[Fourlanders] APRS with Rovers?

[Brian McCarthy]

Sounds like I was reasonably on track. I will still load up to try to do
both internet connectivity to support clusters and APRS listening. As a
secondary, I am hoping we can see the data stream from the local
digipeaters. This might give us some info about rovers like N8UM and N4OFA
if they are squawking that might not be in position to get forwarded into
the internet APRS streams.

While APRS itself has no memory, there are plenty of servers on the internet
that have lots of memory of APRS spots. Client applications can also be set
for varying amounts of memory on your local PC. There are also ways to set
tracking filters so that what we end up seeing on our local PC display is
tracking for just the rovers.

Brian
NX9O

On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 10:56 AM, Jim Worsham <wa4kxy at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> You are correct.  Only rovers can transmit APRS.  I to was confused about
> all of this talk about transmitting APRS.  Besides the self spotting issue
> it seems rather pointless.  Everyone knows who and where we are.  We need
> to
> access APRS to see the rovers.  It can be via internet (my preference if
> possible because then we can also access packet cluster for spots) or
> direct
> RF connection to a nearby digi.  I will leave it to the experts to decide
> the best way to do it.
>
> 73
> Jim, W4KXY
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Brian McCarthy
> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 8:21 AM
> To: Fourlanders
> Subject: Re: [Fourlanders] APRS with Rovers?
>
> I thought rovers were the only classification of station that was allowed
> to
> beacon into APRS during the contest.
>
> I expected that the W4NH use of APRS was only to watch for the rovers.
> Receive only was my understanding. Beaconing would likely be counted as
> self
> spotting.
>
> Yes, it will be tough to hear data underneath the CQ'ing machine on 2m,
> but
> we won't know until we try it. The hardware is easy and we might be
> pleasantly surprised. The rovers are being allowed to use the mainstream
> APRS channel complete with digi's. All we really need to hear is the
> nearest
> mountaintop digi' at 6 miles away. With an optical or near optical path
> and
> presuming the digi has a 4-6dbd antenna with 20-50w, it should be possible
> to hear it quite well. If we mount a 4-el vertical beam pointed at the
> digi
> and manage to shadow it from the main 2m array, I suspect we will hear
> more
> or even most of the packets.
>
> Brian
> NX9O
>
> On Sun, May 4, 2008 at 11:50 PM, Jim Worsham <wa4kxy at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> > Since we are stationary I wouldn't think we would have to beacon often.
> > Once an hour?
> >
> > 73
> > Jim, W4KXY
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com
> > [mailto:fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Paul Yeager,
> > ABR(R), REALTOR(R)
> > Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 11:42 PM
> > To: rfacres at gmail.com; Fourlanders
> > Subject: Re: [Fourlanders] APRS with Rovers?
> >
> > We are working on getting internet at the Eagle's Nest Mountain repeater
> > site (http://aprs.fi/?call=eglnst).  Once we have done this, a 802.11
> link
> > to Mile High should be easy. It might even be doable with the same
> antenna
> > we're using to get 802.11 up to the site.
> >
> > However, this is not likely to be done in time for the June Contest, so
> it
> > would be good to have alternatives available.
> >
> > If we have some sort of Internet connection available, we can use
> whatever
> > we want.  If we're going to get APRS data via RF, I recommend using
> > UI-View,
> > as it has a built in server function.  This allows one computer that is
> > attached to the APRS radio/TNC to serve APRS data to all the computers
> > we're
> > using.
> >
> > I didn't find APRS+SA as easy to sue, so I haven't played with it that
> > much.
> >
> > I can bring a radio, TNC, yagi (so we can use minimum power) and
> feedline
> > for this, and if needed, also a laptop.
> >
> > One of the great advantages I see to using APRS is that it will
> eliminate
> > guesswork regarding antenna pointing for stations we see on APRS.
> >  However,
> > to provide this same feature to other sations, we need to be *seen* on
> > APRS,
> > and therefore need to transmit regularly.  Surely we can devise a way to
> > do
> > this without undue interference to our other 2M operations.  Low power
> and
> > a
> > yagi come to mind.
> >
> > 73 de W4SKI
> >
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