APRS DIGI
VK7RAC 145.175
Real time APRS map of north west coastal area from http://aprs.fi
VK7RAC is located on Table Cape near Wynyard, covering a fair
strip of
coastal
north west Tasmania from Devonport to Stanley
Other digi's in
the north west and west area include the west coast repeater group's
VK7RWC which is located on Mt Read near Rosebery, and a privately owned
digi
on St Valentines Peak which is located about 40km south of Burnie.
Also the digi
on Mt Barrow, near Launceston, provides some complimentary
coverage along the north west as well.
Between these 4
wide area digi's, most of the north west and westcoast area is
provided with reasonable APRS coverage. A few home stations provide
some extra coverage as well
What is APRS??
APRS stands for Automatic Position Reporting System. A system
of digital repeaters that rebroadcasts packet radio transmissions which
can be
generated by mobile stations using a GPS linked to an inexpensive
interface which
connects to a radio and generates position reports on a periodic basis.
These position reports are received by a nearby digi and
rebroadcast.
These rebroadcasts are passed though several digi's to allow the
signals to be picked
up by home stations almost anywhere in the state.
Home stations can also broadcast their position and other data,
including weather
reports from a linked home weather station, and can also link to
servers on the
internet, feeding in received position reports and also
transmitting out selected
reports from the internet and on to the local area.
Mobile Station
Usually a GPS engine hooked to a Tiny
Track and a 2m FM tranceiver. There are
some 2m tranceivers on the market that accept GPS input directly and
broadcast out
position reports. Also a GPS and laptop can be used, giving a
navigational display
as well as APRS funcionalty
Home Station
Normally a PC connected either to a 2m
FM tranceiver via a simple sound card
modem and/or internet. Received reports are displayed graphically on
the screen
as objects overlaid on a map. Home stations can also relay local mobile
signals
to a digi to provide better coverage. Home stations can also transmit
weather
reports from a connected weather station
Digi
Normally a well located repeater site
equipped with a 2m FM tranceiver and a TNC.
The TNC is loaded with a special software specific to APRS protocol.