Automatic Packet Reporting System APRS Automatic Packet Reporting System Scott Honaker – N7WLO

What is APRS? Ad-hoc, connectionless network able to relay position reports and messages No routing information is required Packet delivery is not guaranteed Packets contain position, status or short messages Most stations can automatically digipeat IGates make data available to the world Invented by Bob Bruninga Similar hardware requirements to packet radio but easier to implement Basic capabilities provide position reports and short messages IGates extend APRS functionality incredibly N7WLO

APRS Use Originally intended for events Provides basic location and message handling Can communicate between base, mobile and portable stations Allows assets to be plotted on map whether moving or fixed in near real-time Simplifies deployment Very simple implementation There is Base (Radio/TNC), Mobile (D700) and Portable (D7) capability Bob Bruninga is disappointed at the penetration of APRS radios (Kenwood) and has developed a broader solution with APRStt N7WLO

Other APRS Uses Web page eliminates “Where are you” cell phone calls SAR/EOC – Many now have APRS capability because it is nearly custom tailored Messaging – Ability to reach someone live Email – Can send Email via an IGate Weather – Current weather reports available from connected weather stations What the #1 cell phone call – Where are you? King County Red Cross has 2 Kenwood D700s in their van Seeing someone on the move means they’re likely on the radio somewhere but where? Send a short APRS message to have them tune a machine – D700s with voice synthesizers announce new messages Email access anywhere near an IGate – W2UZ confirms receipt Peet Brothers, Davis, Radio Shack and other weather stations are supported Historical weather data is displayed on Findu.com N7WLO

APRS Uses - Continued Security – Can send emergency message when broken down Tracking – Use like a low-jack system Direction finding – Several packages support DF capabilities by triangulation with multiple stations simultaneously Extra Field Day points – post your score Anything you can think of… There are multiple message types and urgencies allowing everyone to be notified in an emergency Messages are generally announced in software – emergencies have a more urgent announcement It is possible to display current position and previous track on Findu and most software APRSDOS (unfortunately) has the best DF capability for both omnidirectional and true DF stations with DFjr, etc. 100 Bonus points on Field Day for demonstrating “non-traditional modes” You can use APRS messages to post your scores live on the web and club members can check Findu from home N7WLO

How to connect to APRS http://map.findu.com/callsign 2m nationwide on 144.390 MHz With DOSAPRS, WinAPRS, MacAPRS, etc HF on 10.151 MHz LSB Winlink 2000 (HF Email) Satellite via PCSat or International Space Station (ISS) Via Internet, 2m, HF or satellite The FindU server is available to EVERYONE with an Internet connection – not just hams HF requires an HF modem with Pactor N7WLO

APRS Network APRS Station Types Basic – Transmit and receive Tracker – Transmit only RELAY – Provide basic digipeating WIDE – Dedicated digipeaters with specific coverage areas IGate – Internet gateways to repeat APRS packets to servers on the Internet Trackers available from Tigertronics.com or Byononics.com (TinyTrak II) Anyone can/should be RELAY or IGate but WIDE coverage areas shouldn’t overlap significantly N7WLO

WIDE Digipeaterand IGATE APRS Network Diagram Tracker RELAY Digipeater Internet Notice that tracker is transmit-only IGate traffic is bi-directional – messages go both ways but position data generally only goes TO the Internet It is possible to force packets OUT an IGate to the RF network by establishing a connection with a local user (send a message) Routing through an IGate via TCP/IP allows traveling beyond RF network range and still appearing on home network WIDE Digipeaterand IGATE N7WLO

APRS on the Internet FINDU Server APRSServe WU2Z Mail Server IGate You can connect to the APRS servers on the Internet and get an APRS stream fed directly from them for virtually the whole world. Be prepared to get bombarded with reports. IGate IGate User on map.findu.com Email user N7WLO

APRS Routing NWAPRS Default – RELAY,WIDE3-3 One generic digipeater hop and 3 WIDE Covers area with good WIDE support Good coverage with minimal traffic Little Infrastructure – RELAY, RELAY,WIDE Uses two generic digipeaters to get to WIDE Fixed Station – N7WLO-0,WIDE3-3 Minimizes traffic if path known Everyone should (RELAY) digipeat but WIDE coverage areas should not overlap For fixed stations, the best routes to the WIDE digi or IGate can be entered to minimize network traffic The D700 beeps and displays “MY POS” when it hears itself digipeated so you know you’re in the network When traveling in Bellevue/Redmond there are so many digipeaters that you are bombarded with beeps every x minutes RELAY,RELAY,RELAY would keep those guys plugged up forever RELAY stations remove the RELAY from the route after they digi so it will only be digipeated again by a WIDE WIDE digipeaters decrement the hop count each time until 0 – WIDE3-3 becomes WIDE3-2 after first hop, then WIDE3-1, then no more hops You can look at your path on Findu or another machine to see how many hops it took to get there N7WLO

APRS Naming Callsign-SSID Tactical Callsigns N7WLO-7 is car with Kenwood TH-D700A N7WLO is home station N7WLO-8 is boat Tactical Callsigns CAMANO, SKAGIT, SEATAC, MV911,MSEOC More informative Callsign included in status text Callsign-SSID is most common for mobile and part-time stations Tactical calls are generally only for full-time or special purpose stations N7WLO

Secondary Station Ids - SSID Symbol NWAPRS Station Type -0 Dot Home Station -1 Ambulance Home PBBS -2 Bus -3 Firetruck -4 Bicycle -5 Yacht -6 Helicopter -7 Aircraft TH-D7/D700 Station -8 Ship Secondary Automobile -9 Car Primary Automobile -10 Motorcycle Primary WIDE -11 Balloons Secondary WIDE -12 Jeep -13 RV -14 Truck -15 Van TCPIP Only The symbols were created in APRSDOS by Bob Bruninga The NWAPRS group modified some of their meanings for the local network - None of these are required, just convention At first the -7 for a Kenwood station seemed a bit arrogant (see my cool new radio) but it does have a use -7 tells you that although mobile, they have messaging capability They can also see other station locations, etc. Trackers have no displays N7WLO

Typical APRS Station 2m FM Radio Units with packet data ports are more reliable TNC – Kantronics KPC-3+ is the standard GPS with NMEA support Computer – Most anything Software – For nearly any platform 6-pin data ports have no volume controls – just line level in and out – very consistent KPC-3+ has GPS port in and APRS software for digipeating internal – no computer required to digipeat Garmin GPS units are well supported (cables, software and waypoint feature on Kenwood units) and inexpensive GPS not required for fixed station operation – just enter position manually Virtually computer with a serial port will work N7WLO

APRS Station Diagram GPS-Optional TNC Cable – Unique to Radio/TNC Combination RS-232 Serial Cable An APRS station will have all these elements in some form GPS is not required for fixed station 144.390 2m Radio VHF TNC - like Kantronics KPC-3 Computer running APRS Software N7WLO

Minimal APRS Station 2m FM Radio Windows computer with a sound card AGW Packet Engine (software TNC) AGW-Compatible software (like APRSPoint) Optional GPS – not required for fixed station operation A laptop and HT can work well A 2m HT with a laptop running AGW packet engine and APRSPoint can be a digipeater It has the radio, the TNC functions are done in software, and APRSPoint provides the APRS functionality complete with maps N7WLO

Soundcard TNC Interfacing This is the fully isolated Rascal interface from www.packetradio.com This uses isolation transformers in the audio leads to/from the computer and an optoisolator in the PTT line It assumes a DB-9 serial connector to 6-pin mini-DIN “data jack” on the radio You can use the RigBlaster or Rascal to perform these functions or simply build an interface N7WLO

Simplified Soundcard Interfacing This diagram only covers the PTT line It allows for both RTS and DTR switching (the two options) It can be built entirely inside a DB-9 or DB-25 hood The computer line-in connects to the radio out and vice versa, with or without an isolation transformer N7WLO

Dedicated APRS Stations Kenwood TH-D7A/G Dual Band HT with internal TNC Includes APRS software internally All position/message functions available Jacks for PC/Laptop and GPS input/output Kenwood TH-D700A/G 50w Dual Band Mobile with internal TNC Adds digipeater and other features to TH-D7 Voice synthesizer option These radios have better APRS support than many dedicated systems – and they’re good dual band radios Internal TNC can be used tied to a computer and software like APRSPoint or stand-alone D7 has stereo submini serial connection and D700 has plain DB-9 Positions can be manually entered or via GPS with connector on radio (stereo submini provides RX/TX/GND) Both units have position memories to memorize common locations without using GPS (D7 has 3, D700 has 10) Both units have multiple status message memories Messages can be entered through keypad or computer Messages can be read on screen – small icon shows messages waiting Both units show distance and bearing to station as well as its course and speed Both units can sent received stations to Garmin GPS units as waypoints to be displayed on screen D700 can digipeat D700 has optional voice synthesizer ($40) to announce incoming messages N7WLO

Kenwood APRS Radios N7WLO

Kenwood D7 and Garmin eTrex The Kenwood TH-D7A/G can send received station data to the Garmin GPS units as waypoints automatically. If the GPS has basemaps, the stations will actually appear on the GPS map screen. This screen shows KD7NM-9, N0FPF-14, KB7ILD-9 and NS7C-9 (from north to south). This also means you can plot courses to them, get distance and bearing, etc. The TH-D7 will also show distance and bearing for received stations. This TH-D7 shows KB7ILD-9 at 0.0 miles east in grid CN87WP. Newer Garmin GPS units have faster processors and can redraw a busy screen faster. N7WLO

APRS Map from APRSPoint This is after a couple hours in the Puget Sound area Mobile station WA7RVV-15 data is displayed Weather station AB7Y data is displayed N7WLO

APRSPoint Detailed Map Zooming in reveals street level detail (more available) This shot of Mount Vernon shows the Skagit digi (lower right) and Mount Vernon EOC/911 center upper right Skagit Count EOC information is on the left with callsign/contact info N7HPE-8 is a powerboat named “Nereid V” displaying his web site info N7WLO

APRS Position on FindU.com N7WLO

APRS Messages on FindU.com David uses messaging often Red is sent messages, green is received This represents a little more than a week Most are “what are you doing?” or “call me on…” N7WLO

APRS Weather in FindU.com This shows 5 day trend Day night temperature and wind changes are clearly visible The last few days have been cloudy so the temperature change day/night hasn’t been as severe as the previous sunny days N7WLO

APRS Tracking on FindU.com There are a number of tracking displays that allow setting a start time and a geographic region to look at There are also multiple line styles This shows each position report individually – good for testing coverage Other displays show a shaded line with the route N7WLO

APRS Technologies MIC-E (Mike Encoder) APRStt (APRS Touch Tone) Short (~100mS) APRS burst at the beginning of voice transmissions Provides APRS support through voice repeaters Available in Kenwood D7/D700 Rarely used APRStt (APRS Touch Tone) Latest from Bob Bruninga Make APRS available on ANY radio with DTMF MIC-E was available as separate unit from TAPR but has been discontinued APRStt is currently only available in DOSAPRS with external DTMF decoder he expects Windows guys will make it work with soundcard Has short data entry – most commands are less than 8 characters DTMF autodial memories can be used for common functions (basic ID) Allows entering Lat/lon minutes/seconds only (digi knows degrees) N7WLO

APRS via Satellites Satellite Downlink Uplink Routing ISS 145.800 145.990 RS0ISS,SGATE,Wide PCSAT-A 145.828 W3ADO-1,SGATE,Wide PCSAT-B 144.390 N/A UO-22 (9600 baud) 435.120 145.975 UOSATS All satellites gateway to the Internet so traffic can be seen on Findu.com Passes are short so messages would be difficult Beaconing often would likely be necessary to insure getting in during a pass Footprint is large so even southern Alaska and the panhandle would be covered via IGates in lower 48 N7WLO

Satellite Tracking with a D700 N7WLO

Tigertronics TigerTrak APRS Trackers Tigertronics TigerTrak Basic location data Balloon experiments (with altitude profiles) Telemetry – River levels in Lewis County HamHUD The basic tracker is transmit only – like the TigerTrack and TinyTrak The TigerTrak TM-1 is just a tracker and the TM-1+ includes telemetry The TinyTrak II runs $30 as a complete kit (minus enclosure) and supports “Smart Beaconing” The KPC-3 Plus is a true TNC that can digipeat standalone (no computer) and has GPS input The HamHUD is a TNC with display for mobile use – sold as a kit only Kantronics KPC-3 Plus Byonics TinyTrak II N7WLO

SAR/EOC Use of APRS “Real-time” tracking of assets GPS and radio standard equipment APRS and voice available with D7 All other stations visible on GPS displays APRStt will provide access for everyone else Messaging to/from units with D7 Message traffic and positions logged Messages/positions available on Internet Email available for stations via IGate A GPS and radio are standard equipment for all participants A Kenwood D7 tied to a GPS provides maximum capability – Voice and data simultaneously (true dual VFO) Messaging in/out to any other messaging capable station Email (outbound) support via IGate All message traffic and position data are logged with times for post-mortem reports Other APRS stations appear on Garmin GPS screens as waypoints so everyone has tactical view N7WLO

APRS Software Platforms DOSAPRS WinAPRS/APRS+SA/APRSPoint/UI-View MacAPRS PocketAPRS (Palm devices) APRSce (Windows CE devices) Xastir (Linux) www.ShineMicro.com has TNC (and MP3 player) for Palm devices Walmart was selling Handspring Visors for under $100 and GPS units for $110 There is a GPS back for Compaq iPaq as well N7WLO

Windows Software WinAPRS APRS+SA APRSPoint UI-View Oldest, feature-rich, confusing interface APRS+SA Good features, Street Atlas maps, two programs APRSPoint Limited features, cleanest interface, no better maps UI-View Good features, must create maps WinAPRS is the original Windows package and has more features than any – if you can find them WinAPRS uses the free linedraw maps (bad) or Precision Maps plug-in APRS+SA was the second package available as an application that runs along side Street Atlas APRSPoint is the newest so it has the fewest features at this point, although it is under active development APRSPoint is the simplest to use and get running with very nice MapPoint maps (only MapPoint includes Canada) UI-View has very good features but you create maps by cutting them out of other software and telling UI-View the lan/lon of range the map. There’s no Zoom feature (load a different map) but it does allow ANY kind of map (topo maps from a scanner or TopoUSA, etc.) N7WLO

APRS Resources map.findu.com www.TAPR.org www.NWAPRS.org www.APRSPoint.com www.QSL.net/soundcardpacket www.PacketRadio.org.UK Map.FindU.com/callsign provides the basic service to everyone TAPR has info on all digital modes NWAPRS has a bunch of Puget Sound and extended area APRS info APRSPoint.com is the release point for APRSPoint www.QSL.net/soundcardpacket has info on AGW packet engine (Soundcard TNC) www.PacketRadio.org.UK is the release point for UI-View N7WLO

Manufacturer Links www.Kantronics.com TNCs – KPC-3+ www.Tigertronics.com Soundcard interfaces, trackers and GPSes www.Byonics.com TinyTrack II interface www.HamHUD.com HamHUD device in development www.MFJEnterprises.com TNCs, cables and interfaces www.packetradio.com Rascal soundcard interface www.WestMountainRadio.com RigBlaster interfaces www.GPSCity.com Great deals on GPS units This list is not exhaustive but good places to start for info N7WLO