Argent Data Systems Tracker2 model OT2m User`s Manual Revised
Contents
1. Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help CE Declaration This device complies with the essential protection requirements of the European Parliament and of the Council Directive 2004 108 EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility Assessment of compliance of the product with the requirements relating to electromagnetic compatibility was based on the following standards EN 55022 2006 EN 61000 3 2 2006 EN 61000 3 3 1995 A1 2001 A2 2005 EN 55024 1998 Al 2001 A2 2003 EN 61000 4 2 3 4 5 6 11 Introduction The Tracker2 fills the gap between a traditional packet radio terminal node controller TNC and a transmit only APRS tracker and adds features not found in either While it may be used in KISS mode with a PC for general purpose packet radio communications its feature set is focused on APRS applications including position reporting messaging and telemetry Firmware updates and enhancements are published frequently so check the Tracker2 website at http www argentdata com tracker2 to make sure you have the latest firmware and documentation A Brief Overview of APRS To understand the Tracker2 and how it can be used it is important to first u2. Sets transmission audio level This value should be selected to provide an appropriate FM deviation level typically about 3 5 KHz TXNOFIX onloff Allows transmission of last position if GPS fix is lost for more than 30 seconds Default behavior is to cease transmitting the position in the absence of a valid GPS signal TXONCHG onloff Causes an immediate transmission when switching configuration profiles USEALIAS n on off Enables digipeating for alias n VELOCITY on off Enables transmission of velocity course and speed information in the position packet VERSION Displays firmware version number VOLTAGE onloff Enables reporting of supply voltage in status text WAYPOINTS onloff Enables output of waypoints from received positions WPTLEN lt 6 9 gt Sets maximum waypoint name length WXINFO Displays weather information from attached station Ul View32 Setup For use with the UI View32 APRS client either port of the Tracker2 can be set manually to KISS mode No configuration commands are needed in UI View32 once this has been accomplished Serial Ports Baud Rate Mode A 3600 kiss B 4800 Auto Autobaud In this example port A has been set to KISS mode at 9600 baud using the tracker configuration utility The console commands AMODE KISS and ABAUD 9600 produce the same result Comms Setup x Baud Rate r Parity COH Port C 1200 2400 4800 9600 c C None
3. 38400 57600 115200 Sets baud rate for the primary serial port Default is 4800 baud ALIAS lt n gt lt callsign gt Sets digipeater alias for slot n where n is between 1 and 8 This will typically be a generic alias like WIDE No SSID is allowed in this field ALTITUDE onloff Report altitude in position packet AMODE AUTO GARMIN KISS WS2300 Sets mode for primary serial port See Port Modes above for more information AUTHLIST lt callsign gt Displays or changes the list of callsigns authorized for remote access callsign adds a callsign to the list callsign removes a callsign from the list and none erases the entire list Up to six callsigns can be stored AUTOBAUD onloff Enables automatic baud rate detection When a baud rate mismatch is detected the unit will attempt to automatically select the proper baud rate AUTOSAVE on off When enabled the tracker will save its last known GPS position as a permanent fixed position if the GPS fix is lost This may be used in the case of a temporary digipeater or weather station where a GPS receiver is installed only during setup and is removed to conserve power The system must remain powered on for 30 seconds after GPS fix loss before the position is saved BBAUD 1200 2400 4800 9600 19200 38400 57600 115200 Sets baud rate for the secondary serial port Default is 4800 baud BEACON text local only If no beacon text is specified a positi
4. Mone Cars C 19k2 C 38k4 C 57k6 115k2 C Odd IE Data Bits Stop Bits evan es EU ee 8 l 1 E BENE NH Handshaking NONE E Use binary filter Host mode KISS sl Sanne Receive only The baud rate selected in the UI View32 Comms Setup screen must match the rate selected for the port in use Select host mode KISS and be sure to choose the correct COM port for your PC Click on Setup to continue configuration er Xi No Into KISS or Exit Into KISS Parameters KISS commands are Port 1 Port 2 needed and any settings 1 Tx Delay no uo x10 msec in these fields should be Tx Tail n x10 msec deleted Placing a 0 in a p Slot Time hs fio Ape the oat BT field avoids a bug in UI View32 that e Persist 64 os prevents it from exiting l Full Dup C properly when the option is left blank Exit KISS Easy Setup o ame re Cancel Dual Port TNC Cancel If you would prefer to have UI View32 automatically reconfigure the tracker for KISS mode each time the program is started use the following settings Xl This configuration will Into KISS Parameters only work with port A as E Pnn Port 1 Port 2 the command console is l Tx Delay na uo x10 msec not available on port B 2 JaNODE KISS Tx Tail n fu x10 msec x10 msec 3 NEN Slot Time 18 18 Persist 6n Jou 4 Ful D
5. PTTINPUT onl off Enables PTT input for mic encoder opration A position packet will be transmitted when the mic PTT is released PULSE 0 255 seconds Activates power output for specified duration QUIET lt 0 255 gt Time channel must be free before transmission can occur in 1 64 second units REARM 0 255 milliseconds Specifies minimum time between counter inputs May be used for switch de bouncing REPLY lt message gt local only Sends a text message to the last person who sent a message addressed to this unit s callsign RETRIES lt 0 255 gt Number of times to retransmit an outgoing message RETRYTIME lt 0 255 gt seconds Time between message retry attempts interval increases by this value with each transmission REQALL onloff Require all configuration switch parameters to be met before switching profiles RESET Perform software reset Saved settings are unaffected RING on off Sends a bell character whenever an incoming message arrives SEND lt callsign gt lt message gt local only Sends a text message to the designated recipient SHAREDPTT on off Controls PTT line behavior for mic encoder mode If enabled PTT output is not asserted until the PTT input is released SLOT lt 0 65535 gt Time slot for transmission if TIMESLOT is on Slot position is counted in seconds from the start of the hour SMARTBCON lt low speed high speed low rate angle time Configures SmartBea
6. as well as APRS messaging commands Power Control The Tracker2 includes an integrated solid state relay that may be used to control an external DC load Typically this is used to control power to a transceiver to conserve power in applications like solar powered weather stations the radio can be automatically powered on just prior to a transmission and turned off again when the transmission is complete The power output can also be controlled manually through APRS messages Hardware Description The Tracker2 model OT2m features a heavy duty steel enclosure and measures approximately 4 2 by 3 2 by 1 The circuit is built with surface mount technology and includes over voltage and over current protection as well as RFI filtering on external connections Front Panel The front panel has three indicator LEDs marked ACT activity TX transmit and RX receive The 6 pin modular jack is an accessory port that provides a Dallas 1 wire data bus 5 volt power a counter transmit trigger input and a profile select input Rear Panel The rear panel has a female 9 pin d sub connector for connection to a radio A male 9 pin d sub connector provides depending on software configuration a single RS 232 port with hardware flow control or dual independent RS 232 ports A standard 2 1x5 5mm center positive power connector accepts from 7 to 28 volts and an access hole is provided to allow heavy gauge power cables to be connected to
7. its own packets digipeated it will skip the following lt n gt transmissions This allows a faster beacon rate to be used in areas with poor coverage without increasing the load on the network in areas with better coverage OUTPUT onloff Not currently implemented PATCH hex string The patch command allows direct modification of the contents of the Tracker2 s flash memory This command should only be used as directed by the manufacturer Improper use of this command may render the Tracker2 inoperable PATH lt call1 call2 gt Comma separated digipeater path list containing up to three digipeater addresses POSITION lt hhmm mmx hhhmm mmx gt GPS Sets fixed position or enable GPS Position must be entered in degrees and decimal minutes including leading zeros Setting position to GPS reverts to GPS tracking mode Example POSITION 4851 49N 00217 66E POWER onloffl 0 255 seconds ON or OFF will manually set the state of the power output Specifying a value in seconds will enable automatic power control mode where the power output is turned on for the specified number of seconds prior to transmission and turned off immediately after transmission PREEMPT n on off Enables digipeater preemption for alias lt n gt 1 8 If preemption is enabled packets will be digipeated on this alias even if it isn t the next address in the packet s digipeater list PROFILE 1 2 Selects the configuration profile to use
8. key is pressed Hit CTRL C to exit The command K may also be used to enter CONVERSE mode COUNTER on off Transmits counter value in status text CUSTSYM on off Enables the use of custom symbols if they have been uploaded to a compatible Garmin GPS receiver using the Garmin xImage utility CWBEACON lt text gt local only Sends lt text gt as a Morse code beacon DAO onloff Enables transmission of the DAO extended precision construct This provides an extra digit of precision over the standard APRS position format but results in a longer packet and may not be supported by all APRS clients DEVLIST local only Lists addresses of all connected 1 wire devices DIGI on off When enabled the tracker will digipeat packets having its own callsign MYCALL in the next digipeater address field DIGIID n on off Enables callsign substitution for digipeater alias lt n gt 1 to 8 This should normally be enabled DISPLAY local only Lists all configuration parameters DUMP local only Displays the tracker s memory contents for troubleshooting purposes DUPETIME lt 0 255 gt seconds Sets digipeating duplicate suppression period EXTSQL on off Enables external squelch input FAHRENHT on off Reports temperatures in Fahrenheit when temperature output in the status text is enabled GPSDATA onloff Reports GPS quality data in status text Horizontal dilution of precision and number of satellites fo
9. mostly for mobile radios especially some commercial models HI HT EQ S 2x 12 G oO OOO HT Selects if push to talk signaling through the audio z O output line is enabled Use this jumper with most HTs by Ht TOC Icom Yaesu and Alinco handhelds but not Kenwood Setup and Configuration Once installed you can use a PC to connect to the Tracker2 either the Windows configuration program otwincfg exe or a terminal emulation program of your choice such as HyperTerminal SecureCRT or Minicom To use the command console connect at the proper baud rate 4800 baud is the default and press enter several times until you see a command prompt To use the Windows configuration program simply start the program select the COM port and power up the device The only setting absolutely required for normal APRS tracker operation is the callsign The defaults for all other settings should be reasonable but you should check on locally recommended settings particularly for the digipeater path The EQ jumper controls the response of the audio input filter Generally the jumper should be set when the audio source is flat and not de emphasized and removed for most speaker connections If you re not sure which setting to use try both and see which works best for you Port Modes The Tracker2 has two serial ports that share the same physical connector A Y adapter is available to separate the ports if needed Both por
10. selects energy detect mode which will provide a busy indication for any signal including static or voice Use the ON setting for digipeater operation with open squelch for fastest signal acquisition STATUS lt 0 255 gt Status packets are sent every n transmissions or if set to 0 status text is sent as part of the position packet SYMBOL lt 1 2 characters gt APRS symbol character optionally preceded by symbol table or overlay identifier TELEMETRY on off Enables transmission of telemetry packets TEMP on off Enables transmission of temperature readings from the on board temperature sensor TEMPADJ lt 128 to 127 degrees C Offset for temperature sensor in degrees C TIMEHMS onloff Sets timestamp mode to hour minute second when enabled Default is day hour minute Applies only to NMEA mode hour minute second format is always used in Garmin binary mode TIMESLOT onloff Force position packets to be transmitted only in designated time slots expressed as the number of seconds from the start of the hour to the first transmission TIMESTAMP onl off Report time information in the position packet TXDELAY lt 0 255 gt Delay between start of transmission and start of data This setting should be set to the minimum value that allows reliable reception of transmitted packets An excessively high TXDELAY setting wastes channel capacity Each unit is one character time 1 150 second at 1200 baud TXLEVEL 1 255
11. Argent Data Systems Tracker2 model OT2m User s Manual Revised 8 2 2008 SNGE NI DAIA SYSTEMS Argent Data Systems PO Box 579 Santa Maria CA 93455 800 274 4076 Fax 866 302 6890 www argentdata com Copyright 2007 2008 Argent Data Systems All Rights Reserved APRS is a registered trademark of Bob Bruninga WB4APR FCC Part 15 Notice This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules Operation is subject to the following two conditions this device may not cause harmful interference and 2 this device must accept any interference received including interference that may cause undesired operation This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B Digital Device pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communication However there is no grantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by tuning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
12. coning The SmartBeaconing algorithm allows the tracker to operate more efficiently by changing how often it transmits depending on its speed and turn rate When stopped or moving at a speed below the low speed setting the tracker will transmit at a fixed rate determined by the lower rate setting Above the specified high speed threshold the higher rate setting is used Between these two extremes the interval varies between the low rate and high rate specified separately with the INTERVAL command depending on the speed The lt low speed gt and lt high speed gt settings define these two limits For storage efficiency the speeds are represented in units of 32 centimeters second To convert from miles per hour multiply by 1 397 To convert from kilometers per hour divide by 1 152 Setting MPH Km h 5 3 6 5d 10 ed 11 5 15 10 7 17 25 17 9 29 40 28 6 46 60 43 69 80 57 92 100 71 115 lt low rate gt and lt high rate gt are specified in seconds lt angle gt indicates the change of direction in degrees that will cause an immediate transmission lt time gt specifies in seconds the minimum time required between transmissions regardless of speed or turns SQUAWK lt 0 255 gt seconds Transmits alternating tones for specified number of seconds May be used for testing or direction finding SWDCD onloff ON selects software data carrier detect mode providing a channel busy indication only when data is present OFF
13. doing it for years the Tracker2 takes it a step further While other devices output only a position and name the Tracker2 will when used with a compatible Garmin or Magellan GPS receiver pick the most appropriate symbol for the waypoint including custom APRS symbols if available extract the altitude and insert the status text often including course and speed into the waypoint details For many applications this allows a GPS receiver to be used in place of a PC or PDA Aside from its tracking capabilities the Tracker2 can also function as a digipeater Its remote control capabilities allow it to be reconfigured remotely and even through IGates and its path limiting features let the sysop reduce the amount of extraneous traffic carried by the network In KISS mode the Tracker2 can also function as part of an IGate when connected to a PC with an Internet connection and appropriate software With few exceptions the Tracker2 can perform all of its functions concurrently For example a mountaintop installation could function simultaneously as a digipeater weather station site monitor reporting voltage and temperature and TNC for an IGate Major Features APRS Tracker The Tracker2 is first and foremost a full featured APRS tracker It works with GPS receivers using either the industry standard NMEA format GPRMC GPGGA and GPGLL sentences or the proprietary Garmin binary protocol In addition to transmitting its own posi
14. erous other mapping and messaging programs exist using either the APRS radio network the APRS IS or both Some of these programs can function as IGates as well Connected to the worldwide APRS IS stream are a number of database services These systems findu com and aprsworld net are two of the most popular process and store all APRS traffic that finds its way to an IGate anywhere in the world and most provide maps weather displays and telemetry graphs based on this traffic This allows anyone with Internet access to monitor APRS data without needing radio equipment of their own or special software Getting data to a web connected database isn t the only thing APRS is good for of course Depending on network coverage and load it s possible to communicate over a range of hundreds of miles using the radio network alone However being a shared network reliability decreases with each added digipeater hop APRS is most reliable at the local level and it s rarely advisable to use more than two or three digipeater hops Often a single hop is adequate for local coverage The APRS protocol hardware and software can be used independently of the national networks as well Local or temporary networks may be set up to cover special events or to fill the needs of a particular organization Some uses may not require digipeaters at all high altitude balloons for example often use APRS to transmit position and telemetry data on a dedicated freq
15. licate POIs every time a station moves Until Garmin adds this feature to the official protocol only the n vi 350 is known to display moving POIs properly Incoming APRS messages will display a message icon on the navigation system s screen and will be stored in the inbox Outgoing messages can be addressed to a specific station by starting the message with a dash and the destination callsign followed by a space and the message text If no station is specified the message will be sent to the sender of the last message received This allows conversations to be carried on without having to constantly re enter callsigns To send a configuration command to the Tracker2 start a message with For example VERSION will cause the Tracker2 to respond with a message stating its firmware version Command Reference Most commands can be issued through the serial console APRS message or fleet management message Some commands make sense only when used from the local console and are not available for remote access The Tracker2 will accept command abbreviations A minimum of three characters must be entered For example CALIBRATE can be entered as CAL AUTOBAUD can be entered as AUTOB the additional characters being required to distinguish it from AUTOSAVE 1WIREWX Enables 1 Wire Weather Station mode The TAI8515 weather station should be connected to the front panel modular jack ABAUD 1200 2400 4800 9600 19200
16. nderstand exactly what APRS is APRS stands for Automatic Packet Reporting System The name is a trademark of its creator Bob Bruninga WB4APR What the name refers to can be a subject of considerable confusion to newcomers Primarily APRS is a communications protocol It defines how data including station and map object positions weather information radio direction finding readings text messages and telemetry can be communicated among packet radio stations APRS can also refer to the network that carries this information Throughout the United States Europe and several other countries a network of digital repeaters digipeaters usually on a common nationwide frequency provides a transport for APRS packets Most APRS stations operate on one of these common channels but not all The APRS Internet System APRS IS is an Internet based adjunct to the radio network Internet gateways IGates often simply home PCs with an Internet connection and a radio pass traffic from the radio network to a shared worldwide APRS stream Many IGates will pass at least text message traffic and sometimes other data from the Internet back to the radio network In this way text messages can be passed from one station to another even when a digipeater path between the two doesn t exist or isn t reliable The name APRS is also sometimes used to refer to WB4APR s original MS DOS APRS mapping program but it is now properly called APRSdos Num
17. on beacon and weather beacon if applicable will be queued for immediate transmission If a text string is entered that text will be transmitted as an AX 25 text packet BMODE AUTO GARMIN KISS WS2300 FLOW Sets mode for secondary serial port See Port Modes above CALIBRATE LOW HIGH ALT PACKET local only Calibration functions to set demodulator tuning and transmitter deviation Low transmits a 1200 hz tone high transmits a 2200 hz tone alt transmits alternating 1200 and 2200 hz tones packet sends a test packet repeatedly and tune displays a tuning indicator for adjustment of the demodulator Use the and keys for coarse adjustment of the transmit audio level and and for fine adjustment Press any other key to exit calibration mode CDINVERT onloff Inverts carrier detect input polarity CLIMB onloff Enables rate of climb indication Climb rate is reported in feet per minute positive or negative immediately following the altitude Available only in Garmin binary mode CNTRESET on off Causes counter to reset with each transmission See accessory port information COMMENT lt string gt Sets beacon text comment string up to 64 characters COMPRESS on off Enables Base91 compressed format for position transmissions CONFIG 112 local only Selects configuration profile to modify CONVERSE local only In converse mode text entered at the console is transmitted when the ENTER
18. r NMEA mode or estimated position error for Garmin mode HBAUD 12001300 Selects transmission baud rate Note that the reception baud rate is fixed at 1200 baud HEADERLN on off Breaks MONITOR packets into two lines with header and payload separated HOPLIMIT lt n gt lt hops gt For digipeater alias lt n gt 1 8 sets the maximum number of digipeater hops allowed This can be used to limit excessively long paths that may cause network degradation INFO Displays general system and diagnostic data including number of packets heard packets digipeated and frame check sequence errors detected INTERVAL lt 0 65535 gt seconds Sets the interval between automatic transmissions LOADFIRMW local only Loads firmware image using XMODEM protocol The firmware file is provided in a binary bin format The tracker will reset when the firmware load is complete LVINHIBIT lt 0 255 gt 0 0784 volts Sets the low voltage inhibit threshold When the supply voltage drops below this level the unit will cease transmitting Each unit is 0 0784 volts so a setting of 100 equals 7 84 volts MAXRANGE lt 0 255 gt miles When set to a non zero value waypoints will only be created for stations and objects within the specified range MONITOR on off Displays incoming packets on the console as they are received MYCALL lt xxxxxx nn gt Sets the unit s callsign and optional SSID NICE lt n gt When the tracker hears one of
19. sending station For example CMD VERSION sent from an APRS client will cause the target device to reply with its firmware version In response to a RESET command the device will attempt to send one acknowledgement before resetting This is intended to prevent message retries from causing multiple resets but especially if the channel is busy there is a possibility that the acknowledgement will not be sent before the reset is executed A RESET command should be cancelled after a few retries with no response received to check if the device has indeed been reset Garmin Fleet Management Interface Some Garmin navigation systems including the n vi 300 and 600 series and StreetPilot 7000 series provide a Fleet Management Interface FMI that can be used with the Tracker2 with the proper cable To use the FMI features set one of the Tracker2 s serial ports to GARMIN mode and connect the FMI cable The Tracker2 will automatically place the navigation system in fleet management mode which adds a Dispatch menu item and may change the layout of other menus This mode change can only be reversed by erasing all user data on the navigation system If the waypoint output option is enabled the Tracker2 will attempt to create points of interest POIs on the navigation system for every station object or item received This feature is not part of the documented FMI protocol and does not work properly on all devices many will create dup
20. the appropriate pads on the circuit board for control of an external DC load Connections SERIAL Connector Data in port A Data out port A Power output for GPS Ground Data out port B or CTS Data in port B or RTS Note The serial interface is configured as DTE data terminal equipment to allow direct connection to a GPS receiver Connection to a PC requires a null modem cable RADIO Connector Audio out COR Squelch input PTT out Audio in Ground Power in PTT in ACCESSORY Connector Oy Ol d PO Counter Transmit input Ground Ground 1 Wire data bus 5 Volt power output Profile select input Note Pin 1 is the left most pin as seen from the front of the connector Jumper Settings 5 x 42 G Voltage select 5 Connects pin 4 of the serial connector to omo the output of the 5 volt regulator Use this setting to supply Go power to a 5 volt GPS receiver or other external device H HT EG the input of the 5 volt regulator Use this setting to supply G fee Eco Voltage select 12 Connects pin 4 of the serial connector to p HI HT EG unregulated power from the radio connector to a GPS receiver or to supply power to the tracker from the serial connector 5 x 12 G HI HT EG O00 EQ Disables RX equalization when set Pe omc G 5 x 12 G amp HT This jumper sets the audio output level to the high O range This is needed
21. tion it can also decode incoming positions and plot them as waypoints on the screen of a GPS receiver selecting appropriate symbols and setting comment text and other waypoint details if supported by the receiver KISS Mode The KISS protocol defines an interface between a TNC and its host typically a PC This mode allows the Tracker2 to be used with PC based APRS programs like Xastir WinAPRS and UI View32 It can also be used with non APRS applications subject to the limitations of the Tracker2 s transmit and receive buffers Digipeater A digipeater acts as a simplex digital repeater receiving packets and retransmitting them typically on the same radio channel The Tracker2 s digipeater function is designed specifically for APRS use and supports advanced features such as WIDEn N operation hop count limiting duplicate elimination preemptive digipeating and multiple aliases Weather Station The Tracker2 can be connected to several models of weather station including the Peet Bros Ultimeter 2000 series Dallas AAG 1 Wire Weather Station and LaCrosse WS 2310 wireless weather station to provide remote weather telemetry Command Console While the Tracker2 comes with a Windows based configuration program it can also be configured tuned and upgraded through a traditional console interface with command syntax similar to that of the classic TNC2 and its clones Keyboard to keyboard QSOs are supported through a converse mode
22. ts can operate in multiple modes AUTO In this mode the device will automatically detect NMEA GPS data Peet Bros weather data or for port A only command console input Note that while both ports can be configured in AUTO mode only one should be used for a given function at any time For example port A can accept NMEA data while port B accepts weather data but providing NMEA data to both ports simultaneously will cause unpredictable operation GARMIN This mode forces the selected port to 9600 baud ignoring any manual setting and starts Garmin binary communications KISS In KISS mode a PC or other host device sends and receives raw AX 25 packets Keep in mind that even with one or both ports in KISS mode the Tracker2 will continue to perform its other functions including messaging and digipeating The host should use a different callsign SSID combination to avoid interference WS2300 Supports LaCrosse WS 2300 series weather stations at 2400 baud again ignoring manual baud rate settings FLOW Valid only for port B this setting causes the port B pins to function as CTS RTS flow control signals for port A Remote Access Commands can be issued to the Tracker2 remotely via APRS messages The originating station s callsign must appear in the device s security authorization list see AUTHLIST command Commands are prefixed with CMD and the results of the command if any will be send back as an APRS message to the
23. uency directly to the chase teams Mobile use of APRS can take a number of different forms The simplest mobile APRS setup is a transmit only tracker connected to a radio and GPS receiver These trackers generally have no receive capability other than to check that the channel is clear before transmitting They allow the vehicle to be tracked by others but can t receive messages or positions Another option is an APRS capable radio like those sold by Kenwood These radios have a text display but require a mapping GPS receiver to display the positions of other stations An ordinary radio with a TNC can be used in conjunction with a laptop computer or PDA to provide full APRS functionality including mapping and messaging although this is usually the most expensive option and may not be practical to operate while driving Where the Tracker2 Fits In The Tracker2 has the capability to fill a number of roles in the APRS system As the name implies it s a tracker it can format and transmit position data from a GPS receiver It also offers receive capability though and in a way that no other device can currently match When it receives a position for a station or map object the Tracker2 can create a GPS waypoint for that position On a mapping GPS receiver this allows the user to see the locations of other stations on the map updated as each new position is received While this concept isn t new APRS capable radios have been
24. up Li Exit KISS Easy Setup 192 255 192 mNc2 Km ok LH um Dual Port TNC aj Cancel EQ Jumper and Input Filter Response V disc RX filter response EQ jumper removed V disc 0 2KHz 0 4KHz 0 6KHz 0 8KHz 1 OKHz 1 2KHz 1 AKHz 1 6KHz 1 8KHz 2 0KHz 2 2KHz 2 4KHz RX filter response EQ jumper installed
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search