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Totally standalone APRS, with new Byonics GPS3

Paul Eastham

Paul Eastham

Well Known Member
I didn't have time to take my wingtip off and run new wires before my upcoming summer trip, so I rigged up this totally-standalone tracker, using the Micro-Trak 300, a 9-volt battery and the new, tiny GPS3. All this contained in the MicroTrak shipping package, attached to the longeron in the baggage compartment with velcro, and with their lightweight antenna taped to the window.

I also mounted a power switch on the other endcap.

2801147353_3eb0f9ec28.jpg


I calculate I should be able to get about 10 hours per battery, haven't reached the end of a battery yet. I'm getting pretty good tracks out of it, though there is some obvious blanking from the fuselage in certain areas.

The GPS3 is also cool because it has TTL output in addition to normal serial output, so you can use it for other projects too.

I'm headed across the Sierras tomorrow morning (~7-9AM PDT), if anyone wants to track! See my signature for the link.

Paul
 
Paul is enroute

Paul Eastham said:
I didn't have time to take my wingtip off and run new wires before my upcoming summer trip, so I rigged up this totally-standalone tracker, using the Micro-Trak 300, a 9-volt battery and the new, tiny GPS3. All this contained in the MicroTrak shipping package, attached to the longeron in the baggage compartment with velcro, and with their lightweight antenna taped to the window.

I also mounted a power switch on the other endcap.

2801147353_3eb0f9ec28.jpg


I calculate I should be able to get about 10 hours per battery, haven't reached the end of a battery yet. I'm getting pretty good tracks out of it, though there is some obvious blanking from the fuselage in certain areas.

The GPS3 is also cool because it has TTL output in addition to normal serial output, so you can use it for other projects too.

I'm headed across the Sierras tomorrow morning (~7-9AM PDT), if anyone wants to track! See my signature for the link.

Paul
Click to expand...

Very nice installation, Paul!

I suspect the next "big thing" in aviation APRS is the development of a solid stand-alone APRS rig that can be flown with no connection or mounting to the airframe. You are on the right track.

Your little MT-300 is laying down a great track as I write this and we'll see how you do over the tall stuff. :)

http://aprs.fi/?call=N42PE&mt=m&z=11&timerange=604800
 
Boy its tracking great through the mountains. Hes following the river/interstate.
Dosh gone neat.
 
Hah, what a great technology!

I see you tracking over the interstate as you cross the mountains. I need to get one of these.
 
I dont understand how that thing can transmitt from inside the baggage compartment through the mountains. Its remarkable.
 
Kahuna said:
I dont understand how that thing can transmitt from inside the baggage compartment through the mountains. Its remarkable.
Click to expand...

I'm impressed!

Looks like he is out in the middle of NOWHERE!!!

Update: Looks like he has landed on a dry lake bed....hope that was planned.....
 
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There's an airport there...

...well, sort of. That's the Black Rock desert dry lake where they hold the Burning Man celebration. An airport appears there once a year.
 
There aint nothing out there.
Hmmm. Wonder what he is up to.:confused:
I feel like my wife when she used to see my IFR tracks on flight aware just stop.

You cant tell me this tool is not the cats meow in safety. We know pretty much right where he is. Problem is we dont know where he should be.:eek:

Gonna be a worry wart till we find out.

Wait I just found a strip out there?
 
MacNab said:
...well, sort of. That's the Black Rock desert dry lake where they hold the Burning Man celebration. An airport appears there once a year.
Click to expand...

Was wondering about that.

Yep: August 25th to Monday, September 1st, 2008

The satellite view of the track shows an incredible detail photo of the gathering. Didn't see any nekkid RV pilots, though.......:D
 
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Trip Report?

I wonder if Paul will post a trip report about this little excursion? :)

Seems obvious that he was tickling us by inviting us to track him and not posting his destination.

Take lots of pictures, Paul...
 
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Burning Man

I, too, was intrigued by the 2/3rd circular pattern in the desert when I switched to Satellite view and zoomed in. I, like Sam, was a bit concerned since no airport was visible. Turns out its a temporary "city" called Black Rock City, or BRC.

A little Googling revealed it's time for Burning Man . For photos of past events, you can go to regular Google Earth and see what's happened there in the past. Well, you may not see EVERYTHING, but you can see what folks have photographed and posted. :eek:

Paul definitely laid down some good APRS dots.

Don
 
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WHAT AM I MISSING?

From first track at about BLU to Reno is 50 stat miles. From Reno to last track is 53 miles.

Start time was 15:24. End time was 16:24. Looks like about a one hour flight. His average speed for this hour flight was ABOUT 180 mph.:D

And yet he only went 103 miles during that time.........:eek: The track has him at between 11 and 12,000 ft every 10 minutes, so I can't see where he had a stop.

SO WHAT AM I MISSING?.....:cool:

I FOUND MY ERROR....:eek: AND I WON'T SAY WHAT IT WAS.....:eek:
 
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DISTANCE from RENO to BLACK ROCK CITY?

gasman said:
From first track at about BLU to Reno is 50 stat miles. From Reno to last track is 53 miles.

Start time was 15:24. End time was 16:24. Looks like about a one hour flight. His average speed for this hour flight was ABOUT 180 mph.:D

And yet he only went 103 miles during that time.........:eek: The track has him at between 11 and 12,000 ft every 10 minutes, so I can't see where he had a stop.

SO WHAT AM I MISSING?.....:cool:
Click to expand...

Gasman,

How did you get 53 miles from Reno to the last track? It looks like about 93 miles straight line from just west of Reno to his last track. That distance divided by 40 minutes (16:24 minus apx. 15:44) converts to about 140 mph which looks reasonable.

And I agree the distance from the 15:24 track to Reno is about 50 miles, so the total dog-legged straight line distance for the last one hour (16:24 minus 15:24) is 146 miles (53 + 93) so that works out to about 146 mph. His actual track no doubt had some turns since he appeared to be following I-80 through the mountains.

Also, if you'll click on the "Show last" pull down menu and show the last 6 hours, the flight originated near San Jose.

Hope that helps... :)
Don
 
Yes - Burning Man ;-).

In fact, I built up the burningman digipeater (KI6GII-2). That's how Paul's position is getting out of the valley (a 60W mobile rig with a great antenna - mounted high above center camp).

If you are curious I also built up 10 trackers (based on Microtrak 300's) to track art cars at the burn for later animation purposes. Some are online now, all should be online tomorrow.

To track APRS at the burn (including a number of airplanes):

ve, the following link works well in IE:


http://aprs.fi/?addr=DN00JT30IE&mt=m&z=11&timerange=86400

PS: I'm not going to the burn this year - I'm going to a spinoff called Spurningman ;-)
 
So sorry if I caused anyone any worry! That was not my intention...I didn't think anyone would be watching very closely. Yes, the landing out there on a lakebed was planned, and I also assumed that the burningman digipeater that Kevin built would show some clearly defined scenic orbits then a landing pattern. For some reason it doesn't seem to have worked well, for me nor for the art cars.

It was a pretty rough year out there, the lakebed was very soft and I got stuck in it taxiing in. Had to jump out to clear out the piles of dirt with my hands, then was able to get moving again. My nosewheel+fairing held up fine despite the abuse (it was far worse than reported, else I would have removed the fairing or gone by car instead)...a 6A also showed up with the old nosewheel design and seemed to be doing ok. You bet we were keeping the stick back and speeds down in that mess.

Of the ~80 airplanes that flew in this year, at least two will not be flying out. A Piper twin had a nosewheel collapse and double prop strike while taxiing, and yesterday a Cirrus stalled and crashed on takeoff. No injuries, thankfully, but the a/c is totaled. A twin cessna also had an engine quit on landing and they couldn't get it started again...no diagnosis was made by the time I left.

I did take lots of pictures, but I left everything in the airplane to unpack tomorrow. I'll post some soon.
 
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Paul,
Glad you had a safe trip. You've got everyone Googling "Burning Man". Cant wait to see the photos. Looks like a wild event. :D

Can you tell us more about your tracker? I've got to have one of those!
 
TimB said:
Can you tell us more about your tracker? I've got to have one of those!
Click to expand...

Not much to say beyond my initial post, all major parts are from Byonics. 9V battery passes through a switch, which then feeds a Micro-trak 300. The Micro-trak also has a 5V output that feeds the Byonics GPS3. The GPS3 data comes back to the micro-trak via a single data wire. Transmitting through their $9 whip antenna.
 
Tracker Info

Tim,

If you do a search on APRS you will find a wealth of information on the tracker. Operation requires a ham radio license.
 
You missed the cheapest fuel stop!

When I return to RHV from the northeast, I usually stop at Tracy (TCY) and tank up. According to AirNav, you could have saved $0.75 per gallon today compared to RHV's self-serve 100LL.

Glad to hear about your successful Burning Man expedition. Sounds like fun.

Seeing your APRS setup and how well it worked (even with partially obscured antennas) pushed me over the edge and I ordered the same radio and gps. I had been on the fence but that was just too sweet.
 
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kcameron said:
When I return to RHV from the northeast, I usually stop at Tracy (TCY) and tank up. According to AirNav, you could have saved $0.75 per gallon today compared to RHV's self-serve 100LL.
Click to expand...

Actually, I did stop at AUN for gas on the way home, but since I was descending quickly as I came out of the mountains to get there, none of my positions made it out. You can't really tell from the track unless you look closely at the times.

I would have gone to TCY but I was a little low on gas for that.
 
Which antenna

Paul,

This looks interesting. I'm interested in doing something similar but have a question, which lightweight antenna did you use?

Thanks for the info and pics.

Tom
RV-7A N175TJ Flying
 
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