Station Setup Remove the Background Image

This dialogue is used to configure your UI-View32 station beacon. UI-View32 station beacons are compatible with APRS fixed position beacons, or APRS locator beacons, depending on what you input in this dialogue.

KEY POINTS

1. If you fill in the information on this screen, and you put a beacon interval other than '0', then UI-View32 is going to transmit a beacon at the specified interval, so make sure you understand what you are doing! Also, if you plan to send WX beacons, please note the comment below about the station beacon being used instead of the WX beacon when no WX information is available.

2. If you enable the beacon in UI-View32, PLEASE make sure you have disabled it in your TNC, BPQ, WinPack, etc. Otherwise you will be needlessly transmitting two lots of BTEXT.

2. If you send your beacon via digipeaters, please be aware that it can create significant extra traffic, particularly if you use a generic repeater alias such as RELAY. The use of digipeaters in the beacon unproto address may not be appropriate in areas where the packet channels are very busy. DON'T let's get UI-View32 a bad name by generating too much beacon traffic! Of course this doesn't apply if you use the recommended 2m "unconnected nets" frequency, which is 144.800MHz.

3. If you are using WinpDDE mode, then UI-View32 cannot transmit and so any information input will not be used as a beacon. However, you should still input your location, either as longitude and latitude, or as an IARU locator in the beacon comment, so that UI-View32 can work out distances and bearings to stations that it hears.

Callsign - input your callsign.

Latitude - input your station latitude. The format is dd.mm.nn<NS>. "dd" is two digits for degrees. "mm" is two digits for minutes. "nn" is two digits for decimal minutes. NOTE - decimal minutes, not seconds. "<NS" is either "N" for North or "S for South. Example - 52.58.23N

Longitude - input your station longitude. The format is ddd.mm.nn<EW>. "ddd" is three digits for degrees. "mm" is two digits for minutes. "nn" is two digits for decimal minutes. NOTE - decimal minutes, not seconds. "<EW>" is either "E" for East or "W" for West. Example - 000.02.77W

Alternative method - You can set your longitude and latitude by holding down the Home key and double-clicking on your location on a suitably large scale map.

PLEASE NOTE - If you leave latitude and/or longitude blank, then your beacon will be disabled. This applies even if you are operating mobile with a GPS attached. To enable your beacon, you MUST input a latitude and longitude.

Locator - this is your IARU locator. It is automatically calculated from your longitude and latitude. It is for information only - In the past I have often been asked to provide a utility for users to work out their IARU locator.

Compressed - If this option is checked, then your position is transmitted in APRS compressed format. Please note that some software can't decode compressed format, and also it makes your beacons completely meaningless to any casual observer using a simple terminal program, so use this option with caution.

Unproto port - the port on which you want the beacon to be transmitted. If you are using UI-View32 with a TNC, then you must put "1" for the port. If you are using it with BPQ or AGWPE, then you can put multiple ports separated by commas.

If "Unproto port" is left blank, then it will be defaulted to "1".

Unproto address - the unproto address used for your beacons. It consists of a destination address and optional digipeaters. The default is a destination address of "APRS" and no digipeaters. If you want to include digipeaters, then use commas as separators. E.g. "APRS,RELAY,WIDE" will send your beacon to APRS via RELAY and WIDE. See UI-View32 Destination Address for information about how UI-View32 regards "APRS" as a special address.

If you have used multiple ports then you can configure a separate unproto path for each port by using '|' (pipe character) as a separator.

Example - For unproto port you put "1,2,3". For unproto address you put "APRS,RELAY|BEACON,RELAY,WIDE|CQ". The result is that "APRS,RELAY" is used as the address for port 1; "BEACON,RELAY,WIDE" is used as the address for port 2; "CQ" is used as the address for port 3.

If "Unproto address" is left blank, then it will be defaulted to "APRS".

Beacon comment - The comment text at the end of your station beacon. NOTE - if longitude and latitude are left blank, then the beacon consist only of the comment. This allows you to send an APRS compatible locator beacon by putting the locator in the comment in an APRS compatible format. E.g. ">IO92XX/- Roger in Boston", or "[IO92XX] Roger in Boston". Please don't make the comment too long! UI-View32 will warn you if the comment exceeds the 43 characters allowed in the APRS specification.

Add Ui-View Tag - If this box is checked, then a tag showing that you are using UI-View(32), and what version you are using, is appended to your beacon. The format of the tag ie e.g. {UIV32}. The numbers will change according to the version. UI-View32 identifies stations that send the tag by marking them with a '+' in the Station List, and using different colours for their callsign labels. Don't turn off this option unless you have a good reason, because other users' UI-View(32) systems use the tag as a way of telling that you are using UI-View(32).

Beacon interval (Fixed) - The interval in minutes at which your station beacon is transmitted. An interval of "0" disables the beacon. DON'T set an interval that is unnecessarily short! 30 minutes should be ok for most uses.

Beacon interval (Mobile) - if you have a GPS attached to UI-View32 - see Using A GPS - then UI-View32 will automatically go into mobile mode when it detects valid GPS data. The frequency of the mobile beacon is determined as follows:-

· The interval between beacons is never greater than the value put into the minutes box. (Putting '0' disables the mobile beacon.)

· If the miles/km box contains a value other than '0', then UI-View32 constantly calculates the distance travelled since the last beacon, and sends a beacon when the specified distance has been covered. This means that your beacon frequency will automatically vary according to your speed.

Beacon interval (Internet) - this is the interval at which the beacon will be sent to the internet if you are logged on to APRServe.

Symbol - allows you to select your station type, which determines the symbol character transmitted in your beacon. See UI-View32 Symbols for more information on station symbols.

O'ly - (if available) the overlay character you wish to use. Note that about half the symbols can have an overlay character, but overlay characters are normally only used with symbols that have a description starting with "No."

GPS Symbol and O'ly - the symbol and overlay character used when a GPS is attached to UI-View32.

NOTE - There is one situation in which the beacon will be transmitted, even if Beacon Interval is set to '0':-

If UI-View32 is configured to send WX beacons, but the WX data is out of date, then the station beacon will be sent instead, provided that sufficient information has been input.