APRS & Digital Mobile Install & Operate 
 
 Hardware required:
 IC-706MKIIG HF/VHF/UHF TX/RX radio (10-160 mtrs, 2, 6 mtrs, 70 cm) $950.
 IC-706 Radio mounting bracket MB-62 $23. 
 IC-706 Radio Mic. HM-118TN $60.
 Antenna Diamond RH707 2 mtr. & 70cm $57. 
 Antenna Mag mount base SPM35 $40.
 Antenna High Sierra Sidekick w/i-box 10–75 mtrs. $425.
 Antenna Mag mount base ProAm MM3401 $60.
 GPS receiver Garmin eTrex $120. 
 GPS cable Garmin eTrex to PC Interface signal/power cable #010-10268-00 - $50.00
 TNC KPC-3 Plus/128 - $187. 
 TNC to radio ACC socket cable - MFJ-5065YV $20. 
 TNC/GPS/PC HSP transistor interface cable $44.95
 TNC DC connector Radio Shack RS 274-1534 $2. 
 Laptop computer 
 Software: APRS+SA Street Atlas Airmail3 Paclink Chip64 Digtrx MixW2 MT63 PacTerm 
 Interface MFJ-1283BM Sound Card, for: psk-31, AMTOR, RTTY etc. $65.
 Cables Sound Card 2 ea. 1/8 Stereo M-M 6Ft RS 42-2387 $3.99 or
 2 ea. 1/8 Stereo M-M 1Ft RS 42-2497 $5.49 
 Adapter Laptop DC/DC Adapter 15~21VDC 90w 6.amp: BIXNET.COM Universal Auto/Air $47.
 Adapter DC power 3-outlet adapter RS 270-1535 $6.99
 Adapter DB25p Male to DB9p Female - RS 26-209 $6.
 Connector 9p Male RS 276-1427 - $1.49 and Connector Hood RS 276-1539 $1.49 
 Connector Polarized connector RS 274-222 $1. 
 Wire 18G, 2 conductor red/blk RS 278-567 $4.29 
 Wire 22G, 2 conductor RS 278-1224 $4.49 
 Wire ties RS 278-1720 $1.49 
 Heat-shrink RS 278-1627 $1.99 
 Wire clips RS 278-1647 $2.99 
 Velcro, industrial, (to mount Laptop, GPS, TNC, MFJ-1283BM) - RS 64-2363 $3.49 
 Caution: Velcro for car-dash should be: Vinyl Sticky-Back SKU 14-8018
 
 Note: Sound Card Interface & cables are needed to operate HF digital modes
 ie. psk-31, not needed for APRS. 
 
 COMM1 --- MFJ-1283BM 
 DB9/F –-- cable --- DB9/M 
 COMM1 
 DB9/F --- cable --- KAM3Plus DB25/M
 
 KAM3Plus VHF --- IC-706 
 TNC DB9 -- MFJ-5065YV cable ---- Radio ACC 13 pin 
 1...................... TX audio ............... 11
 3 ..................... PTT ......................7
 5 ..................... RX audio ............... 12
 6 ..................... gnd ......................2
 
Setup & Operating:
1. Radio setup:
 Mode: FM Freq: 144.39 145.11 145.79 445.925 131.550
 Mode: HF Freq: LSB 7.039 7.085 10.151 14.100 14.105.5 50.200 
 
2. PC setup:
 Select CONTROL PANEL – SYSTEM – DEVICE MANAGER - PORTS – COM1 
 Select: 4800 Baud & Hardware Control
 
3. GPS Garmin eTrex receiver setup:
 Press Power button
 Press Page button:
 Select MENU Page 
 Select Setup:
 Select Interface: format
 Select: NMEA Out (4800 Baud - Decimal minutes/degrees: XX.XXXX LAT/LONG)
 GPS Receiver operation:
 Press Page button:
 Select Satellite Page: (Ready to Navigate = eTrex has found at least 3 satellites) 
 
4. Click on Street Atlas Map program
 Street Atlas setup:
 (Street Atlas Map is loaded onto Hard Drive vis. to running from PC’s CD drive).
 
5. Click on APRS+SA program 
 APRS-HSP (Hardware Serial Port) configuration 
 Setup:
 APRS+SA v2.21 software: download http//www.tapr.org/~kh2z/aprsplus/ 
 Setup tab:
 Main tab:
 Call: AA3EU-9 (SSID -9 = Auto) http://www.aprs.net/vm/dos/symbols.htm
 Latitude/Longitude must be set to some coordinates, ie. Decimal Minutes 
 LAT>39.44362 LONG>-76.96444 
 History TAB 39 26.620 W76 57.870 GPS = 39.25 559 76. 57 862
 (type LAT> & >LONG and click “Coordinate Conversion and Map Capture” and OK
 Coordinates to be generated by the GPS receiver.
 Status text = W3JAL WLNK Server, AA3EU
 Status Time set to 60 min.
 Position Text = Silver Camry MD 2AYJ17 
 Position Time set to 15 min.
 Via RELAY, WIDE2-2
 TNC configuration - initkpc3.tnc
 Coordinates Sentence set to $GPRMC
 Port 1 Baud set to 4800
 Port to COM 1
 Mode to HSP
 Check Enable Transmit
 System Clock 1.0 sec
 Position 2 tab: click My Location box 
 Right click on Window: turn ON Range/Bearing Update
 Track Tab: type AA3EU-9 – select: Auto - Enable - Zoom
 Maps Tab: select Track Me Enable; All other settings set to Default
 
 APRS Plus Operational check:
 Press GPS Tab - to read $GPRMC & GPGVV coordinates sentences
 Press TNC Tab - to read GPS coordinate sentences and I/O traffic
 (Position messages display coordinates sentences (coordinates & speed data) 
 received from the GPS Garmin eTrex receiver)
 
6. TNC setup: if the TNC doesn’t transmit, the TNC may require a Hard-reset: 
 Remove cover, place jumper, power-ON, power OFF, remove jumper, power ON 
  type *, type CALL (PC Must be Faster than a 486)
 
To TRANSMITT APRS POSITION manually: press APRS SEND & press TRANSMIT POSITION 
 
Notes:
 APRS+SA, FAQ: "some data may be lost when the HSP transistor switches".
 APRS+SA pg.3: "Mobile Stations shouldn’t TX position reports more than once a minute".
 

APRSLink provides a link between the Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) and the

Winlink 2000 Radio e-mail system.  APRSLink monitors all APRS traffic gated to the

Internet, worldwide, and watches for special commands that allow APRS users to:

read short e-mail messages sent to their [email protected] account

send short e-mail messages to any valid e-mail address or Winlink 2000 user

perform e-mail related maintenance (see commands below)

be notified of pending Winlink e-mail via APRS message

query APRSLink for information of the closest Winlink interface (Telpac gateway or PMBO)

Properly licensed Amateur Radio operators are automatically registered in the Winlink

2000 system the first time they send a message through the system with the AirMail

software program. To Register and use APRSLink See www.winlink.org/newmail

& click Register (Sign in/out – New Message – Sign in/out)

Additionally, your APRS station must have sent at least one APRS position report (beacon)

prior to attempting to access this service. In that way, APRSLink can know your Amateur

Callsign, location, and station type.

Available Commands via APRS

H or ? = HELP

L = Return list of pending messages

R# = Read message number #

Y# = Reply to message

P = Playback

A = Create an Alias

F# = Forward message

K# = Kill number message

T = Info on closest Telpac Gateway (Telpac: K7BC-10 FM18JS 4 miles)

M = Info on closest PMBO/RMS (PMBO: W3JAL FM18TV 42 miles)

I = Info on closest APRSLink (APRSLink v1.1.0.0 www.winlink.org/aprslink.htm)

To Transmit a message with APRS’s, APRS+Message Box

W = Email to Winlink address or Callsign (ie:[email protected] or aa3eu)

W1 = Subject

W2 = First line of message

W3 = Second line of message

W4 = another line

/EX (transmit on the last line of message)

Note: I have found that pre-typing your message on the Desktop and pasting each line

of the message into the APRS+SA Send message window will save a lot of time and

eliminate errors.

Here's how it works: You send an APRS message using WLNK-1 as the destination Callsign

with one of the above commands as the message text. APRSLink responds by sending APRS

messages back to you via your IGate. Of course, your IGate must be configured to gate

those messages back to RF - it should be.

APRSLink will detect if your request is from a Kenwood TH-D7 or TM-D700, and attempt to

format retrieved messages to fit the display of those devices. For a TH-D7, this means

you are limited to receiving a maximum of 48 characters per APRS message, and a maximum

of 64 characters for the TM-D700. When you request to read an e-mail from the Winlink

system, APRSLink will send one or more APRS messages back to your station. Reading

large messages (over a few lines) is not appropriate, and APRSLink limits the number

of APRS messages it will send back to your station.

APRSLink is tailored to fit the needs of remote TH-D7 and TM D700 users, but is fully

functional for other clients as well. To allow easy entry using the D7 or D700

keypads, you can use a keypad letter instead of a number for the second part of

commands that require message line numbers. For example, to read message 3 you can

send Rd instead of R3;  use Rj for message 5, etc. Actually, any letter on the key

will be interpreted as the number on that same key for any command that uses a number

following the command character.

If you desire notification of pending Winlink e-mail just add the callsign of the

APRSLink server somewhere in your station's position comment (or status text) and

you'll be notified with an APRS message whenever you have unread mail on the Winlink

system. Notification is sent once per day but is reset whenever you use APRSLink to

access your Winlink e-mail. In that way, mail received after you have read the

current batch will trigger another notification.Initially, there will be a single

APRSLink server using a callsign of WLNK-1. Additional APRSLink servers may be added

at a later time - if so, they will use the same Callsign and a different SSID;

-2, -3 etc.

The following text is inserted into messages sent through APRSLink to the Internet.

Messages addressed to a ham callsign or to a [email protected] e-mail address do

not contain this disclaimer.

================================================
This message was sent using a remote device which has
limited capacity. When replying use plain text, keep
the message as short as possible and include no attachments.
================================================

APRS is a registered trademark of APRS Software and Bob Bruninga, WB4APR

 
APRS WEB Sites: Live VHF; HF APRS reports:
 web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/radio.html 
 http://www.qslnet/kd4sai/aprs.html www.w9pci.com/aprs/aprs.htm 
 http://www.holtoks.net/jarc/graphic1.htm 
 
To Track a mobile APRS Station via Internet: 
 http://www.findu.com/cig-bin/find.cgi?aa3eu-9 
 
Joe Mettle sends: