Apologies for not answering any earlier, as i’m on holiday in Wales and computer access is sporadic.
I’ve been using APRS whilst activating in North Wales, most of the summits are within range of a digi, however this might depend on direction you start your ascent, coverage might not start till your half way up.
There’s a definite lack of digi’s in Wales, however most of my packets are received by the EI2MLP digi on Mt Leinster (2500ft asl) in Ireland, and also John GW4BVE has kindly set up a temporary digi at his qth in the Welshpool area to fill in from the East. It’s an experiment, but it has worked.
My setup is a TT3 plus NMEA0183 serial o/p GPS. The TT3 is connected to the data port of my ft-817, the antenna used is a home made dipole strapped to my rucksack.
I initially looked at the VX-8 which does everything, but at £379 plus £68 for the GPS i thought the TT3 for $42 is just the job to have an initial play wih APRS.
It serves as gadget which tells me where i’ve been, but more importantly chasers can keep track of my progress on the summits, as well possible safety consideraions.
i have the new vx-8 radio since spring 2009 and i like playing around with aprs. unfortunately there is no local aprs-digi in the mountainous area where i do most of the activations, so very often my beacons are not getting into the aprs-network.
about 30-60 minutes before i reach the summit i turn on the aprs beacon and transmit it every 3 minutes. i use WIDE1-1,WIDE2-2 as digi-path. when i am on the summit i turn off the beacon to save battery and when walking down i am switching it on to empty the batteries.
during some activations i tried to update my actual hf-sota-qrg by changing the beacon text, but i think it’s much easier to spot myself with the cellphone. so i stopped changing the aprs beacon-text during my activations.
i also track other sota-activators via aprs when i have the time.
Hi Robert
No problem
I have been looking at the TT3, looks like an interesting product and well worth the $42 asking price. Which model and where did you buy your GPS unit please? I would like to order both up and have a play whilst on leave from the salt mine…
I know what you mean about the VX8 too, I found one at a good price, but once you add all the bits to make it work, it turned out rather expensive.
Think I will follow your lead and have a play with a “budget” version first before spending a small fortune to find out it doesn’t work!
I ordered direct from Byonics via their webpage, I bought the TT3 and the matching GPS. The interconnecting cables are also on sale from Byonics but I decided to make up my own to keep down costs. Think they took 7 days to arrive from the states, and also no VAT was demanded on arrival …
Their webpage is quite comprehensive in their explanations of setting up etc …even I could do it.
Another approach is to use an old Paccomm TNC ie Tiny2 mk2, which can be set up to be a digipeater at your QTH, mine worked first time after lying dormant for 15 years, no software upgrades needed, just load UI-VIEW on a PC and the TNC should start buzzing.
The only problem with Byonics is they sell the embedded GPS modules at over 100% markup. Fair enough, they’re in business to make profit but when you know the markup it’s difficult to handover the cash. The units are available in the UK but the distributors, like most UK component distributors are making SO much profit they don’t want to deal with small orders. Grrr!
