petehowell
Well Known Member
Hi Guys,
The Alpha and Beta testing is over and the first long XC is under my belt with the next generation of APRS for the RV World...............
GEEK ALERT - this is not for the plug and play crowd - but if I can do it, you probably can, too.
APRS has a lot of very cool capabilities beyond dropping the bread crumbs that many of us already do. It can send messages, it can track and plot other units, and it can send telemetry. Anyone interested in an RV mounted solution that can do all that??? Read on!
The trick was to assemble a unit that had a user friendly front end and a capable back end/radio section with out killing Kate's college fund. Some digging on the web found that an Argent OpenTracker2 ($95) can be paired with a Garmin Nuvi 350($100 refurb), a 2M transceiver($big range), and some cables ($50)to give you a really spiffy set up. The Garmin has a built in messaging interface (Fleet Management Interface)that is tapped into to enable APRS messaging.
I bought all the stuff, and wired it up - I wanted to make the unit portable, so the back end goes in a bag. The Nuvi350 is at the bottom:
Nuvi is mounted on an articulating stalk on the right side of the 9PH panel. Hey look, I hacked the Nuvi to add a plane icon and I loaded a custom data base of all US airports. The Nuvi has limited flight planning capabilities- it might even drive the ADI Pilot II. Yep, that is the local digi plotted on the screen...
Hey, can I use this thing to send me an email?
Yes, I can!
Unit in Action - I have it on the pass seat here, but for XC, it lives right behind the seat. Unit is configured for 5 Watts, and heat is not an issue in the bag. How do I know? - I can query the unit from the Nuvi, and it will report internal temperature!
Can I receive messages from other people while in flight ?
Yes, I can!
Can I find and plot other APRS equipped airplanes in flight?
Yes, I can! That's Alex P on my wing in 66AP.
Oh, hey - can I still drop breadcrumbs so Grandma can track us?
Yes, I can!
Notice it reports the unit internal voltage and temperature as telemetry....
Ok - this thing is pretty cool - but it is probably overkill for the plane. It weighs a few pounds and cost a few bucks. But it can send an email or text message from 10,000 feet!!
It requires much more work to assemble and configure than the Microtrak and costs a fair bit more. If you want a cheap, easy, light weight tracker, get a Microtrack from Byon and be done. However, if you want to tinker, don't mind some frustration, and want to be the undisputed biggest geek in the hangar - try this set up, then blog of me highly.......
The Alpha and Beta testing is over and the first long XC is under my belt with the next generation of APRS for the RV World...............
GEEK ALERT - this is not for the plug and play crowd - but if I can do it, you probably can, too.
APRS has a lot of very cool capabilities beyond dropping the bread crumbs that many of us already do. It can send messages, it can track and plot other units, and it can send telemetry. Anyone interested in an RV mounted solution that can do all that??? Read on!
The trick was to assemble a unit that had a user friendly front end and a capable back end/radio section with out killing Kate's college fund. Some digging on the web found that an Argent OpenTracker2 ($95) can be paired with a Garmin Nuvi 350($100 refurb), a 2M transceiver($big range), and some cables ($50)to give you a really spiffy set up. The Garmin has a built in messaging interface (Fleet Management Interface)that is tapped into to enable APRS messaging.
I bought all the stuff, and wired it up - I wanted to make the unit portable, so the back end goes in a bag. The Nuvi350 is at the bottom:
Nuvi is mounted on an articulating stalk on the right side of the 9PH panel. Hey look, I hacked the Nuvi to add a plane icon and I loaded a custom data base of all US airports. The Nuvi has limited flight planning capabilities- it might even drive the ADI Pilot II. Yep, that is the local digi plotted on the screen...
Hey, can I use this thing to send me an email?
Yes, I can!
Unit in Action - I have it on the pass seat here, but for XC, it lives right behind the seat. Unit is configured for 5 Watts, and heat is not an issue in the bag. How do I know? - I can query the unit from the Nuvi, and it will report internal temperature!
Can I receive messages from other people while in flight ?
Yes, I can!
Can I find and plot other APRS equipped airplanes in flight?
Yes, I can! That's Alex P on my wing in 66AP.
Oh, hey - can I still drop breadcrumbs so Grandma can track us?
Yes, I can!
Notice it reports the unit internal voltage and temperature as telemetry....
Ok - this thing is pretty cool - but it is probably overkill for the plane. It weighs a few pounds and cost a few bucks. But it can send an email or text message from 10,000 feet!!
It requires much more work to assemble and configure than the Microtrak and costs a fair bit more. If you want a cheap, easy, light weight tracker, get a Microtrack from Byon and be done. However, if you want to tinker, don't mind some frustration, and want to be the undisputed biggest geek in the hangar - try this set up, then blog of me highly.......
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