Tag: aprs

APRS in the Toyota Tundra

I’ve played around with APRS in the Toyota Tundra before. Now I’m upgrading the setup a bit. Instead of using the ICOM IC-T81A I switched to the Kenwood TH-D7A(G). To bump up the 5 watt output, I tossed in a Mirage 30 watt amp that I’ve had sitting on the shelf for the last five years. I’m still using my Garmin’s eTrex Vista, but now have the combo data/power cable. No longer do I need to worry about swapping out the 2x AA batteries.

Tomorrow I’m going to try to integrate one of my old Palm Pilots (Palm m125) to run Pocket APRS.

I also have to do some massaging with all the cables.

Go here to track me while mobile.

Quick & Dirty: APRS WX Station?

I want to put together an inexpensive APRS WX station for my dad, KD6EUG, to install up at his cabin in Mi-Wuk Village, CA. There was an article in the July 2006 QST that talked about one solution. But the big price tag comes with the weather station itself.

Today I found a nice, inexpensive solution from TAPR, the T-238+MODEM2 Kit. Not only is it APRS ready, it also incorporates it’s own TNC. The weather station components that it works with, 1-Wire™ Weather Instrument Kit V3.0, and also doesn’t break the bank.

We’ll see how this project comes together. For the radio, I will use either an FT-1500M (ideal for the job) or an HTX-242 if I can ensure it’s capable of the task. I like the W3BW (see QST article) solution of using a gel cell with a trickle charger. Should the shore power drop out, the APRS weather station should function for quite some time.

Speaking of WX stations…. you can go here to see the weather at the home QTH.

Looking at the APRS activity around Mi-Wuk, I’m seeing the following nearby stations:

K6TUO-3: looks like a digipeater in Sonora, sponsored by the Tuolumne County Amateur Radio & Electronics Society (TCARES).
K6NFL: over in the town of Arnold, Dave has a very nice wx page.
KE6KYI: located in Groveland.

Weather Display Working With UI-View

Swapped out the power supply with a new one and that did the trick.

I got the computer back up and operational. Weather Display was pretty easy to configure to get it started – although there will be a lot of tweaking. And with one or two clicks of the mouse I was able to send the weather data to UI-View/APRS.

You can see the latest data here:

http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wx.cgi?call=KD7PJQ-2

Weather Station Is Up!

Good news and bad news.

The good news is that I installed the anemometer up on the roof, spliced in an extension cord, placed the outdoor thermometer outside, and ran all the cables into the junction box inside the radio room. After getting everything plugged in, both the temp and wind gauge were responding – so far so good.

I connected the serial interface from the weather station to my tower that also runs the APRS application UI-View. I then downloaded Weather Display and started setting up the interface between the station and computer. I stepped out of the radio room for a moment and when I came back the computer had gone quiet.

Very odd. I’ve never had any problems with this computer before. After a little trouble shooting I can tell that the problem is with the computer and most likely the power supply. So I’m going to try and find a 300w power supply I can swap with the bad one.

… but did I mention the weather station is working!

Using Weather Monitor II with UI-View

From : Mullen
Sent : Thursday, December 22, 2005 10:16 AM
To : kd7pjq@xx
Subject : Re: Using Weather Monitor II with UI-View

Hi Scott

I am using the WX Monitor II to provide wx data thru the UI-View system. UI-View does not directly handle the data. I use Weather Display to generate the data file that UI-View sends out. You do have to have a connecting piece of software as UI-View does not generate the file. Weather Display is an awesome program and I have been really pleased with it. There are other programs that will work but this is the one that I am familiar with.

What ever software program you use to generate the file, install it in your Peak Systems folder so UI-View can find the file.

If you have other questions let me know.

Linda <>< AD4BL SEC ALASKA From : Joe Stepansky Sent : Thursday, December 22, 2005 5:05 PM To : kd7pjq@xx Subject : Re: UI View and Weather Monitor II Scott, Weatherlink is not the most APRS friendly software. I had to write a small Visual Basic program to get everything formatted properly. If you'd like it I can modify it so it'll run on your system. There's other software which will do APRS a lot better, such as Ambient Virtual Weather software. I’m thinking of purchasing it, but haven’t gotten around to it.

But let me know how you’re using Weatherlink (are you downloading weather observation packets?) and I’ll step you through from there. The UI-View part is easy, it’s the Weatherlink part that’s the pain.

73, Joe KQ3F

Go Army! Beat Navy!!


ISS commander cheers for Army in contact with Naval Academy’s W3ADO (Dec 1, 2005) — During a brief 2-meter contact November 26 between the US Naval Academy’s W3ADO and NA1SS, ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, cheered for an Army win in the traditional Army-Navy football game December 3. “Thanks very much for the contact, but I can’t resist,” said McArthur, a US Army officer and veteran. “Go, Army. Beat Navy!” At W3ADO Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, said he and some midshipmen were getting ready for a pass of the Academy’s PCSat2, which is attached to the ISS. He took advantage of the quick contact to thank the ISS crew for installing and maintaining PCSat2 and the MISSE5 experiment. McArthur responded, “Gosh, sure appreciate working with you guys. Good luck. Hope it’s a great game on Saturday.” The Academy plans to use PCSat2 to track the Army-Navy game football run from Annapolis to Philadelphia December 2. “Bill caught us by surprise, as it is very rare for them to find time to get on the radio,” Bruninga said afterward. And at the very last possible minute too–just as the ISS was passing east over the Atlantic, he added. McArthur reportedly made a few casual contacts during Thanksgiving week. Just before contacting W3ADO, he worked the Experimenters’ Group Amateur Radio Club’s N4ISS, operated by ARISS aficionado Al Lark, KD4SFF, in South Carolina. “After exchanging signal reports, I asked him what he ate for Thanksgiving,” Lark recounted. McArthur replied: “Al, we had a good Thanksgiving, gosh . . . turkey, corn, mashed potatoes, cranapple for dessert. We ate almost a full day of rations in one meal.” The NA1SS worldwide downlink frequency is 145.800 MHz. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program is an international educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.

Air Travel Sux…

… unless you’re flying 1st class. I can’t think of a single aspect of flying that I find even remotely redeeming. I’m at the Atlanta airport and if I get a chance I’m going to try and send out and APRS beacon.

Savannah APRS/packet is dead


I’m in Hinesville, GA (not far from Savannah) and there is no APRS coverage here. What’s up with that? It also appears packet is dead as well. You can see the lack of coverage here at aprsworld. The closest digipeaters are Walterboro, SC (to the north) and Kingsland, GA (just on the Florida border).


I’m hoping THE COASTAL AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY K4NLX AMATEUR RADIO CLUB can get something going. It seems to be an active club… just need them to put up a digipeater and an IGate.