Glossary of Terms

Announcements -- Similar to Bulletins, but the letters BLN are followed by a single upper-case letter announcement identifier. Announcements are not transmitted as often as bulletins but are transmitted for several days.

APRS -- (Automatic Position Reporting System)  Used to send Position, Status, and Messages to other users through VHF, HF, or TCP (directly over the internet).

APRS Server -- A server set up on the internet which stores information about stations connected to APRS through the internet, and stations on RF who have been forwareded from an IGATE.

Bulletin -- Message in which addressee consists of the letters BLN followed by a single digit bulletin identifier, then 5 spaces. General bulletins are generally transmitted a few times an hour for a few hours, and typically contain time sensitive information (such as weather status).

Digipeater -- (Digital Repeater) A station set up for the purpose of receiving packets of information, and retransmitting the packets (usually from a higher elevation with high power.)

GPS -- (Global Positioning System) A GPS system receives data from sattelites, and based on principles of triangulation will calculate Latitude, Longitude, and Altitude.  GMT time is also received from the sattelites.

HF Gateway -- A station forwarding packets from HF to VHF.  Only under special situations should packets be forwarded in the opposite direction as the HF network can become overloaded very easily. 

HSP Switch -- (Hardware Selector Port?  I will verify this)  A device which allows the GPS and TNC to share the same comm port by switching between the two devices as needed.  When using an HSP switch, you have some risk of loosing data.  When in KISS mode, this risk is virtually zero.

IGATE -- (Internet Gateway) A station which is set up to receive packets of information on 144.39 MHz, and forward these packets to APRS servers on the internet.  This allows internet users to view locations of stations using RF who are being heard by the IGATE.

Message -- Text sent to another user.  Messages should be sent in such a way to encourage discussion among other users.

Meteor Mode -- Meteor mode is generally used during meteor scatter test.  Frames are transmitted very frequently.

Objects -- Locations of objects (such as a tornado, wall cloud, fire, or crash site) can be marked and transmitted to other users.  These objects can also be assigned a heading, and speed if moving.

WX Station -- A station receiving information from local weather gear (usually via the serial port), and transmitting the data from this weather gear to the APRS network.  The beacon interval for these stations is usually 15 or 20 minutes.