Kicking around an idea for APRS.

[JimBiram]

I havent ordered mine yet, so I cant say for sure, but those having trouble only sending packets over wifi, did you change the packet protocol from TCP/IP in the settings?

It is important that in the APRSDroid settings that the network protocol be set to the Bluetooth TNC in order for two way communications to take place, as well as to have the radio set to the proper frequency. Using an external antenna will improve it as well. This past weekend I tried using the system in Anza Borrego, and other stations did appear on my map once I was in radio range. However no data was logged in the APRS databases, until my vehicle got back to Oceanside, and then my track was clear from Oceanside to my home. It definitely works with my Samsung tablet, which I also have connected to the Dual Xp150 GPS by bluetooth as well. But lots of charging wires aren't too pretty. Will be working to consolidate into a smaller package.

 

[Yuccahead]

I tested my setup twice this week. Once with the OEM antenna and than again with a Nagoya 701 antenna which is a few inches longer than the OEM. With OEM antenna, I hit the digipeater only a few times on my drive home. With the Nagoya, I hit the repeater 4-6 times more often. Still not sure that it's enough ummph to use for an overland trip away from digepeaters but it's much better. I may try it with my Yaesu mobile unit next.

David

 

[HenryJ]

Finally tried mine with the little 1" magmount whip. Hit the repeater this time. No field testing yet. Still lots to worry about , three batteries are they all charged? , radio, moblink, phone.
Need to play with it more. I have a trip coming up. I should try it then.

 

[HenryJ]

Ok, Some real world testing.
It does work. Track was good when close to a receiver. Smart tracking shows the turns very well. Easy to turn it all on , slap the mag mount up top and forget about it.
My worries about the bluetooth moblink battery and losing connection were satisfied. Works great.

Problems:
In my case I was using my cell phone without a power supply attached. This really gobbles batteries! Aprsdroid, bluetooth and GPS all running I suspect that about 6 hours is the best I am going to get from my Samsung Galaxy SII running on battery alone. Easily remedied by attaching a charging cable, but kind of limits the portability. perhaps an auxiliary power pack?

Range. Range is short. Antenna equal and transmit wattage equal, it is half or less the range I am seeing with the Byonics MicroTrak RTG. This too may have been battery related? The HT battery was not fully charged when I left and was not depleted when I returned. Started at 7.9v of 8.3v and ended at 7.5 volts. It functioned for 4 hours without interruption. Could it have better range when fully charged? if so then this also needs a powered supply?

Still need to do more testing. Right now the Byonics MicroTrak RTG is still the leader for performance and KISS.

 

[PortageBay]

I have been using Mobilinkd TNC with my Nexus 7 tablet and APRSdroid for about 6 months. Works GREAT and no wires. I recommend downloading the map that has the whole USA in vector format (link and info on the APRSdroid website). This map is mall in size but BIG in detail due to the vector format. I use a Baofeng 5+ with extended battery and get at least 2 days (14 hours/day) out of the TNC and radio batteries. Just did a Minneapolis to Santa Fe run and it worked great.

Here's a blog post I did: http://kd0tls.blogspot.com/2014/03/easy-and-cheap-aprs.html

You can also send short emails from APRSdroid to ANY email address (Ham or not).

 

[snare]

The MobilinkD now has auto power on and off when it senses power present (or absent) at the now micro usb charging port.

I have a separate dedicated mobile radio doing only APRS through the MobilinkD TNC2.2 bluetoothing to my phone or tablet. It turns on and off with switched ignition power (i also have a manual switch so i can turn the whole thing off if i wish).

Also, BCN has a beta form of APRSdroid integration and there is a relatively wodespread effort happening right now to have Gaia GPS integrate APRSdroid and somehow APRS for apple users.

You can let Gaia know this would be of value to you here : https://help.gaiagps.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115008857887-APRSdroid-integration-

 

[DaveInDenver]

The APRS e-mail method DaveinDenver mentioned is a great way to communicate with the unlicensed.

In the 4 years since there's been some improvements.

Main one is there's now an SMS to APRS gateway that lets you send and receive texts. Works pretty well.

http://smsgte.wixsite.com/smsgte