[Fourlanders] APRS with Rovers?

[Mark Herson, N2MH]

To the group,

As a Rover who ran APRS in the January contest, please let me offer some
comments on this.

> A few months back, I recall some discussion of using APRS during the next
> contest for coordination with rovers.  Is there still interest in this?
>
> It seems to me that there is value in this, even if just in the ability to
> rapidly determine the bearing to the rover.  The possibility of exchanging
> text messages with rovers could also be useful.

According to the rules, a rover is only allowed to transmit his location
via APRS. No other form of communication is allowed via APRS. Thus, the
possibility of exchanging text messages with rovers is nil. Even if text
messages were allowed, it is a bad assumption that a Rover would be
running software to support this. Many mobiles (and by extension, Rovers)
run trackers that only transmit their location. These are pretty dumb
devices that consist only of a gps and a tnc with radio. There is simply
no way to do any text messaging on them.

VHF General Rule 2.3.7: Rovers are permitted to use APRS. Rovers using
APRS transmit only their call sign and position. Any multi-op station may
access rover APRS data directly or via the Internet.

> I have an APRS digi on Eagles Nest Mountain (EGLNST) that is about 6 miles
> from the contest site at about 5200 feet elevation.  This should be
> workable from the contest site with very low power, minimizing the
> interference with other 2m operations.  I am working to establish an
> alternate input frequency on my digi, which would make it even easier to
> work on low power.

Since there is no text messaging, no transmit from the contest site is
necessary. Only a receiver is needed. Thus, there is no worry about QRM
from the APRS transmitter to the contest 2m station.

Having said this, the Rover end does experience QRM to his 2m contest
station. And, there is no way to avoid this QRM. What I did in January was
to publish a running frequency on 6 meters to get away from the QRM. When
I went to 2 meters, I turned off the APRS transmitter. And, when I got to
an operating site, I made sure APRS made one transmission and then turned
it off for the duration of that site and then turned it back on once we
were under way.

> Also, I have been using UI-View32, which has a server function built in.
> This would allow computer connected to a TNC and radio to share access to
> that radio and TNC with other computers running the same software on our
> LAN.

UI-View32 will work very well for this. You may want to make the UI-View32
computer have a static ip address so that the other computers have a known
ip address to connect to (and reconnect to if it takes a dump). Also, make
sure that every computer has a collection of the same maps.

> So.. my question is... are any of the rovers going to be dointg this... do
> we want to do this in June?

I found that running APRS to a mixed bag. I had stations tell me after the
contest that they found it interesting to watch my travels (I started the
contest on Cape Cod and ran back home to NJ on Saturday). But, these
people were not multi's, so this use might be questionable. Unfortunately,
I don't know that APRS got me any contacts that I wouldn't have gotten
without it. So, its use to me is debatable. I kind of like running it and
think that the usage will grow over time and be more valuable to everyone.

BTW, if you want to see that trip on Saturday, surf on over to

http://aprs.fi/?call=N2MH-2&dt=1200700800&mt=m&z=11&timerange=3600

Log in with your callsign and you should see the route.

73, Mark, N2MH