Yet another APRS question

[Travis W Speakman]

Hey all-
Several years ago I was a ham and APRS was very small, if not non-existent when I was in, packet radio was the big thing and I never really was into that either. I am newly re-licensed and now the world of IRLP, APRS, DSTAR, and a bunch of other cool stuff has exploded. My question is this- those that run SN client and use cellular data, do you also use APRS or find it not necessary? I am trying to decided on a new dual bander and am wondering about the necessity of APRS. I use a laptop with SN, GR3, and Streets and Trips, all tethered to cellular and I get my GPS data from a puck tied to GPSgate. As with anything, there are always areas of poor cellular coverage and I was wondering if APRS would fill in the gaps and still transmit my position to SN. As for the radio, I make the assumption through reading that if you have a dual bander, one of the freqs has to be setup on the APRS freq, thus rendering side by side operation useless. That kind of defeats my need for side by side, as I would like to have a simplex talk around freq running at the same time as a Skywarn repeater on the other side. I guess Kenwood makes the 710 that lets you run VV, UU, or VU AND APRS at the same time. I guess the real question is, with all the other stuff I'm currently running, is APRS really necessary?

Thanks!

Just thought of another question- If I'm out of cellular range and using APRS for position reporting on the SN client, will the client also let me send a severe wx report on APRS also?

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I run APRS on top of my cellular+SN Client setup. It's only ever come in handy once when I was in Missouri on 6/7 and had no data. I was able to update my position.

As far as sending in reports, there isn't a way with APRS I Know of.

 

[Jason Foster]

I run APRS on top of my cellular+SN Client setup. It's only ever come in handy once when I was in Missouri on 6/7 and had no data. I was able to update my position.

As far as sending in reports, there isn't a way with APRS I Know of.

While Bob Bruninga, WB4APR always intended it to be more of messaging system, APRS has limitations. If reporting and doing things more on the side of the skywarn spotters, be sure to look into Winlink 2000 and other messages systems. APRS is used from time to time, and certainly can beacon information regarding your observations. However, Winlink and associated messaging systems have message retention and such that can relay messages to NWS offices when available at those offices.

Another forum to ask this question would be over at skywarnonline.com. There are a lot of ham geeks there that can help in addition to those here.

 

[Travis W Speakman]

Right on guys, appreciate the info. I kind of figured that APRS wasn't really worth the investment at this time. But, not being familiar with it entirely, it's nice to hear other opinions.

 

[Jarrod Cook]

I run APRS on a Kenwood 710...not just for chasing though...just because I like APRS and think it's neat. I use ham radio for chasing, but not just for chasing - it's a separate hobby for me.

That said - cellular coverage is MUCH more vast than APRS. I sometimes use APRS to get to SN...but only locally where I know the APRS coverage is decent.

 

[Joe Dorn]

I qualify as Mr. Overkill in the area of communications. I returned to amateur radio in 1996 after a very long absence because of attending a SKYWARN session while prepping for a weather course I teach. This led to an interest in emergency communications and a rather extensive collection of 'toys'.

APRS is my favorite 'toy' in its several variations: two weather stations, 16 hospitals, several emergency response locations, multiple trackers and several other interfaces. As one person puts it,"I may be lost but I know where I am."

For my 'chase vehicle' I have a ICOM 2720 dual band radio, one side is on our wide area repeater and the other is scanning all of the other weather related repeaters in Central Texas. I have a separate single band radio dedicated to APRS. I also have my laptop running UIView with it putting out an APRS track via my 'air card'. GRL3 and a couple of map programs are also running with GPSGate.

At least two of our spotter/chasers use UIView and the Internet to input their positions with no separate radios involved.

The advantage of this is that they appear on all of the interfaces with the APRS network rather than just the 'Spotter Network'. The other networks also update more often than the SN.

In my 'family travel vehicle', a 2007 Chevy Tahoe, I have a Kenwood D710 with one side on voice and the other on APRS. I was forced into this configuration due to lack of room to mount radios. In addition I have the laptop with the same programs running that I have in the older, more roomier Chevy pickup.

We made a trip earlier this year that took us into the Four Corners area (Chaco Canyon) and there was no cell phone coverage at all. I thought the APRS beacons were going to Mars but when I regained contact with the cell towers and talked to the hams back home (Echolink on the laptop to our local repeater) they had seen a perfect track on me in that desolate part of the world. New Mexico has a digipeater on top of every significant mountain.

I doubt there will ever be any 'chasers' on the Chaco Canyon roads.

Bottom Line:

In the 'chaser' world, cell phone coverage is much better than digi coverage but when the cell towers are gone or far apart the RF connections might have an advantage.

While I am a big supporter of Winlink2000, it is a last or first mile program when no other Internet connectivity is available. If you have cell phone coverage, regular Internet interfaces work as well or better.

BTW, DSTAR is not ready for prime time in any communications network. It is strictly a play toy, not a tool of significance. The radios equipped for DSTAR will cost twice as much as the 'standard' radios and the infrastructure is no there to support it.

That is a separate dissertation...