APRS and Storm Chasing

[Tim Stoecklein]

The Kenwood 700 has an answer for the "followers". It has a setting that with which you can adjust the ambiguity(sp) of your position to a more general description. Granted, it won't keep all followers away once they id you vehicle, but it could make it a bit harder on them.

Then again, if you don't want to be tracked, you don't have to run APRS I suppose. Sounds like your friend figured that out :wink:

Tim

 

[John Erwin]

Originally posted by Mike Gauldin
One of the problems a buddy of mine has is that other chasers or \"chasers\" can see where you are. So if they know your APRS ID, and know you know what your doing, they like to follow you. I don't know how much of a real-world issue this is, but that's why he got rid of his.

That's an interesting point, however it's going to depend on who you are and if you experience these kinds of things. I can imagine that the DOW team or similar would have that kind of consideration to make. Not a worry for me though.. nobody knows who I am which suits me just fine..

 

[Mike Gauldin]

Originally posted by John B Erwin
Not a worry for me though.. nobody knows who I am which suits me just fine..

I know what you mean I don't think I'll do APRS unless there's something else that gets tied in with it that I want. I'm fine with GPS.

 

[Jarrod Cook]

I've never really thought about people following you, but I think most people who use APRS are just hams having fun with it. I can't wait to get started.

Honestly though, I think APRS can be really helpful for spotting. It would be nice to know where other mobiles are set up. It would be even nicer for the net control operator.

 

[Dave Carroll]

APRS in chasing

The crew I chase with has used APRS since 2003, and one of the useful aspects is the ability for "lab support" to see your location in the big picture, and with overlaying a NWS radar someone on the phone can give you a quick heading on where to go when you lack data on the road. Digipeater coverage seems to be improving, although it seems like you drop off the proverbial "radar" in parts of western KS. A neat toy for folks back home to track your location though! -DC

 

[Patrick Ware]

I have the Kenwood D-700 in my vehicle and use the D7 for portable tracking. I highly recommend them for anyone who want to get serious with APRS.
I also have been experimenting with TinyTracker. It is much less money and much smaller. It uses software on your computer to program the parameters and I use UI-View to track designated APRS signals during chases and Skywarn/RACES events.

Tinytracker can be found here: www.byonics.com

Here is also a good link explaining the use of UI-View and APRS in general. ftp://ftp.xmission.com/pub/users/d/dbares...-View_intro.pdf The author, Carlton Doe, is an expert on APRS and an Extra Class HAM.

 

[Jarrod Cook]

I also think the main chasers use of APRS would be for nowcasting. If you're near other digipeaters, this could be a real handy tool for nowcasters. It would cut down on frustration of having to tell your nowcaster exactly where you are, and have them find it on the radar. Now there are ways to put your position on the radar. For those of us like me who can't afford to get live data in the field, APRS could be the best way to get data, provided you have someone who can track you back at home.

 

[Gerard Jebaily]

Originally posted by John B Erwin+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John B Erwin)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Jcook

I plan to have an APRS set up by chase season 2006. I have a laptop that doesn't have a serial port, and I use the Delorme USB earthmate GPS. This will make things interesting to set up. I'm thinking I can get UI-View to see the GPS data by changing COM port settings. Then it should be able to send that data to the TNC. Anyone have any experience with this type of scenario?

Hi Jarrod;

I did some checking and came up with this:http://www.delorme.com/support/gps/lt20001.asp?D=572

It's a serial port emulator from delorme that will allow the GPS unit to be recognized with applications that only see serial ports. Can't be sure that it will work with the scenario you described, but it sounds like a good starting point.

Good Luck![/b]

I am in the same boat with trying to get APRS up for me in the near future. The radio I have only accepts a headphones style jack from a GPS receiver. I dont know how this will work if someone is using USB DeLorme GPS map program. Is it possible to connect the radio in for APRS using those two peices of equipment? I dont want to shell out and spend the money for a mobile GPS jus to have APRS. I will soon be buying USB DeLorme Street Atlas. Please let me know if you are successfull. Im hoping Ill get mine working with a little help from you guys.

 

[Jarrod Cook]

Originally posted by Gerard Jebaily+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gerard Jebaily)</div>

Originally posted by John B Erwin@
<!--QuoteBegin-Jcook

I plan to have an APRS set up by chase season 2006. I have a laptop that doesn't have a serial port, and I use the Delorme USB earthmate GPS. This will make things interesting to set up. I'm thinking I can get UI-View to see the GPS data by changing COM port settings. Then it should be able to send that data to the TNC. Anyone have any experience with this type of scenario?

Hi Jarrod;

I did some checking and came up with this:http://www.delorme.com/support/gps/lt20001.asp?D=572

It's a serial port emulator from delorme that will allow the GPS unit to be recognized with applications that only see serial ports. Can't be sure that it will work with the scenario you described, but it sounds like a good starting point.

Good Luck!

I am in the same boat with trying to get APRS up for me in the near future. The radio I have only accepts a headphones style jack from a GPS receiver. I dont know how this will work if someone is using USB DeLorme GPS map program. Is it possible to connect the radio in for APRS using those two peices of equipment? I dont want to shell out and spend the money for a mobile GPS jus to have APRS. I will soon be buying USB DeLorme Street Atlas. Please let me know if you are successfull. Im hoping Ill get mine working with a little help from you guys.[/b]

Gerard,

I recenlty tried out my mobile APRS set up using a Delorme USB Earthmate with my laptop, and a KPC-3+ TNC. It works great! The trick is to use UI-View32 as your APRS software. This way you don't even need to hook the GPS up to the TNC like most people do, the software will take the NMEA string from the GPS and send it to the TNC itself, thus you don't need to worry if you don't have serial ports (I don't). Once you have UI-View32 configured propery, it works out fine.

BTW I am using that emulator from the above link, and it works fine for me. I have my GPS set up as COM3, and any application can share the data. For instance, I tested it with UI-View and Delorme Street Atlas using the data simultaneously. I was impressed.

Hope this answers some questions.

 

[John Erwin]

Originally posted by Gerard Jebaily
I am in the same boat with trying to get APRS up for me in the near future. The radio I have only accepts a headphones style jack from a GPS receiver.

Hi Gerald;

It sounds like you have the Kenwood TM-D700 Tranceiver. In order to hook everything up in the scenario you describe you'll need to get a SERIAL based GPS unit. I chose the Garmin GPS18PC "puck" for my installation; I simply made an adapter for the "headphone" type connector on the radio. You can get puck-type GPS units for cheap off of e-bay or other sources.

You may be able to hook everything up as Jarrod suggests above, however I'm not sure having not done it that way with this equipment. I would suggest getting a serial GPS unit to leverage all of the features that the Kenwood radio offers.

 

[Gerard Jebaily]

Originally posted by John B Erwin+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John B Erwin)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Gerard Jebaily

I am in the same boat with trying to get APRS up for me in the near future. The radio I have only accepts a headphones style jack from a GPS receiver.

Hi Gerald;

It sounds like you have the Kenwood TM-D700 Tranceiver. In order to hook everything up in the scenario you describe you'll need to get a SERIAL based GPS unit. I chose the Garmin GPS18PC "puck" for my installation; I simply made an adapter for the "headphone" type connector on the radio. You can get puck-type GPS units for cheap off of e-bay or other sources.

You may be able to hook everything up as Jarrod suggests above, however I'm not sure having not done it that way with this equipment. I would suggest getting a serial GPS unit to leverage all of the features that the Kenwood radio offers.[/b]

Yes i do have the Kenwood TH-D7A(G). Im looking for the most inexpensive way to get APRS working on this radio. It has a built in TNC and is APRS ready, all it requires is connection to a GPS receiver. Can i connect the radio to a computer using the delorme Street Atlas program + the USB GPS receiver? I have a cable that connects to the laptop by serial port into the PC port on the radio. I use that to program the radio's memory channels. Im unfamiliar with GPS units so i dont know a whole lot about them. The DeLorme prgram with the GPS receiver is about $150. If there is cheaper option I'm all ears. Thanks for the help..

 

[Gerard Jebaily]

Another thing i would like to add is that my APRS and TNC are built in on my Kenwood TH-D7AG Ham radio. And i do NOT have a serial port on my laptop. I have found a connector that will work with my radio assuming that I buy a very expensive garmin GPS receiver. I would love to be able to use DeLorme Street Atlas and connect the computer to the radio to allow for APRS or something like that. It would save me about 300 bux in not having to buy a GPS receiver considering that i already have DeLorme. Thanks for all the help.

 

[John Erwin]

I would love to be able to use DeLorme Street Atlas and connect the computer to the radio to allow for APRS or something like that. It would save me about 300 bux in not having to buy a GPS receiver considering that i already have DeLorme. Thanks for all the help.

Gerald; I'm not sure what GPS receiver you're looking at. Have a look at the Garmin GPS18PC; it's under $100. I like using a "puck" type receiver with my radio due to it's small size, no need to restart after a power interuption and the low cost. You need to adapt the connector though.

Delorme Street Atlas is only a mapping program (although it's a good one) and does not support APRS directly as far as I know. I would suggest that you check for a TH-D7 forum on Yahoo Groups, I'm pretty sure I saw one there along with the TM-D700 forum that I joined. Chances are that people in there have tried all the various ways to connect these.

Cheers!