Official Colorado HAM and cheese thread

Yes, they always state if they are (Also if they include the GPS or need access to one). Don't forget you will need a tablet of some sort to display. @odomandr knows a bunch on this I believe

I found this handy a bit ago
https://wcares.org/special-interests-3/aprs/aprs-what-are-my-options/

@Lars also is expert around here.

 

I've got the tablet, and have aprsdroid that works with the baofeng currently.

The cost of an aprs mounted unit will be the deciding factor.

 

I'm pretty disillusioned with APRS myself.
Seems to work best when I'm in areas where I have cell signal anyway and don't need it.
You have to have a dedicated radio/antenna for it unless you're not talking much because obviously you can't transmit voice while it's sending packets.
apart from the aprsdroid stuff, APRS is pretty expensive and the solutions I've seen don't allow for viewing others like you can with aprsdroid.

Someone in the regular HAM thread posted this link https://www.byonics.com/mt-rtg
again, pretty expensive and you still don't have a way to view APRS

 

I think with the mounted radios you only need a single antenna. And you need to connect them to a tablet to see positions of others.

Pretty sure that's how I've seen two builds setup.

And it only works when you have enough power to hit a tower that's capable of transmitting that info. So a handheld baofeng won't be able to get the info out to a tower like a 50w mounted unit.

At least that's my limited guess/understanding.

I'll probably run two radios/antenna over my memorial day trip to test it in remote areas.

 

Right.
And a 50w aprs setup is expensive even before you figure out how to set up a display.
I'd love to be proven wrong, but I don't think even 50w is going to make a difference deep in the mountains when it comes to hitting an aprs repeater judging by what I've seen of aprs coverage.

 

It's is not cheap and I too am uncertain that it is necessary with how widespread cell coverage is

 

@teamhypoxia I believe is right, APRS has a set "timing" for broadcasting so with a Single antenna set-up the APRS broadcast could "walk on" your voice transmission due to single antenna and timing. I believe @Lars set-up I saw he has a dedicated "system" just for APRS due to this.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lars-mobile-antenna-farm-build.374795/

Edit: Just remembered I think Lars converted to a Tundy and not in here much anymore.

Yep: https://www.tundras.com/threads/mobile-antenna-farm-2-0-tw-transfer.9590/page-2

Although doesn't seem to be much on there either.

 

Dumb question:

How does cell coverage help reduce the need/want for APRS? I thought what everyone was using APRS for was the mapping ability which doesn't translate to cell coverage. Or is it the text function of APRS that cell makes unnecessary?

 

For me, mapping a trail is by GPS, whether tablet internal or an external one. Doubt APRS would touch that with any accuracy.

Text would be nice, but cell coverage is good in strange areas, if you could get aprs in those areas it could be useful as well as for meeting up with a group in an unknown area without cell coverage.

And for general sharing your location. I'll probably use it on my trip for a way to keep track of where I'm at so others can see on the aprs website with no effort other than flicking it on until i hit a location once a day.

 

Sorry should have been better at words. I meant I thought the main draw for APRS is the share your location on a map feature which I don't see an equivelent for with cell coverage.
Eric was mentioning that he didn't find APRS as useful because where it works best is also where he has cell coverage, making APRS unnecessary. My little brain got confused.

 

My personal draw to APRS was primarily to let my wife know where I was when I was out on the trail without cell coverage. If I have cell coverage, we can just call each other. Also there are lots of apps that will share your location if you have cell coverage.

A secondary usefulness I saw was in keeping track of a split up party on a map. Obviously, everyone would have to have HAM and be running APRS and you'd have to have a display solution. We don't yet have the widespread adoption of HAM for that, let alone APRS.

in a nutshell, the limited usefulness doesn't justify the cost of doing it right for me.

 

I've seen aprs used to locate the rest of a group on a trip, it worked well when no radios were being heard

 

Just got through programming the entire TWCOHAM list into my new radio by hand, plus the 40 CB channels.

Radio didn't come with a programming cable and it's on the slow boat from China. Wasn't too hard but it made me appreciate CHIRP for sure.

 

Is the chirp file that's up in the link the updated one? I thought you said something had changed at some point.

 

I did change some stuff but I just updated the file that the link goes to so it should still be valid.

 

What radio did you get?

 

TYT TH-9800

 

Still haven't figured out what I want to do with the face plate.

 

What kind of super nerd antenna are you going to run with that? Mismatch for days.

 

running the same mag mount tram right now.
Radio is quad band but I'm not.