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To APRS or not to APRS? That is the question.

N941WR

Legacy Member
I have been on the fence for a long time with regard to installing a device in the plane to allow anyone to track my flights. That has changed over the past few weeks as a friend and neighbor disappeared in the swamps north of Zephyerhills, FL on the 5th while flying his Sonex.

They still have not located him or his plane and I'm positive that had he put an APRS unit on board, he would have been found by now and possibly saved.

Thus, I start my quest for APRS knowledge.
 
Just Do It! :)

I have been on the fence for a long time with regard to installing a device in the plane to allow anyone to track my flights. That has changed over the past few weeks as a friend and neighbor disappeared in the swamps north of Zephyerhills, FL on the 5th while flying his Sonex.

They still have not located him or his plane and I'm positive that had he put an APRS unit on board, he would have been found by now and possibly saved.

Thus, I start my quest for APRS knowledge.

Bill,

The peace of mind is significant, not just for you but those who care about you. You can have an ON/OFF switch for those cases where you just don't want to clog up the system while beat up the pattern or when you are flying along with others.

I have used the system for years and now that I am having problems with my installation, at times I feel "naked".

Give a call some time and I will share more opinions.

James
 
Good coverage

I've been amazed at the coverage, even while crossing some of the most desolate places in the country, like Northern Nv, Wy, SD etc. Always have have a good trail show up.
And my wife appreciates being able to follow me on trips from her phone.
Tim
 
Get Some kind of Tracker

Yes, Bill, whether it's an APRS or a satellite tracker or what have you, if you can get a reliable unit in your plane, do so. I bought a Byonics Micro-Trak RTG FA in 2011, and it has been very reliable for me. When I fly animal rescue flights I rely on it plus a VFR flight plan to help my family plus the search teams know where I've been.

As for the Ham license, in my opinion, anyone who can pass an FAA private pilot exam should be able, after proper study, to pass the FCC Amateur Radio Technician exam.

Good luck with whatever you decide, but just Do It! :)
 
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Yes, Bill, whether it's an APRS or a satellite tracker or what have you, if you can get a reliable unit in your plane, do so. I bought a Byonics Micro-Trak RTG FA in 2011, and it has been very reliable for me. When I fly animal rescue flights I rely on it plus a VFR flight plan to help my family plus the search teams know where I've been.

As for the Ham license, in my opinion, anyone who can pass an FAA private pilot exam should be able, after proper study, to pass the FCC Amateur Radio Technician exam.

Good luck with whatever you decide, but just Do It! :)

I agree with Don. The ham test is easily passed with a few hours of study by anyone that has built their aircraft or is used to taking certification tests.

I've trained my family if I'm over due to check aprs to see where I'm at if not back by a predetermined time. While anyone can track me, I really don't care. I have ADSB-Out, so the Feds already know where I am.
 
I've installed a Byonics MicroTrak RTG-FA...easy to install and if you have avionics that can output basic NMEA sentences, you can integrate the RTG with that and avoid mounting another GPS antenna. I've integrated mine with my SkyView system. I've also put the unit on a power switch so I can control when I'm "tracking".
 
There are a few very easy ways to add APRS to an airplane. The Amateur Radio Technician license can be studied over a few evenings.

Now here is the twist - it's called an "amateur license" for a reason. There are no guarantees. That said, I've not found many failure points in my three years of using a tracker.

My feeling is APRS is better than no APRS but if you are looking for safety, a satellite based system such as a PLB may be your choice since it works on the ground whereas APRS (as configured for flight) often will not. I also think ADSB-out will add another layer.

I enjoy having a tracker. My family and friends "check in" often. For cross country flights and most weekend trips I tell people at both ends of my route and they "watch over me".

It also helps with timing the "pick me up at the airport".

There are lots of reasons to enjoy APRS but remember, it's only as good as our infrastructure.

Disclaimer: I'm the guy distributing iGates through VAF members :)
 
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Bill,

Invaluable for tracking as has already been said. However, make sure that it is configured properly for wherever you are flying. With the "normal" configuration, mine would "drop out" when over the remote areas of Nevada because it couldn't find any primary stations within reach. This first time this happened (and I was very new to the APRS) Julia was really worried that I had disappeared and in trouble. Once reconfigured to hit secondary stations, I've not had any issues and have even gotten decent signals out in some very remote locations (i.e., east-central Yukon!). Even so, there are some places where no repeaters exist (northern BC along the coast is one) where you can't get a signal out. So I always also carry a PLB as well.

For most uses, as already noted by others here, it is a really good aid for a lot of reasons. Link to the map of North American repeaters:

http://wa8lmf.net/APRSmaps/NorthAmericaLarge.htm

Greg
 
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As you pointed out, it's great for the purpose you outlined. It's also practical to have people be aware when you're arriving somewhere. Just send 'em the Google URL and, voila.

I would recommend Pete Howell for all your information needs. The man's a genius on the subject (and many others).

I THINK the current list of questions for the Tech license is going to expire in June, so you might want to wait to buy the book (I used the Gordon West book) until the new test comes out.
 
That is the question!

I took my Tech License test after going through the multiple guess tests on Eham.com I am not sure that a lot of potential hams understand that not only is every possible question available on the practice tests, but every answer is there, verbatim, too. If you play the practice test game, you can memorize every question in the test pools with ease.

Manufacturing APRS transmitters, I guess you would expect me to be biased, and I am. But I am also a Major in the Civil Air Patrol and an (inactive due to health) Ground Team Leader. ( The guy who comes to find your azz when you are upside down in the trees with Avgas running down your neck) Great news is that the new generation of ELT's are start of the art awesome; Bad news is they often don't survive a crash ( or at least with a valid GPS position available) This means CAP or other group has to find you by blind luck. An APRS track will give us your course, speed, and last known position even if it too, does not survive the crash. Its a big world when you are looking for a little airplane, and any intelligence we have to know where to start looking is a major kick start. The coverage is not 100%, but at altitude, it starts reaching 100% pretty fast. Altitude is time.

Whether you use my transmitters ( Which of course, is the wisest thing to do ) or anyone other one, the real limitation is usually the antenna. If you use a Vertical belly whip, your unit will outperform the cross polarized wing tip antenna dramatically, but I understand your reluctance to drill holes in your ship. Pretty cheap insurance.

Allen
( The Micro-Trak guy from Byonics)
 
and FWIW, I give Allen very high recommendations for the multiple times I have sought advice and support from him over the past few years. You need not look elsewhere. He is the man.
 
+1 on "Just Do It!"

A certain other person in this thread from KCUB and I had a pleasurable flight to Gastonia several years ago to take the Technician exam. We both aced the test, but he finished before I did. The ham group, Gaston County Amateur Radio Society (GCARS) was absolutely great. A fellow with the group picked us up, and took us back to the airport after the exam. Great hospitality!

It is nice to have a few folks monitoring my flight in case of emergency. I have even noted "Transmitting APRS http://aprs.fi call sign N194MH" when filing a flight plan. The fellow on the phone first said, "Uh?" But realized what I was talking about as soon as he said that. I figure, they'd find me 1000x quicker than with the ELT.

I have found that the original antenna that came with my Byonics Micro-Trak 8000FA to work great. The unit is mounted in the right wing tip with the antenna perpendicular to the wing rib, pointing outboard. I have tried another antenna but it caused my autopilot to surge on each transmission. I have an On/Off switch on the panel in case I want to fly in stealth mode.
 
I have found that the original antenna that came with my Byonics Micro-Trak 8000FA to work great. The unit is mounted in the right wing tip with the antenna perpendicular to the wing rib, pointing outboard. I have tried another antenna but it caused my autopilot to surge on each transmission. I have an On/Off switch on the panel in case I want to fly in stealth mode.

That is a great data-point. The RTG tracker is available in a tracker/GPS/antenna combo and this would include everything needed for a wingtip installation.

I leave aprs.fi running on my desktop at home every time I go to the airport. My wife can glance at it and see where N399SB is located at all times.

There has been one crash with a tracker-equipped plane and even though there were witnesses to the crash the tracker provided the exact location of the crash and flight parameters leading up to the event. Very valuable.
 
Pete's antennae

Not all aircraft are so serendipitously designed as the RV, with the nice wingtip install location, but when people contact us about "Covert" antennae (No holes in the belly) I always refer them to Pete. His wire J-Pole is outstanding!

Diamond, Thanks for your endorsement! After Sam's article ran in Kitplane Magazine, I think that we (You guys and gals+ Byon and I) must have recruited thousands of new converts to the Ham world, many of whom had no interest initially in anything but APRS, but when they saw what could be done with Amateur Radio, their interest grew far beyond just APRS. High Altitude ballooning ( meteorological, not manned) and Aircraft, are, I believe, our fastest growing market. This page brought the I-gate in a box to the public! You guys rock.

73,

Allen
 
.....
They still have not located him or his plane and I'm positive that had he put an APRS unit on board, he would have been found by now and possibly saved.
....


Bill APRS definitely has more pros then cons and it's a great addition to safety. However as Glen correctly pointed out
There are lots of reasons to enjoy APRS but remember, it's only as good as our infrastructure.


Also there will be added responsibility all your flights will be mapped and archived some of the mistakes will be visible to general public in real time. I have a tracker since 2009 first it was installed on my car then when I finished my RV it went airborne and is beaming non stop ever since. Local ham police went on a war path with me one time. Once a controlled agency questioned my position and according to APRS altitude in question was not in my favor. When I am flying in the mountains of NH and Maine the track is very spotty. Few repeaters and iGates. I will test it in AK this summer I doubt it would have much usefulness there.

A switch would be a great idea but often when you need it the most the switch is off :)
 
I've installed a Byonics MicroTrak RTG-FA...easy to install and if you have avionics that can output basic NMEA sentences, you can integrate the RTG with that and avoid mounting another GPS antenna. I've integrated mine with my SkyView system. I've also put the unit on a power switch so I can control when I'm "tracking".

I plan to install APRS and got a wingtip antenna for it and ran coax back through to the fuse. That's as much as I've done so far. I plan on an all-Dynon panel so would be interested in connection details to Skyview. Is there a collection of tips and wisdom from the many pilots who have trod the APRS path before, with details such as these?
 
When I am flying in the mountains of NH and Maine the track is very spotty. Few repeaters and iGates. I will test it in AK this summer I doubt it would have much usefulness there.

Vlad, change the configuration to Wide 1-1, wide 2-2, which will give you more secondary stations when farther from civilization. Just remember to turn it off or reconfigure when in very populated areas (I got a nasty email when I flew over to the SF Bay area once with it configured like this and was hitting all sorts of stations and "clogging up" the system - now I turn it off when in those areas). When I first set mine up, it was configured with default settings and in remote areas of NV it was not getting a signal out. Since changing to the new settings, I rarely have any issues getting a signal out in the lower 48, and have been trackable in some pretty remote areas of Yukon:

http://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&ts=1342742400&te=1342828800&call=a/N7965A

I suspect that in much of Alaska unless you're scud running, you will get signals out. That may not extend to the Aleutians, but certainly most other places.

Greg
 
APRS and SkyView

Ralph,

Easy. Connect the APRS as follows. Connect the APRS RS-232 input to any unused SkyView serial port transmit. Then configure the serial port on the display appropriately under SETUP MENU > SYSTEM SETUP > SERIAL PORT SETUP, SERIAL PORT x SETUP > selecting the desired output data format. You need to select NMEA (GPS) Data Output.

If you use the Byonics MTG-RTG and have a position on your SkyView, check the light next to the power plug. It will turn steady green when it has a position lock.

You should only have three wires, power, ground, and GPS data in.

Good luck and if you have anymore questions, feel free to email me directly at [email protected]

Brian
 
APRS

I would be interested in getting this, is there a website or someone I can contact who can run me through what I need? I already have my Technician license so the hardest part is probably done. Feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Matt
 
I would be interested in getting this, is there a website or someone I can contact who can run me through what I need? I already have my Technician license so the hardest part is probably done. Feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Matt

Matt,

You are already at the best source of aviation APRS information. Read the stickies at the top of this forum:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/forumdisplay.php?f=104

Read this one first:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=27773

Then work your way through the other stickies. Let us know if you have more questions.

Happy trackin'!
 
Reporting site

Sam you convinced me a while back. Taking the exam in two weeks and planning on Allen's unit when I'm issued a call sign. Even installed a switch in the panel already. One area is a little foggy though. Exactly how do you get your plane on a web site. I find Vlad's "Where" N666BK" the best APRS reporting site I've found unless you have a better one. It's fast and extremely easy to get on and would be easy for my better half to locate me from her smart phone when she starts to worry. How does one register to a site like that?
 
One way is to go to "aprs.fi" (type this in the browser). On the upper right, you'll see call sign - type in whatever call sign you've programmed into the transmitter and that should do it.

Dan
 
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Sam you convinced me a while back. Taking the exam in two weeks and planning on Allen's unit when I'm issued a call sign. Even installed a switch in the panel already. One area is a little foggy though. Exactly how do you get your plane on a web site. I find Vlad's "Where" N666BK" the best APRS reporting site I've found unless you have a better one. It's fast and extremely easy to get on and would be easy for my better half to locate me from her smart phone when she starts to worry. How does one register to a site like that?

Tom, you don't have to register for www.aprs.fi, it tracks you whether you like it or not. ;)

Here is the link to my track:

http://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FN399SB&timerange=43200&tail=43200

Just substitute your call sign for the "N399SB" in the above link and anyone can follow you by loading that link. My link is set to show the last twelve hours of beacons. That is long enough to show the entire day of flying.

She will like this site! :)
 
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Too Good to be True

Thanks Sam Glen and Dan. You know this whole system seems to good to be true ! I would think everyone would want one.
 
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