APRS is primarily a location tracking system, that reports the location of many mobile and static stations to the website https://aprs.fi
So far I have not yet got my mobile tracking unit setup and working, but I have a number of RX gates setup for a while now.
(You can view all four here)
Update: 2019-11-16 : Finally got my mobile tracker working.
So today, after I have spent a lot of time cleaning sorting and de-cluttering my workshop, I went looking for a tablet (input device for a computer, not an iPad) and went through a box of usb related things. I found a usb to mini-usb cable that just looked a bit different, and I immediately thought of my AVRT5 sitting on the shelf in the RF rack. So i hooked it up and after a bit of messing around managed to get my settings saved and it is now on air.
2019-05-16 : Activating vk2dyw-3 rx only gateway.
So today I am activating a third Rx gateway located in Katoomba. This site has good elevation and with it co-located alongside a commercial repeater that I manage, it should be quite permanent. It is a Woxun handheld receiver with an audio interface into the Raspberry pi running DireWolf.
Questions that need to be answered
- How good is the reception on a cheap USB dongle from eBay versus a 5w handheld radio?
- What happens if you add an RF amp in line between the antenna and USB dongle?
- How do all the fire and incident waypoints get into the system?
- how hard is it to use an old 5w handheld radio instead of the USB dongle?
- Can I make my AVTR5 mobile GPS tracker work?