-D7A(G)
KD7PJQ-6>S7PS5X,N4EVA-11,WIDE3*,WIDE2-2,qAo,W8JUK-3:`h5(!]9″3x}TH-D7A(G)
Blue dots above represent a plot from each packet that made it to N4EVA-11.
What I did for this test was to connect the GPS to the D7A and drove out to Newport News and back. While going up and down I-64, I kept getting good packets being digipeated from N4EVA-11. But once I leave I-64, the signal from the D7A (with just a rubber duck, no external antenna) no longer hits N4EVA-11.
Unless I set up my own digipeater, I have to be able to get my packet to N4EVA-11. I believe the key piece of being able to do this while bicycle mobile is to install a decent antenna. I’m going to look for something suitable at the Virginia Beach Hamfest this weekend.
On yesterday’s drive around Langley AFB, I was getting steady packets from AD4NJ and noticed his location was just on the north side of Langley in Poquoson. After getting back home, I went to www.findu.com to take a look at his raw packets in an attempt to determine his UNPROTO path. I also sent him an email with the same question. Here’s his reply:
From : Curtis Overman
Sent : Saturday, September 10, 2005 10:03 PM
To : scott
Subject : aprs
Good to hear from you Scott, I am just setting my APRS station up again. I understand that the unproto path locally is:
(1) Mobile wide1-1,wide2-2
(2) fixed 25w or more wide2-2
73′ Curt AD4NJ
Still not quite getting there. I drove out to Langley AFB and parked in an open area. I sparked up the GPS and was soon passing data between the GPS and D7A. The D7A was soon chirping away as the APRS data was inbound. I verified that packets I received were being passed from the D7A to my GPS and plotting as waypoints (as advertised). I then received a beep and the message “My Position” came up on the D7A display. A good sign – this meant that someone had digipeated my packet and I recived it.
So – I know the GPS and the D7A are talking as they are supposed to. But I think my issue is what to use as an UNPROTO path. RELAY,WIDE? WIDE2-2? WIDE3-3? WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1?
Yesterday after work I took the bike over to a location with good line of sight, powered up the GPS, connected it to the D7A, and then powered up the D7A. I was receiving APRS traffic and transmitting my position as a beacon. However, I was unable to receive back my packet – so I’m concluding that my signal was not making it to the local digipeater (N4EVA-11). As the D7A is a dual-bander, I left the top band on the APRS freq and the bottom band I set to scan regular local voice repeaters and the placed the D7A in the handlebar bag. On my ride home I could here APRS traffic and a few calls on the regular repeaters, but I could tell reception was poor. I’m assuming having the D7A in the bag greatly diminishes my over all signal strength.
What I have yet to verify is that data being passed from the GPS to the D7A is being xmitted. My earlier test where I successfully passed a packet to the digipeater was from a lat/long location directly programmed into the D7A, not from the GPS.
Right now for a UNPROTO I’m using WIDE3-3. I’m going to change it to RELAY,WIDE and see if that makes it to the digipeater. In the past (with the TinyTrak) I’ve tried using an UNPROTO of N4EVA-11 and then to the Igate. But that’s never worked. I think N4EVA-11 only digipeats RELAY. I’m going to do a little fiddleing around with it this morning.
My endstate objective is to have a bicycle mobile setup with APRS and packet functionality.
Bicycle Mobile – Test #1
Objective: xmit at least one APRS beacon packet from my bicycle mobile HT to a digipeater capable of ultimately passing the packet to an Igate and enabling anyone to view my location via www.findu.com.
Components used:
(1) Garmin eTrex Vista GPS. I originally got this GPS when I was stationed in Korea back in 2001. While pulling duty in the brigade EOC I overheard radio traffic of a company XO who was making a chow run…. running hot chow out to soldiers in the field. The company XO (a lieutenant) was lost. He didn’t admit it at first, but finally said he didn’t know where he was. Being lost as a lieutenant is pretty bad, but having to admit over the brigade net that you are lost ranks among the most humiliating acts. At that point, I determined I’d purchase a GPS so I’d never be “lost”. I’ve really enjoyed the GPS so far. It worked great in Korea, I also used it in Germany, took it to Kuwait, used it on the convoy into Iraq and Baghdad, used it in and around Baghdad, and also used it on the return trip. It’s very solid and is pretty easy on the batteries. I was previously using the GPS along with my TinyTrack as an APRS beacon (http://www.livejournal.com/users/shedberg/2005/04/21/).
(2) GPS handlebar mount. I received it in the mail yesterday and installed it this morning. Pretty easy to install, the GPS slides on and locks into place.
(3) Kenwood TH-D7A(G). Designed to be used specifically for APRS, I figured the D7A was the radio for the task. I have the stock battery pack (PB-39, 9.6 V, 600mAh). For an antenna, I’m using something similar to the MFJ-1715S. It’s one of those thin, long dual band jobs.
(4) eTrex-Kenwood GPS data cable. I purchased this off of eBay from the GPSGeek store. The cable has the Garmin eTrex proprietary plug on one end and the 2.5mm plug for the radio on the other.
Pre-Test
As a preparatory test last night, I attached the D7A to my 2m/70cm vertical installed on the top of my house. I set the packet path to Wide3-3, manually inserted my lat/long location into the D7A, activated the beacon function and was able to transmit the following packets that made it to the www.findu.com database:
KD7PJQ-6>S7PS8P,WIDE3-1,qAo,N9VP:’h/Vl TH-D7A(G)
KD7PJQ-6>S7PS8P,N3XKU-15*,WIDE3,qAo,KA1UDX-1:’h/Vl TH-D7A(G)
KD7PJQ-6>S7PS8P,N4EVA-11,WIDE3*,qAo,N3IJW:’h/Vl TH-D7A(G)
KD7PJQ-6>S7PS8P,N4EVA-11,WIDE3*,qAo,W8JUK-3:’h/Vl TH-D7A(G)
KD7PJQ-6>S7PS8P,K4EME-3*,WIDE3-1,qAo,N4DSL:’h/Vl TH-D7A(G)
This test confirmed for me that the D7A was capable of transmitting APRS data locally, finding it’s way to an Igate, providing anyone the capability to check my location via the internet.
Test #1 Execution:
This morning I clipped my GPS onto my bikes handlebars and rolled the bike onto the driveway. Turning on the GPS, I was quickly able to get satellite lock and a position read out. I connected the data cable between the GPS and the D7A and powered the D7A on. A Band was already set with the APRS freq and TNC on. I pressed the POS button and the D7A successfully pulled my current location from the GPS and displayed it on the D7A. Immediately after that, the D7A’s red xmit light came on, indicating that the HT was xmiting my current position. The radio beeped and I could see other APRS traffic being received. I locked the key pad and placed the D7A into the bag on the front of my bike with the antenna sticking out at a 45 degree angle.
I headed out on my 5.44 mile trek to work.
The GPS was working fine the entire ride. The speedometer on the GPS was showing the same speed as my little Bell cycling computer.
I arrived at work and pulled the radio out of the bag. There were no stations listed on the screen – which indicates to me that no APRS stations were received by the D7A. I hit the BCON button a few times, but didn’t receive any responses.
I’m assuming one of two things happen: (1) my antenna isn’t doing an adequate job. Again, the D7A is located in the bike bag hanging off my handlebars and I’m not using any type of counterpoise with the antenna. Or (2) there was an issue with how the radio was positioned in the bag which either caused the data cable to come loose or accidentally engaged a key on the key pad.
Test assessment:
Overall the test was a failure.
Recommendations:
Before I head back home after work, I’m going to take my bike over to a location with good line-of-sight and try sending an APRS beacon to see if I’m getting a response. I’m going to first attempt to send the beacon while I’m holding the radio so I can monitor what is being displayed on the screen. If I’m successful with that, I will carefully place the radio into the bike bag and try this test again on my trip home.
EchoLink® software allows licensed Amateur Radio stations to communicate with one another over the Internet, using voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology. The program allows worldwide connections to be made between stations, or from computer to station, greatly enhancing Amateur Radio’s communications capabilities. There are more than 150,000 registered users in 152 nations worldwide!
I installed the EchoLink software and was able to have a brief QSO with my dad, KD6EUG. I was on my laptop and he was using his HT. I connected in to a repeater in Saratoga, CA and it worked very well.
Tonight I attended a class to become a National Weather Service storm spotter under the SKYWARN program.
The training was held at the Newport News Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Joe Safranek, K4JJS, helped coordinate with the NWS to get one of their meteorologist from the Wakefield, VA office to conduct the class. There were a lot of hams there – coming from Williamsburg, Newport News, and Hampton. The training focused on severe weather – lightning, thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes. I got to learn what conditions lead to forming a thunderstorm and how tornadoes are created. All in all, it was pretty interesting. I know have my Storm Spotter qualification and am suppose to contact the NWS at Wakefield if there is severe weather activity around where I live and work.
The ham radio piece comes in to play in case a big storm comes through and knocks out power and telephone lines. At that point, as weather spotters, we’d pass our reports over a local VHF repeater, which would then go to the NWS.