Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

The downside of relying on aprs.fi as your APRS client is I requires Internet connectivity for your device and for all stations displayed to be heard by Igates. Igates are digipeaters (digital repeaters) that have an APRS transceiver and a connection themselves to the Internet (Internet gate). It's a useful tool, 100% true, but it's worthwhile IMO getting a standalone APRS station working in your truck that doesn't need to be online to work. APRS stations can talk directly to each other just fine in the absence of digipeaters and that's the step that IMO makes APRS much more useful in the backcountry.

 

You can hook them up to a tablet and just download the maps so you don't need the internet. It'd work great and make it easy on the eyes.

 

I don't it's just not for me. Here is something to ponder if you don't have cell service there may not be a tower to hang a repeater antenna on they too usually are on hill tops. Maybe IVIS on 80 meters? but still don't bet your life on RF.

 

Relying on a cell phone or InReach is betting your life on RF. Cops and firefighters rely on RF. Actually a lot of amateur repeaters are co-located at sites that also host those public service and business repeaters. I've had fine luck doing 40m NVIS here in Colorado, works well.

 

Really, I'd say an inreach for time critical situations and a wire + hf for everything else.

Also, if you find a hill and can have a clear shot I'm sure some folks would be shocked with what they can hit with APRS. I've hit a repeater out here. A good 70 miles to the closest town.




I'd probably throw a 20m wire and call out to have help called in. An NVIS antenna would need the other to have an nvis antenna if local. But you can always have someone in PA call their local emergency center and have information relayed.


Just my experience in my travels. 20m efhw wire into a tree and you're talking to someone.

 

There is a downside to everything, but ignoring something because it is not perfect?


Dead battery = your ham is a boat anchor

Snapped antenna = see above


Down repeaters = ham becomes limited
Should I continue?



My point was simply, this is simply another tool in a tool box. Which gives you options, and when you are in the middle of nowhere and need assistance, options are awesome.

 

maybe a thing if a dedicated base camp was setup

This is why I have my D710 setup as a digipeter when in the outback

 

Which is solving what problem?

My station can act like a digipeater and with a small group that's of course useful. But in those cases I'll usually have the tripod and poles to build a complete portable base station.

So just curious what you're doing by going to the effort.

 

My understanding is that it helps fill in the gaps

 

If stations are not in range of a stationary digipeater, generally one that has an antenna on a tower in a good spot and probably high power, your mobile fill-in is unlikely going to really be much of an improvement. Depends, too, on the intention. If it's to try extending the APRS-IS (the wide area Internet network) or if it's just to hear each other (a local network).

It might be important for an event perhaps, like you're talking about parking your truck or setting up a station at a high spot to provide a temporary geographic transfer from a dead spot or just being a local temporary repeater but not expecting necessarily to make it to the APRS-IS.

Thing is for the most part fill-in stations just cause network collisions since they're usually not configured to act nice. Especially a temporary one.

You might read through this, in particular the correct setting for a fill-in station or if you're trying to be an actual network hub/digipeater or Igate. The configuration isn't necessarily always going to be the same, too. Depends on the paradigm and intention.

http://www.aprs.org/fix14439.html

 

Couldn't it be done with cross banding?

GR to truck ham
Which is recieving on VHF and retransmitting on UHF....?


Also doesn't APRS use the GPS system?

 

As in gps satellite for communication, no. They just use them to get data

 

Who or what is they......


And please expound on " to get data"....


Trying to figure this out before I bust cash to grab a mobil unit.

Currently a tech license, testing end of May for general.......

 

All the GPS in the radio or tablet does is get your coordinates and then just puts your location in the signal. That signal either goes to a repeater, another radio, or a different kind of satellite that requires a whole different set of hardware which isn't going to help you in your case.


Ftm-400
Ftm-100
Tm-v71a
D710


Those are pretty much your options for APRS radios if you're looking into it.

 

GPS satellite only transmit the current time. A GPS chip such as the one in your device knows where the GPS satellites are (they're very carefully positioned) and because they all are synchronized to transmit the exact same "time" at the same time, the GPS chip can measure the difference in the timings To triangulate itself from them..for example, a GPS chip might be receiving signals from three satellites. Satellite 1 reports it is 12pm 02min 1.356seconds. Satellite 2's signal takes a bit longer to arrive, so at the same time (from the Chip's POV) It received a signal from satellite 2 saying the time is 12pm 02min 1.126seconds. And similar from the third satellite, it received 12pm 02min 1.724seconds. Because it knows Where each satellite actually is, and it knows the speed of light, it's able to calculate it's distance from each satellite, and then it can see where those three distances intersect. That intersection is your GPS coordinate.

 

Awesome sauce, I even understood that, thanks.

 

Yaesu FTM-400XDR is topping the list currently. On sale at HRO for 460ish....

Big Chunk for 1st real radio but buy once, cry once.

 

All depends on what you want out of it . If you want a touch screen and digital voice modes, it's the way to go.

 

Larger screen

And cross banding

And a radio i can grow into

 

For APRS, a gps enabled device (the "they") like a smart phone or a TNC gets its location, turns it to a data packet with an app, then broadcasts that as a sound file. A receiver can pick it up, translate the sound file into the original data and translate it back to a text message, etc. It's essentially the same concept as old dialup internet. Even makes a similar sound.