So I was all stoked up yesterday after Paul's flight to Burning Man and his neat little Micro-Trak 300. I started digging into it more and thought for just over a $100 I could brew one of these up and it would be worth it. Wife's parents can follow as we fly. I even ran out to Barnes and Noble and bought the Ham Radio License Manual. I dug through some manuals and called some people about questions I had. I ordered the MT-300 from Byonics site and requested an antenna from Ryan Howell. Sam Buchanan emailed me in response to some questions and said the MT-300 was being phased out and the MT8000A was what I needed. That's when I realized that I had ordered the European version of the MT-300! Opps.
Here's my dilema now.... the MT300 was $105.... the MT8000FA is $180, plus the $15 power supply and a $25 antenna. So the cost went from $130 to $220.
Yea.. it's a neat gadget but I'm struggling with justifying $220+ for a tracking device that only my mother-in-law will use. It only enhances safety if someone knows you are flying and is watching or expecting you. I know that owning and flying my RV isn't financially justified either.
So for now I think I'll back-burner the APRS project until I can justify the cost or the cost comes down. I certainly don't want to downplay the APRS.. I'll continue to enjoy watching people putz around in the sky with theirs turned on.
For the benefit of others, here are some answers I got to a few questions I had:
Yes, you can split the NMEA output of a Garmin 496 to two devices. My 496 sends NMEA to my Trutrak AP. It would have also sent data to the APRS unit.
The 5v GPS's can be powered by the Micro-Trak units. There is a pin that supplies this. (Byonics site is very explicit about using only 5volts to power the GPS antenna) I wasn't initially sure what would generate the 5v to power one.
The MT-300 worked on 9-15v so I think I could have used ship power. The MT-8000 needs 9-13.2volts, thus the need for a power supply.
Here's my dilema now.... the MT300 was $105.... the MT8000FA is $180, plus the $15 power supply and a $25 antenna. So the cost went from $130 to $220.
Yea.. it's a neat gadget but I'm struggling with justifying $220+ for a tracking device that only my mother-in-law will use. It only enhances safety if someone knows you are flying and is watching or expecting you. I know that owning and flying my RV isn't financially justified either.
So for now I think I'll back-burner the APRS project until I can justify the cost or the cost comes down. I certainly don't want to downplay the APRS.. I'll continue to enjoy watching people putz around in the sky with theirs turned on.
For the benefit of others, here are some answers I got to a few questions I had:
Yes, you can split the NMEA output of a Garmin 496 to two devices. My 496 sends NMEA to my Trutrak AP. It would have also sent data to the APRS unit.
The 5v GPS's can be powered by the Micro-Trak units. There is a pin that supplies this. (Byonics site is very explicit about using only 5volts to power the GPS antenna) I wasn't initially sure what would generate the 5v to power one.
The MT-300 worked on 9-15v so I think I could have used ship power. The MT-8000 needs 9-13.2volts, thus the need for a power supply.
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