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FlightAware/SPOT/APRS Comparison

petehowell

petehowell

Well Known Member
Here is an interesting comparison by a Mooney driver from 52F. He admits his APRS setup could be optimized and perhaps his SPOT set up could be, too.

DR - if you know this guy maybe you could point him to our forums....
 
Nine volt batteries

I am surprised that the Micro-Trak 8000 worked as well as it did. He apparently ran it with a nine volt battery, which is way to much to expect of a transistor radio battery. The GPS draws about 65 mA all the time, and the Micro-Trak can draw about 3 amperes at 9 volts on transmision. This is way beyond the capabilities of a 9 volt battery. The SPOT shows some promise.

Allen
VHS
 
MT8000

"I am surprised that the Micro-Trak 8000 worked as well as it did."

Must be superior engineering......:)
 
SPOT is corrected

It now has a guest site only...... and you can add a password.

At that site, you can click on the time tab to change count direction.

QUOTE........
"The other problem they currently have is that you must give complete access to your account to anyone who is to look at your track map. Obviously very few people are going to be handing out full account access, which means the tracking map is limited to something you can look at when you get back home. To me, that is a terrible misunderstanding of the market. I hope they fix that but quick!

Also, the waypoints are numbered in reverse order. So waypoint 14 on the map below is actually the first waypoint, and waypoint 1 is where I landed."
 
Last edited:
petehowell said:
"I am surprised that the Micro-Trak 8000 worked as well as it did."

Must be superior engineering......:)
Click to expand...

Oh yes! With Micro-Trak products, you can violate the laws of thermodynamics, and they will clean windows and make your breath minty-fresh!

Allen
VHS
 
That little 9V battery

Hi guys, thanks for inviting me over. As a Mooney owner, I feel like either the wolf or the sheep in here... not sure which ;)

I originally tried a regular 9V carbon battery and couldn't get the Microtrak to talk to my computer's RS-232 port. I thought there was something wrong, so I took it to the Byonics booth at the Dayton Hamvention, where they said something to effect of "tsk tsk, get an alkaline battery at LEAST". So I did, and voila, it worked great.

I was myself quite pleased that the little alkaline 9V battery powered the thing for several hours at 8W. Don't know how how many hours "several" will turn out to be. That would be a nice thing to know.

And I'm VERY happy to see that Spot corrected the one big gap they had in their offering, by allowing you to give access to your track to other people through the new "Share" feature they are beta testing. (And to take it away again if you need to!!)

73,
Dave Morris, N5UP
1960 Mooney M20A at 52F
www.N6030X.com
www.eQSL.cc
 
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