Byonics All In One APRS

TheDriver

Observer
Very interested. Do you know what hardware version you have? (Looks like 3.2 is current).

Thanks!

Chris
K7ECH
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Just wondering, what is the use case for this?
Various uses. Sometimes they are launched on weather balloons, carried in backpacks, mounted in a vehicle. They periodically transmit a position beacon via amateur APRS, so anyone with an APRS receiver can see their locations and if there's digipeaters and iGates around the position will get repeated onto the APRSIS where anyone with an Internet connection can find it. Being one-way it's really only useful for tracking and position finding, though.
 

dreadlocks

Well-known member
APRS is a packet radio network for HAM operators, me I'd slap this onto a canoe or dirt bike and anyone left at base camp would know our position in real time.. I've got an APRS transceiver in my trailer, house and soon my tow vehicle..

My mom really love it when I go off the grid for weeks at a time, they watch my position online when I'm coming to visit, follow my progress and are out waiting for me when I come around the corner.
 

DannyLLama

Observer
I have an APRS unit in my truck (mobile ham unit) and use it for the same purpose you mentioned (off the grid). Thanks for the clarification. I did not realize you can tag multiple APRS units per call sign. So essential, you can tag multiple items with APRS trackers? How would that show up on a map?
 

dreadlocks

Well-known member
you can have up to 16 SSID's, they are just a -# at end.. like WXXXX-1, WXXXX-2

and you dont even need that, ideally your only transmitting from one location at a time and your other units become receivers.. there's some debate on this, many operators feel stations should always be manned by a license holder.. others feel as long as you calibrate and test your automation well enough then unmanned tracking of a license holders property is fine, the high altitude ballooning community launches beacons that cross oceans.. obviously once someone lets go of the balloon there is very little that can be done from the ground.

I fall into the latter category, one of those cases where rules either hampering or lagging behind progress.. as long as your tracker is well behaved and not giving anyone grief then then there is no difference between a manned station operated by a license holder and an automated unmanned station configured and deployed by a license holder.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
There's no limit to the number of APRS transmitters you can have, although the FCC rules do say you're supposed to be in control of any transmitter with your call sign so there's a practical limit to how many you can run at once.

But if you feel like you're in control of a remote station then let them out in the wild all you want. It's debatable when you use one for a fox hunt or launch one in a balloon or on a model rocket, for example. But just be aware of what they're doing and where they're going so you don't inadvertently cause a problem. APRS usually has position information so you should be able to locate it if it goes errant at least.

http://www.aprs.org/aprs11/SSIDs.txt

As far as SSIDs, they are more than just serial numbers of your stations. They imply things to the network. For example a -0 is supposed to be a fixed station, likely your home, with full APRS capability (two-way messaging capable mainly), -9 implies a fully capable mobile station, -12 is usually one-way beacons, -7 is low power HT-based station (that I believe was because at the time the Kenwood TH-D7 was the cool APRS HT), I try to remember to use -10 when I set up APRSdroid or other APRSIS-based device that's not using an RF TNC.
 

DannyLLama

Observer
WOW this is fantastic info.. Wish you guys were closer, I have figured out basic functionality on my mobile unit with APRS but I know there's more and I can't find info on youtube/web... Anyway.. thanks for the info.
 

VDBAZFJ

Adventurer
My apologies all. I am going to take this off the market. I decided to take it with me to work this morning and have it send data over my drive to show how it works. But I get here 25 miles later and it only sent 2 data points. I don’t want to sell something that isn’t working properly. No idea what is wrong. The blue GPS light is on and the transmitter flashes occasionally too. Argh.

Sorry.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
I wouldn't worry just yet. It's a low power transmitter and it could just be a signal strength issue with a lack of digipeaters and making it to an iGate.

My APRS radio in the truck is running at 4 watts and even with a good external antenna some days I'll get dozens of points show up on APRSIS and others the same trip might get a handful. Same radio, antenna, GPS receiver, TNC and Smart Beacon parameters. Different environmental conditions, different combination of interference, different cars in traffic, different timing with other stations (e.g. lots of collisions both on RF and on the Internet gateway with other APRS packets).

Do you have access to a power meter? If the LEDs are indicating proper operation and everything seems normal just verify on TX it's radiating what you expect. Or if not set the beacon interval to a fixed 120 seconds and let it sit in a place you know an iGate can hear you. Time it for 20 minutes and just see. That's all you can really do. Seems like moving will introduce too many variables to conclude anything.

BTW, I wouldn't do less than 2 minute fixed intervals because some gateways and digipeaters will prioritize and if you beacon too frequently you might get ignored in a packet stack up. There's some intelligence at work with the digipeating and path selection, the way you and subsequent repeaters configure the RELAY, TRACE and WIDEn-N parameters dictates the hops your packet will make and not every TNC will operate identically given the same set of variables.
 
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