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WB4FAY current mobile location (via DPRS)
Shelby Co. WX radar with APRS Stations overlay
email: wb4fay@wb4fay.com
Last updated: 03/25/08 Copyright (c) 2004,2005,2006, 2007, 2008
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APRS: Automatic Position Reporting System
INTRO TO APRS Presentation used for the Birmingham DX & Shelby County Amateur Radio Clubs
The Birmingham Amateur Radio Club (BARC) and the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club (SCARC) are launching a focused effort to improve the APRS infrastructure and APRS usage in the Birmingham area. Watch this page for upcoming plans information.
An APRS server and internet gateway is online in the Birmingham area. It is operating under with the call of WB4FAY-5. This server provides for gating position reports and weather information received on 2 meters to the internet and also provides for gating weather information from the internet to the 144.39 MHz channel.
Thanks to the Shelby County ARC, a UI-digi has been placed online at the site of the 146.98 and 444.15 repeater sites. The APRS antenna is approximately 400' HAAT and should provide good APRS coverage along I-65 to the south of Birmingham.
Charles Spanos, N4DKE, has now placed a UI-digi on Shades Mountain near the location of the 146.88 repeater. This expands the APRS digi coverage for the Birmingham area and serves as the area's primary WIDE node.
What is APRS? APRS is a beaconing digital mode system that uses encoded audio packets transmitted over the air to another station for decoding, parsing, and display on a map and/or for text based messaging. In the US, the majority of all APRS activity is found on 144.390 MHz.
What can be done with APRS? At the simplest, a person enters their latitude and longitude into the software which then gets beaconed out of their radio at definable intervals. The person can also send and receive text based messages, bulletins, and announcements. They can also receive weather alerts for watches and warnings which some software will use to highlight an affected county on the map. APRS has also become part of the National Traffic System (NTS).
APRS use can be extended even more through the addition of a Global Positioning System unit (GPS) which can provide latitude and longitude information continuously while moving. This lets someone watching the station on a map monitor there progress. You can also connect a weather station allowing people to see the weather information at your location.
What do you need for APRS? You need a computer system, a Terminal Node Controller (TNC), your latitude, longitude, and a radio. You also need the software. Currently the main programs of choice are UI-VIEW32, winAPRS, and APRS+SA. These are all available for download from TAPR. UI-VIEW is a windows based program that used Precision Mapping 7.0 as the map database. APRS+SA is a windows program that interfaces APRS with Delorme Street Atlas for more precise maps. It should also be noted that some are using additional (free) software to allow their PC's sound card to be substituted for the TNC. This eliminates a physical piece of the hardware and is typically more cost effective. If you want to automatically report your position while mobile, then a GPS receiver can be connected to the computer to derive your current longitude and latitude.
Check out the following sample APRS displays
Weather reports near Birmingham, AL
Current location of WB4FAY mobile