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Setting up Your Own APRS iGate

Sam Buchanan

been here awhile
09/28/08; Due to a great deal of interest in setting up an iGate, and the software not being very user-friendly, I've expanded the post below with screen-shots from UI-View that detail how my iGate is configured. Hopefully this will help those who are following similar paths. This thread has also been reposted as a sticky in the APRS forum.

Since our APRS beacons are ported to the internet via receiving stations known as iGates, some APRS'ers have asked about the hardware and software requirements of setting up their own iGate. It is kinda cool to see where the packets from your own tracker have ported through your own iGate and out to the internet. An iGate is a great option for an aviator that routinely flies in a local area with a sparse iGate population. But even if your local area has lots of repeaters, the addition of an iGate only enhances the quality of APRS coverage.

An iGate doesn't require a lot of expense, just some sort of receiver, your computer with a broadband connection and soundcard, some free software, and an antenna. Put everything together and get the software sorted out, and not only will you be able to see your aircraft tracker on the internet, but also your home-based iGate!

If you are reading this article when my iGate is running, you can hit this link to see it on the map. Look for the white iGate diamond, KJ4CKK, at Athens, AL.

Here is my iGate station:

A Yaesu FT-1802M 2-meter mobile radio feeds audio into the sound card of my desktop. The mobile radio is powered by one of the old batteries out of the RV-6 which is keep charged by a wall wart Battery Tender. Since the radio only receives as an iGate, there is practically no current draw or heat produced. The sound card (actually the computer's onboard sound card) serves as the packet modem for decoding the incoming beacons. However, any receiver that will pick up 144.39 will work (shortwave radio, scanner, handheld, etc). You just need a patch cable from the "speaker out" of the radio to "line in" on your sound card.

aprs-8.jpg


But wait! Even the smallest receivers will work fine for an iGate. Here is another version of my station with a Yaesu VX-2R handheld transceiver:

VX-2.jpg


Software is UIView32, AGWPE, and Street Atlas. Here are some links to the software and related info:

http://www.apritch.myby.co.uk/uiview_software.htm

http://www.sv2agw.com/downloads/default.htm

http://www.kc2rlm.info/soundcardpacket/

http://www.kc2rlm.info/soundcardpacket/7uiview.htm

http://wa8lmf.net/aprs/UIview_Notes.htm

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ui-view/

http://wa8lmf.net/aprs/APRS_symbols.htm

Street Atlas is used for mapping in UIView. Mapping isn't necessary just for feeding packets into the iGate but it does display the location of received stations. All this will start making sense as you work your way through the links.

An inexpensive Diamond antenna is on the roof of the house:

http://www.rfparts.com/diamond/f22a.html

aprs-7.jpg


The iGate works very nicely and ports a lot of traffic to aprs.fi. The addition of another cable or two between sound card and radio and a little software tweaking would give the station full digipeater capability. But we have several digis in the area and I don't see a need to add another one. I don't run the iGAte 24/7, just when I go flying and any other time the mood strikes, mostly weekends so the local airborne trackers can use the iGate. But supplying round-the-clock APRS support is just a matter of leaving the radio and computer running all the time.

The iGate would probably serve most of my APRS needs by itself within 100-150 miles of my home for enroute beacons. Not sure how far out it would receive my packets transmitted close to the ground, however. There are a couple of non-iGate digipeaters close by and my station ports a bunch of their transmissions to the net.

The iGate is just my way of contributing to the local APRS network and was an interesting software exercise. There are quite a few hoops to jump through to get everything configured but if someone wants to pursue their own iGate, don't hesitate to post questions and we'll get you up to speed.

Screen shots of several config tables in UI-View:

KJ4CKK_coms.jpg


KJ4CKK_station.jpg


KJ4CKK_digi.jpg


KJ4CKK_aprs.jpg


KJ4CKK_misc.jpg


KJ4CKK_server.jpg


When you get ready to run your iGate, be sure you check "Connect to APRS Server" under the "Action" menu! It may be necessary to hit this action every time you start UI-View.


KJ4CKK_options.jpg
 
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Thanks Sam,

I was asking for the same reasons as yours, that is, to contribute something to the APRS effort.

I'm North of Denver along the Front Range of the Rockies. There are two repeaters here and several Wx stations; but I do not see any iGates (Diamond Symbol always??). At my location I have a 50' wind-generator tower that also has my network wireless antennas on it. There is an equipment building at the base for the network systems and some energy initiatives I'm trying. Seems like a natural for an iGate also. Approximately 3 miles from KFNL.
 
Thanks Sam,

I was asking for the same reasons as yours, that is, to contribute something to the APRS effort.

I'm North of Denver along the Front Range of the Rockies. There are two repeaters here and several Wx stations; but I do not see any iGates (Diamond Symbol always??). At my location I have a 50' wind-generator tower that also has my network wireless antennas on it. There is an equipment building at the base for the network systems and some energy initiatives I'm trying. Seems like a natural for an iGate also. Approximately 3 miles from KFNL.

iGates will not always have the white diamond, that is just a function of which symbol the station operator has chosen and the particular map you are watching.

If you check the raw packet data from your beacons you can see which stations are porting your beacons to the internet. They will be the last station in the path. I'm sure there are other ways to find iGates but I'm drawing a blank right now.

An antenna on your tower would give you a beast of an iGate. :) Any tracker line-of-sight from you would be a potential catch. The equipment requirements really are modest. Check with local hams for an abandoned 2-meter radio...it only has to receive 144.390.

Let us know how your station progresses!
 
Nice job Sam!

For those that are looking for inexpensive equipment that you can pick up at Radio Shack, you might want to try the following:

Antenna 19-318 $26
Scanner 20-516 $30 (Limited Availability)

Of course this system isn't going to be as robust as Sam's, and it doesn't have the capability to transmit, but it is cheap and doesn't require a license. As a bonus it looks like the scanner receives aircraft frequencies. I haven't personally used this scanner, but according to its specs it receives 144.39. You'll also need an AC adapter, and some coax and connectors. If you want to keep costs down, regular RG-6 used for cable TV will work fine for receive applications. Radio Shack sells cable TV "F" type adapters for the scanner 278-251, and antenna 278-258

For aircraft APRS operations mounting the antenna in your attic should work fine (unless you have a metal roof or metalized insulation).

Paige

P.S. You can go out and get a scanner anywhere for around $100
Sam's radio is undoubtedly a better receiver and also has transmit capability for about $140.
 
Thanks Paige & Sam,
I am going to talk to the local repeater clubs to get a better understanding of best areas I can contribute.

But, based on my last path when I was testing the equipment, a local iGate might be a plus:

Last path: N63TX>TP2WYV via W0UPS-5,WIDE1*,WIDE2-1,qAo,N0EB-1

Where N0EB-1 is 40 miles away down by Denver

If I do set one up, it would be on the tower (as I have metal roof) and would be dedicated 24/7/365 to APRS.
 
Had a chance to drill a few holes this evening and thought some of you might like to see how solid a track you can get with a local iGate working in your favor:

flight052008.jpg


Of the 85 beacons posted on the network, 65 were gated through the iGate in the office at my house. Granted, I wasn't very far from the station, but having a local iGate that you know is functioning properly really increases the reliability of the track during flights in the "local" area. By the way, this flight was with the WIDE2-1 path and it worked flawlessly......as you would expect with an iGate so close.

It was a great evening, a beautiful sunset, and you can clearly see the three steep turns, followed by two wingovers, and the figure eight over highway 72. (Wow, can you imagine how an instructor could use a tracker to show a student how he flew his ground reference maneuvers??)

I still get a kick out of seeing the Smartbeaconing algorithm strut its stuff.

flight052008b.jpg
 
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Awesome thread !!!

I really appreciated this thread. It got me playing with setting up a local iGate. I initially experimented with AGWPE and UIView32 (and learned a lot). Need a good sound card. The one built into my Dell Latitude just didn't cut it. Saw several other people mention that on the web. But using my desktop PC, it came right up.

Instead of AGWPE, I am now running Packet Engine Pro. It is made by the same people and is available at:
http://www.sv2agw.com/downloads

The TNC tuning wizard alone is worth the $49 shareware price. I coupled that with APRS Digi (agwuidigi) available for free at the same website to build the iGate. They fit together perfectly.

For now it is front-ended with a used RS scanner I had on the shelf. Even with the rubber duckie antenna I can receive most of the community. I plan to move it to a more permanent home in the near future.
 
Hi Sam,
Do you know of any Linux software to setup an iGate? I'm already running a Linux machine 24/7, so it would make a lot more sense for me to run the software there rather than having to dedicate another machine.

Thanks,

-Dj
 
Hi Sam,
Do you know of any Linux software to setup an iGate? I'm already running a Linux machine 24/7, so it would make a lot more sense for me to run the software there rather than having to dedicate another machine.

Thanks,

-Dj

Since I don't do Linux I have no knowledge of any APRS software. But....that doesn't mean there isn't any out there, maybe someone will chime in. Guess its time to start Googling. :)
 
Anyone got Packet Engine Pro working and have a minute? ...

I really appreciated this thread. It got me playing with setting up a local iGate. I initially experimented with AGWPE and UIView32 (and learned a lot). Need a good sound card. The one built into my Dell Latitude just didn't cut it. Saw several other people mention that on the web. But using my desktop PC, it came right up.

Instead of AGWPE, I am now running Packet Engine Pro. It is made by the same people and is available at:
http://www.sv2agw.com/downloads

The TNC tuning wizard alone is worth the $49 shareware price. I coupled that with APRS Digi (agwuidigi) available for free at the same website to build the iGate. They fit together perfectly.

For now it is front-ended with a used RS scanner I had on the shelf. Even with the rubber duckie antenna I can receive most of the community. I plan to move it to a more permanent home in the near future.

I seem to have most things working but have a couple of problems.

1. I am not **SURE** that packets are being "gated" through.
2. My "station" soes not *seem* to show up though I have pointed it to "aprs.fi"
3. Most areas seems to be working as expected and I have checked everything a dozen times or so (even read the "documentation" :)).

Anybody out there with a minute that can help?

THANKS!!
p.s. Thanks also to you Sam for your help ... I given up and switched yet. :)

James
KJ4FES
803-238-2113
[email protected]
 
Do you know of any Linux software to setup an iGate? I'm already running a Linux machine 24/7, so it would make a lot more sense for me to run the software there rather than having to dedicate another machine.

Try XASTIR

Paige
 
Can anyone tell me if running your own igate will "eat up" one's monthly bandwidth. I have 3GB per month here in South Africa.
 
Interested in this but don't want to duplicate if a neighbor one block over is running an iGate. Is there a map or list of iGates in the USA?
 
Interested in this but don't want to duplicate if a neighbor one block over is running an iGate. Is there a map or list of iGates in the USA?

check out this link

http://aprs.fi/?addr=Davis, CA&mt=m&z=11&timerange=3600

and watch the local traffic to see which igate traffic is being ported to the net.

It will be the last call sign in the path.

You can then search for those igates and see where they are located. Sometimes WX stations are also igates, sometimes not. There is no set standard for igate markings. Sometimes they are dimonds, sometimes green stars.

As for Janekom question about bandwidth. I have no idea. I would say it probably isnt a problem since the amount if traffic is so small that is being send and read. This would also depend on the amount of packets you are sending to the internet as well. I would set one up and see how busy your igate actually is.
 
this thread now a sticky

Per request several screen shots of UI-View config tables have been added to the first post in this thread.
 
I went through a couple of weeks of madness trying to get my i-gate set up.
First problem was I could not get my hardware to keep the soundcard drivers active. Turned out to be that when using RDP to control the remote server, the sound gets selected from the controlling computer, disabling the card on the controlled computer. ARGH!!!!! Once I told RDP to leave the sound on the host, wallah, the sound card stayed alive on the server. Most folks would not run into this problem. Most admins like me never care about sound over RDP. But this time was different. TOok me many many hours of debugging.

Next item was connecting to the aprs server. I found the key to be downloading the proper list. However I could not get the list to d/l through the menu selection on UI-View. I found that the default location to get the list is no longer active. You should put in france.aprs2.net/APRServe2.txt
aprsserverlist.jpg


This allowed the current list to be downloaded. I found several helpful hits on setup here.

Which ARPS server you gate to is up to you. I use this one.
noam.aprs2.net:14580;Universal connection for servers in North America

Best,
 
Receivers

Today I discovered another big find.
While listening to the APRS freq and watching the igate log, I realized that I was receiving way more signals rf than I was decoding and gating. I decided to try another receiver. And bam, I went from gating ~200/hr to over 1500/hr. Wow! Big difference.:eek: So the moral of the story is, a good receiver puts a cleaner signal to the soundcard for decoding and gating.
I had a rat shack portable receiver and went to a rat shack desktop model I had. Good find. Funny how Im watching the area gates for who is getting what. Tracerts allow me to find the fastest routes to market on the gate.

Best,
 
Hey Kahuna,

I finally got my iGate up and running today. I'm just North of you near where GA meets TN and NC (KJ4ILJ). There is a HUGE service gap in the North Ga mountains and now, hopefully I can help fill the gap.
KJ4ILJ_iGate.jpg
 
Hey Kahuna,

I finally got my iGate up and running today. I'm just North of you near where GA meets TN and NC (KJ4ILJ). There is a HUGE service gap in the North Ga mountains and now, hopefully I can help fill the gap.
KJ4ILJ_iGate.jpg

Bret,

Your iGate should be a great addition to the APRS net. You are in an excellent location for an iGate and will add valuable coverage for those flying over some tough terrain.

Glad you stuck out the sometimes maddening process of getting the software configured. Some of it definitely is not user friendly. :)
 
What is the system/OS/Software you are using Bret? If you can post any links you might have used to get her up and running it might help others.
Also I see your off the net this morning.
KJ4GPT ~60 miles south of you.

Best,
 
I followed the links posted by Sam and d'loaded the IU-View32 and AGWPE. I'm installed on a WinXP box and soundcard. I bought a cable to run from my RadioShack handheld scanner as well as an outdoor scanner antenna.

Sam is to be commended since he did all the research work and the links he specified are really all you need. Since I already owned the scanner, all I have invested is $35.00 for the outdoor antenna, $10 for the cable from the antenna to the scanner and $4.00 for the patch cable from the scanner to the soundcard (Line In).

Still tinkerin' when I should be in the shop trimming my baffles.
 
Bret you mentioned in an email "I'm connected to the aprsfl.aprs2.net server. I can hear the pings on the scanner (144.390mH) but don't see any iGate traffic."

Using the AGW sound card tuning aid (right click on the icon in th tool bar), you should see something like this showing that the packet is being heard by the packet engine. Are you seeing this?
soundcardtuning.jpg
 
Got my iGate up and running today...

I was really surprised at how trouble free the iGate setup went. Thanks to Sam and others who were kind enough to lead the way with their excellent threads. A few observations:

1. What really helped me see what was going on was to open the iGate Traffic Window in UI-View32. This is under 'Options' all the way down at the bottom. Set it up for 'Traffic gated from RF to the Internet'. Every packet that comes in is visible, decoded, and gated to the internet. BUT, not every packet that you get to the internet wins the race to the aprs.fi site! I think it depends on the the speed of the aprs server connection. I'm guessing, but I think your internet connection speed is also a factor. If you live in a relatively populated area like I do, you are competing with a lot of other digis and iGates out there.

2. Although I have limited experience with an iGate (a couple of hours now) so far, I really don't think you need a huge antenna unless you're really out in the boonies or you intend to also set up a digi. I seem to get a packet every few seconds and I think everything is working, because the Traffic Window shows the actual decoded packet (with your call sign at the end) that you gated to the internet. The issue for me has been that of 93 packets received so far, only 32 have been 'gated' by aprs.fi. I'm assuming that if I see a correctly decoded packet in the Traffic Window, this is what's going out on the internet. So I don't believe a better antenna or receiver is necessary--seems like everything coming my was is making it out to the internet. I say this because my antenna is just an MFJ 1717PL, which is a "rubber duckie fold-over" that attaches directly to the back of my mobile Yaesu FT-1900R. I'm going to try a mag mount whip up on the roof just for grins, but my feeling is that it's not going to produce any improvement.

3. My premise so far is that to improve iGate performance what you really need to focus on is finding the server combination that wins the race to aprs.fi. On the other hand, is this really important? As long as the packets are making it, do you really care if they gate through your rig? Well, yes and no. As long as I'm gating about 1/3 of the received packets, I know that the system is working and I'm pretty satisfied with that performance.

4. The connection from the radio to the sound card is not as critical as I thought it would be. I just used an MP3 adapter cable (3.5mm connectors, stereo-to-stereo) from the speaker output on the back of the Yaesu FT-1900 to the sound card, even though the speaker output is monaural. The sound card 'line in' jack calls for a stereo connector, and the stereo-to-stereo connectors worked fine.

I used the AGWPE packet engine software as many others have done. The only difficulty for me was using Vista and a sound card that did not conform to the examples in the listed threads. But you just slog your way though it and it works out in the end.

Hope this helps someone else down the line. You can see my iGate on aprs.fi by searching on my call sign, KJ4RZN.
 
Great news Pat. Congrats!

Good to hear that it went smoothly and that should be encouragement to ALL.

I *finally* got online as well!!! YIPEEEEEE!!!! :)

For those that plan to try this in the future, it SHOULD be as straightforward as Pat mentioned in the future. So do not despair.

One of the problems that caused problems for me (and took a LONG time to find) was that an old IP camera had latched on to Port 8000 and thus I was not able to get the Packet Engine to talk to UI-View32. If someone has such a problem, use something like "What's Running" (a process monitor) to see what processes are tied to what ports and kill of such processes.

I put this here so there is a record of it for others in the future.

Again, congrats Pat!

James ... another aviator adding to the "capacity" :)
 
Great news Pat. Congrats!

Good to hear that it went smoothly and that should be encouragement to ALL.

I *finally* got online as well!!! YIPEEEEEE!!!! :)

For those that plan to try this in the future, it SHOULD be as straightforward as Pat mentioned in the future. So do not despair.

One of the problems that caused problems for me (and took a LONG time to find) was that an old IP camera had latched on to Port 8000 and thus I was not able to get the Packet Engine to talk to UI-View32. If someone has such a problem, use something like "What's Running" (a process monitor) to see what processes are tied to what ports and kill of such processes.

I put this here so there is a record of it for others in the future.

Again, congrats Pat!

James ... another aviator adding to the "capacity" :)

Very good, James! I knew if you chewed on it long enough, you would get it figured out.

Looking at port 8000 is pretty geeky, however. ;)
 
Unverified

Hello all,

I'm setting up an I-Gate using the UI-View32 software. I've successfully connected to the APRS servers, but when I connect, it says my call is unverified. The help tells me that if I am not verified then I cannot transmit to the server. I've only gotten the verification number today, does it take some time for the changes to propagate? We will be using this I-Gate to drive under a high altitude balloon, its signal is very weak and will only be received by us, so an I-Gate is necessary in this situation.

Kind Regards,
Paul
KD8NXL
 
APRS Server Validation Number

Paul, you should have received two numbers when you registered your UI-View32, one is a Registration Code and the other an APRS Server Validation Number. I assume you entered these numbers in the appropriate place in the setup for the software. I would go back to the UI-View registration page and your validation should still be there. I printed mine out for future reference. If all of this is correct, perhaps you just have to give the bureaucracy some time.:(
 
UI-View APRS Server Authorization

Hello all,
... does it take some time for the changes to propagate? ...

Paul,

No, it takes no time at all. It's algorithmic; there's no need to have your authorization info entered or approved before it's valid. Perhaps you do not have the "APRS Server Setup" dialog properly filled out.

Be sure "APRS server log on required" is checked and of course that your "Validation Number" is entered.

And if you have any doubts about your Validation Number, Email (don't PM) me with the callsign you set in the Station Setup dialog and I'll tell you what it should be <g>. It's not public knowledge but it can be calculated based on the callsign you've entered.

73,
Joe, K7JD
 
First, thanks to all for the inspiration and help. Like others, I have gone from 0 to KJ4VLD thanks to this group.

I am now trying to follow this group's expert advice and set up an iGate. I think I have it all working per Sam's excellent visual aids, except I don't know where to find/see that I am listed or showing traffic. Any help appreciated.
 
UI-View32

If using UI-View 32 select options drop down menu then select gated traffic it then should open a window showing traffic gated to internet
 
aprs

I sometimes forget to plug the audio out from radio or scanner to the computer audio in , that would be the easy fix . I know thats not a lot of help but other than some setting not quite right not sure what the problem could be . i will try to get a screen shot of my settings but not sure of how to do that.


good luck Gary
 
IGATE

Also are you connected to server there should be green little squares on top of ui-view screen when connected to server . Just scanned back to first page of thread and saw Sam has all the screenshots and settings.


regards Gary
 
The earphone from the receiver should be plugged into which port of the soundcard? I have it plugged into the "mic" port.

Yes, I followed Sam's screenshot settings.
 
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IGATE

Yes the mic port then once logon to aprs server select show igate traffic from otions menu and if logged onto server you should see a log generated of stations heard and gated to internet.
 
IGATE

Select action drop down menu and select connect to server it may take a couple tries to connect If it dosent it will retry on its own ,no action by you is needed it will retry in 30 sec. if no server connect . there will be the green squares up on the middle top of UI-View when connected.Once connected select from the options menu the Show IGATE TRAFFIC. hope that helps .
 
Not sure what I did, but uninstalled AGWPE and reinstalled it.

The green lights in UI-View are now present.

Still no traffic showing in the IGate Traffic Window.

Thanks for the help, so far.
 
The earphone from the receiver should be plugged into which port of the soundcard? I have it plugged into the "mic" port.

Yes, I followed Sam's screenshot settings.

Try the "aux input" jack on the soundcard. You may be overdriving the mic port and distorting the signal from the receiver. Some soundcards are real picky about the gain level being correct in order to decode the audio. Try different audio levels on the receiver to find the sweet spot.
 
IGATE

Gnuse
Once agwpe has launched down on the tool bar will be a little icon looks like two radio towers . Right click on it and select sound card tunning aid from the menu , it should open a window that looks like a osscilscope . Select the sine wave button and adjust voloume so that the wave patter fills about 1/3 of the screen and you can also tune out any noise with the squelch with this . This really helped me when you get a wave patteren that is uniform it is usually a good info packet.remeber to select sine wave button then adjust .
 
IGATE

I usually launch AGWPE then tune radio using tuning aid then launch and connect UI-View works for me

Good Luck
Gary KI6PIY
 
What a struggle. Followed Sam, Kahuna, and other's instructions and got everything working, except no connection to internet.

The UI-View Yahoo Group added this subtle tidbit..........under "Action" menu you need to click on the "connect to APRS server" line........ :rolleyes: I would have thought that my selecting servers in the setup menu might have been a hint that I also wanted to connect. :)
 
What a struggle. Followed Sam, Kahuna, and other's instructions and got everything working, except no connection to internet.

The UI-View Yahoo Group added this subtle tidbit..........under "Action" menu you need to click on the "connect to APRS server" line........ :rolleyes: I would have thought that my selecting servers in the setup menu might have been a hint that I also wanted to connect. :)

There ya go, George! As I mentioned in our PM, just gotta keep messin' with it. :)

I added a note in the first post of this thread about being sure to connect to the server. You may have to hit that option every time you start UI-View.

Glad you have it running!
 
Thanks, Sam.

I am guessing no pilots are going to spend $50 for maps for UI-View.

Ideas or map files appreciated. :)

Is it possible to zoom.......... I'm still learning.
 
Thanks, Sam.

I am guessing no pilots are going to spend $50 for maps for UI-View.

Ideas or map files appreciated. :)

Is it possible to zoom.......... I'm still learning.

As mentioned in the sticky, Delorme Street Atlas can be used for mapping. You will need one of the older versions. Details in the UI-View docs and links.
 
Maps

I have just become aware that there are maps available in the files section of the UI-View Yahoo Groups, FYI.

The cool map that I saw, loads the latest NOAA NEXRAD weather map into UI-View. Although it isn't updated, there is a file that can be easily run to update the map.
 
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New I-Gate N1FLY-1 located at SC99

After moving to WhitePlains Airpark SC99 in February, I noticed the lack of APRS coverage in the immediate area. So I set up an I-Gate using a Yaesu 7800R. Now I can be tracked as I taxi for departure and on climb out and approach.

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