Gentlemen,
A number of people have asked me about producing an aviation/marine version of the Micro-Trak 8000 FA. (the 10 Watt, programmable, frequency agile version of the Micro-Trak) This version would have a second DB-9 connector to remote mount (panel) the indicator LED's, configuration switch, hi/low power switch, and on/off switch. The PC board would have a high current voltage regulator on board, with a maximum power input of 30 Volts DC.
www.byonics.com/microtrak
Okay, at first I didn't get what is being offered here. Now that I read the TinyTrak3 manual and the config software I understand what Allen is offering here. This actually sounds really nice!
Here is how I envision it. On your panel you have an emergency switch and a corresponding emergency indicator light. The switch flips the Micro-Trak over to the secondary channel which you have pre-set for emergencies only. Basically, your unit would probably be powered on anytime the plane's master switch or avionics switch is turned on. During normal operation it would send the tracking messages with your N# as your call sign and your ham license and airplane make and such in the comments section that gets transmitted. So for example mine would say something like:
N107XX / (FCC callsign) Vans RV-7A
[email protected] for tracking questions.
location/altitude/airspeed information here
Now where this thing becomes worth every dollar of the max $200.00 you spent on it is in an emergency. Engine failure, smoke in cockpit, fire, any of the things that will cause you to put her down in a remote, possibly hostile location. You reach forward flip the APRS emergency switch and your APRS unit stops sending the standard
Hi nice to see your tracking me have a nice day type message, over to your preset EMERGENCY message which would be something like this:
N107XX - DECLARING INFLIGHT EMERGENCY - Notify emergency reponders to respond to:
location/altitude/airspeed information here
Now I know that most pilots would never have to use this feature, but just think what would have happened had Steve Fossett had this same setup. You could have he unit updating your position every 10 seconds until you come to a stop, and with the 10 watt unit you would probably get out with most the transmissions. With all the ham operators out there watching all day long for just such an event, you would have everyone and their brother reporting your dire situation. You would probably have first responders rolling to your location before you even touched down, well at least heading in the right direction.
This looks like a great option. It cost maybe $5 more than the wingtip installation for the panel switch and indicator light. I'm going to try out my wingtip version then play around with the above later on. I am just so glad this has come out, my biggest fear has always been ditching the plane, crawling out of it with minor injuries, but nobody finds me for a couple days. Up here in Minnesota anything more than a couple very short hours would be a death sentence in the winter.
Also, Allen, the owner of VHS Products mentioned to me via e-mail that he may soon come out with a registry for airplane operators with APRS to register their set-up. This is a great idea, Allen is involved in the Civil Air Patrol, who are the poeple that will come looking for you if you ever go down. Of course, if they were able to know in advance you had APRS and lookup your track before they started flying the search patterns for you, they would have you located in no time. Of course they have no idea if the downed aircraft has this lifesaving APRS device if there is not someplace for them to register it. He didn't say that he was committed to starting it yet, but is loioking into the site developement and such at this time. I thought this was a GREAT idea! May save a life someday!