miso@sushi.com wrote:
  [ www.aprs.fi ]

It seems you need to enter your callsign
to get the map. That is, the
link directly doesn't work.

You can enter anything. Doesn't have to be your
callsign or even a real callsign. You could
enter "tofu" or "lizardpoop".
2 to 15 characters, no spaces.

So Warm Springs has a digitpeater?

Yes. Probably on one of those towers
you photographed.

Here's another way to view it, at the findu.com site
http://www1.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=area51&radar=***&topo=32&aprsworld=1

You could download the APRS software.
Non-registered versions are typically free.
They just don't save your settings each time.
www.aprs.org for the DOS version.
www.winaprs.com for Windows, Mac or Linux

With any of those programs you could view APRS
activity via the web, no need to get your TNC
cabled up and go to RF.

If it came time that you might want to go to RF,
it's pretty simple. Hardest part is the cable between
TNC and radio, since a lot of radios have different
connectors and pinouts.

For a stationary station, you would need essentially
a working 2m transciever on 144.39 (antenna, power source etc)
plus your TNC and probably a computer.

For a mobile station, you'd need the same 2m transceiver
and TNC, add a GPS. Any flavor of GPS works fine as long
as it has serial output. Ground and GPS output are the only
two connections you need. I use old Tripmates. Cheap and small
and easily cannibalized to yield a board that's about half
the size of a pack of cigarettes.

I got an old PK232 at the fleamarket. $5 with no cables. I have the
connectors, but haven't built the cables yet.

Same situation. Cable pinouts are the only thing
to figure out. The 232 has standardized serial
connections. Whatever radio you interface to will
have pinouts somewhere in the docs or on the web.

If you can hook up a traditional packet station,
you can do APRS. It's even easier than packet when
it comes to operation, since you don't have to do
all that "C"onnect and everything. Packet surely
died due to it being a sort of "snail pace text messaging".
Kind of the same reason that phone autopatches died.
But APRS seems to have plenty of applications and
room for experimentation. At it's most basic level,
it's like having a graphic readout GPS in your car,
just like a Garmin or whatever. But then imagine
being able to see and communicate with thousands
of other vehicles/base stations/HTs etc. in just
about any place in the world, including the
space shuttle.

Can't do that with a Garmin..;-)


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com