APRS Ham Radio Weather WXBOT & WXYO

Learn how to get APRS weather reports with your ham radio using two different services.
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[@kurtwolter3984]

Great stuff. Subscribed!

[@markg6jvy135]

Great feature Jason thanks for showing us 👍

[@Therealdavemason]

as always, I’ve learned something new!

[@mumi009]

Pretty cool stuff!

[@vestale4]

Thank you Jason for the mentions of WXYO. For the forecast the number of hours can go 3 by 3, until 36(including). And the bot sends you back the forecast from the nearest town/village. We have the same problem with Fahrenheit, but ice melts at 0C and the water boils at 100C ;)

[@KM4ACK]

I can remember those two things about celcius. It's all of the numbers in the middle that confuse me. hihi. Thanks for alerting me to the service!

[@vestale4]

​@@KM4ACK One thing that is important to mention is that the I-Gate which receive the message from the user(directly or using Digipeater), must be also able to do TX (an full I-Gate), not only an RX I-Gate. And Rx only I-Gates are the one made using RTL-SDR or scanner. APRS-IS system sends the response message(weather forecast) from the bot to the I-Gate which transformed the RF to IP, but if that I-Gate is not able to transmit, then the response is only in the internet world and can not reach the radio-wave world. And this is bad, because APRS is a bidirectional communication way. We have the same problem using SMSGTE system. Jason, I hope that in your futures APRS videos you will insist on this last aspect (installing full TX I-Gates, not only RX). Thank you and 73!

[@jamescstanley5018]

V interesting. Don't have APRS as yet, good reason to buy! Will check out for UK conditions when I have one. thanks for informative video. Jim M7BXT

[@michaelo6003]

Tried both today for the first time. Neither one is returning anything. SMSGTE and EMAIL-2, however, are working, so I know it's not my radio..... Hmmm!

[@vironpayne3405]

I just picked up a FTM-400DR and I'm enjoying your APRS content. I had thought to use the BU-2 module to connect my Android phone or Windows laptop, but doesn't seem to be an option. Especially with the newer BU-4 module. I want to populated APRS info from the radio onto a map and into a better messaging app. What hardware might you suggest that will be fairly simple to setup and operate to make a Bluetooth connection to support mapping and messaging on a phone or laptop? Thank you for your hard work! Keep up the good work.

[@timk7749]

That looks handy! I really need to work on my APRS setup. 73 and keep up the good vids. De KF7VUT

[@IndependentNewsMedia]

WXBOT does not work in London, however WXYO does work; it should be noted airport WX reports using short airport code only work for large UK airports only. Forecast 1, 6, 9, 12, 24, 72, 96, and 120 hours. Keep up the good work. Chud M1PUP QTH London

[@kv4atv]

Can you do a video with APRS-Droid pgm on the cell phone. I just tried it. It works and KM6LYW-9 works if WXBOT is down. KM6LYW-9 will also tell you the repeaters near you if you request them. Send a beacon first or turn on tracking. Send the message "3" or how ever many repeaters you want to know about to KM6LYW-9. It will look them up and let you know the frequency, distance and direction from your current location. On the android using APRS-Droid app make sure you select start tracking so it will know where you are.

[@IndependentNewsMedia]

Very good video, handy when out and about. Chud M1PUP QTH London

[@KM4ACK]

Thanks! Would be interested to know that WXYO works for you in London?

[@MrVertigo1971]

Jason, great video as always! may I ask what rig you are using in the video? Thanks.

[@KM4ACK]

Yaesu FTM400

[@applejacks971]

I've never gotten this to work on any of my ftm-400's in any state or city I've traveled to. Other than working an FM repeater or 52 simplex, I find anything aprs on the 400 a useless feature. Which is a bummer because that's the main reason I bought'em. Pretty disappointing to say the least.

[@mumi009]

What is the source of the weather forecast? An alternative for local wx would be to listen to the NWS broadcasts (I did it on my little Baofeng HT).

[@KM4ACK]

Yep. It works great. It's one of the things I covered in an earlier video kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYOrmmhoo8d9is0

[@truhmi]

Hi Jason, wouldn't it be cool to have these functions in the PI-APRS app too:-) 73 Thomas DG6UAX

[@ronkline8726]

Thank you for the video! I have the FTM400. When I send the messages to either server, I do not see a response on the FTM400. WXBOT and WXYO are responding, as seen on APRS.FI. I looked through the APRS manual for the FTM400, but I don't know what settings to change? Can you point me in the right direction, please?

[@KM4ACK]

verify the modem is on and you are within range of a digipeater

[@ronkline8726]

Working with Endaf at Yaesu tech support, the current working theory is that my request to WXBOT is being picked up by stations using SDR receivers and using something like iGate, being passed on to WXBOT, but for some reason, the response from WXBOT is not being sent out as a RF signal back to my station. Thanks, Jason!

[@kevinowens4963]

Will WXBOT accept the leading K on airports, or do you have to strip it?

[@KM4ACK]

Not sure. I only tried it without the K

[@intelli07]

Hey~ Thanks for the great content! I've been trying to use the WXYO weather report on my Yaesu FT3D4r and having no luck receiving the report of my HT. It sends out "today" successfully and I can see the message went out on aprs.fi and also it replied back to me the information on the website. But on my HT i am not receiving any messages back. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Oh yeah. I receive beacons from digipeaters and igates no problem, just no messages come through. Thanks!!

[@vestale4]

There are some I-Gate which don't allow the messages to be send out to RF. What IGate receives your messages? Have you managed to receive messages from IGate, not directly via RF?

[@joerg1854]

Mike - I just discovered this video yesterday and have used the WXYO service on my FT3D here in Europe. No issue whatsoever; WXYO (which -per --aprs.fi- is based on a previous wxbot version) works like a charm. And even the fact that it uses Celsius instead of Fahrenheit makes it more useful (for me) - sorry Jason :-). I believe that the guy who created the amended version of WXBOTuses the Open Weather Map API. I was planning on doing the same thing but since WXYO exists, this is no longer necessary. Side note: WXBOT/WXYO have some issues on my TH-D74 which scarcely receives any responses to my APRS requests. The FT3D however works like a charm. General APRS-related comment: What I would be really interested in: - a Wiki page, containing all of these interesting services - general instructions on how to write (and test) new APRS services without endangering the whole network. Unfortunately, the APRS documentation is pretty much cluttered. And the last time that I did use Perl was .... quite a while ago :-)

[@va7dgp]

I tried using WXBOT on my Bluetooth Cheap aprs HT. The bot didn't like my wxbot today. I also tried Blaine, Wa as it's only few miles from my qth. I'm thinking my android GPS was not being past on. I'll try WXYO as I'm going to be on the road to Kamloops through the mountains this morning. 73 va7dgp Just tried it Sorry, unable to get a forecast for location 49.20050/-122.95383

[@va7dgp]

I tried YVR for Vancouver BC Airport this for WXBOT and WXYO 05:30:42< CYVR 221200Z 28012G17KT 15SM FEW035 SCT063 BKN150 11/08 A2993 RMK S 05:30:47< C1SC2AC2 SLP136

[@vestale4]

@@va7dgp Your response is in METAR format, see specification here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METAR If you have an HAM callsign and APRS, send a position to APRS, and after that send a message to WXYO with 3,6,9 ... 36. You will receive the forecast for your last position received by aprs.fi after the number of hours send in that message. Also you can use your GRID square for location in the message a space.

[@carmp3fan]

Doesn’t WXBOT use the location of the digipeater by default and not the GPS location of the radio?

[@KM4ACK]

It uses the GPS data from the station making the request.

[@mumi009]

Who is providing the weather forecasts? NWS? Reliable?

[@KM4ACK]

I have found it reliable but can't say who provides the forecast.

[@WhatsUpWithSix]

I love the bots. Are you aware of any other APRS bots. I know of SMSGTE but would love to know of any others. Great video as always my friend. 73 DE KV5SIX

[@KM4ACK]

Thanks Vern! Not that I know of but hopefully someone else can jump in and teach us both :-)

[@vestale4]

RFDATA is nice bot. See the syntax and features here: aprs.rfdata.org/wiki/Main_Page

[@brianhill2488]

Great informative video! I have used aprs, but had never figured out the weather side of it. As a truck driver, this looks like a great reason to add a dedicated APRS rig to my truck. This could be really useful, especially like in the northwest in the winter. Great job! KM4MQC 73