APRS - My Mobile Digipeater & IGate

In our last video, we reviewed "Tactical & Emergency Communications with APRS” ( • Tactical & Emergency C... ). Unfortunately, we are in an area were there are no digipeaters, so let’s set one up.
thetechprepper, digipeater, igate, aprs, ham radio, portable communications, field communications, yaesu, ft-818nd, signalink usb, raspberry pi, xastir, dire wolf, mobilinkd, tnc, baofeng uv5r, aprsdroid, aprs.fi, offgrid, emcomm, prepper, episode 62
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Products:
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Portable Digipeater/IGate Base Station:
1. SignaLink USB - www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?p...
2. Yaesu FT-818ND - www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?p...
3. CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3B+ - amzn.to/2ErGgUf
4. CanaKit Raspberry Pi WiFi Wireless Adapter/Dongle - amzn.to/2YzMurd
5. Buck Converter 12v to 5v - amzn.to/3hsKABu
6. Valley Enterprises Powerwerx 4 Position Power Distribution Block - amzn.to/2UJhKDb
7. Xastir - xastir.org/index.php/Main_Page
8. Dire Wolf - github.com/wb2osz/direwolf
Mobile Station (Handheld):
1. Baofeng UV-5R - amzn.to/3hNrUM1
2. Mobilinkd TNC2 (Android only) - www.mobilinkd.com/tnc2/
3. Mobilinkd TNC cable for Baofeng - store.mobilinkd.com/products/...
4. APRSdroid - play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Setup video from KM4ACK:
1. APRS Digipeater with a Raspberry Pi - • APRS Digipeater with a...
Episode: #62
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[@JnJTrueOutdoorAdventures]

Great setup and yes Jason KM4ACK is the man!!! Saved my Raspberry Pi 3B+ from making a trip to the landfill. Now I haven't done any APRS yet with my setup, but a lot of FT8 and JS8 and Winlink. When I first got into the hobby in the mid 90's, I did put up at our local ham radio club's repeater site a APRS digi node, a packet node and another packet node for our WV emergency network called DAREN. Of course those used a mobile radios connect with either a KPC3 or KPC3+ or a MFJ TNC's. Of course when I dropped out of the hobby in 2006, no one maintained those nodes and basically they stopped working. Now there is no local club and the repeater has even fell in disrepair. Glad to see you learning more and more about this hobby and thanks for sharing your setup. Juddie - WD8WV OH, by the way, LOVE the belt!! Thanks!!

[@EdwardRaybould]

I'm north of you by about two hours in Marietta, Ohio. A few days ago I was running the UZ7HO Sound Modem on my RPi 4 and was decoding packets on 145.69 that appeared to be part of the DAREN network. I played around with packet quite a bit in the mid-90's as well (Dayton, Ohio, at the time) and would like to become involved again. Being in Ohio, I'm not sure if I can help/participate with the Wood County (WV) group or not. 73, Ned N8OIF

[@JnJTrueOutdoorAdventures]

Edward Raybould you need to contact WA8LLM, Kenny Harris. I believe the DAREN system is his baby. The map I had at one time I thought it showed some nodes in adjacent states like OH and VA. The network cover the majority of the state. Don’t know how many are still in existence now. Juddie WD8WV

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thanks for sharing your experience and I’m glad you’re back into the hobby. This hobby has endless features to explore. If only there was more time and money. I’m glad you’re enjoying the belt. You have 1 of 4 belt buckles that exist. Take care.

[@backcountryamateurradio]

Soo cool! Thanks for showing how you set this up. This is basically going to be my reference sheet!

[@TheTechPrepper]

Let me know how your setup turns out. I’d be curious to see what tweaks you make to your station.

[@backcountryamateurradio]

@@TheTechPrepper one of these days I will figure it out. Gonna need to buy some gear!

[@joshgotto8295]

Great info, so much to learn!

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thank you. What a great hobby. There’s so much to explorer in amateur radio.

[@thegunsmithful]

I started from the bottom of your videos and working my way up after watching several of the recent videos and I am looking to do the exact same thing communication and prepping wise. I have several radios for several needs and I am always adding more. I am going as far as putting up a DMR/Analog Bridgecomm repeater at my house and a Winlink as well as APRS WX3in1 igate in so I can send AND receive SMSGTE. It will be connected to a 2980 so it will have some distance on its own Vertically separated antenna on the tower. I live up in the mountains with a town that consists of a gas station and volunteer fire department (literally that's about it) so I not only like Comm preps but they are used daily as normal comms for my household

[@KM4ACK]

Thanks for the shoutout! Tried to send an APRS message to the igate but it looks like it was offline when I tried.

[@TheTechPrepper]

Any time. My IGate is truly portable and only up when needed. I need to work on setting up a permanent solution at home.

[@ChrisKeller]

Nice setup! I've tried running an IGate a couple of times, but now I'm interested to run one mobile off of a cell phone WiFi hotspot!

[@TheTechPrepper]

That works. I tried that at our previous RV stop where we had LTE. Have fun with your new mobile IGate.

[@jinco1221]

Nice video thanks

[@TheTechPrepper]

You're welcome. Happy Holidays!

[@fenlinfoel]

I have been trying to find a way for a remote property we have to gain txt messages were there is no cell service wondering if this will help me get service to this area. my only problem is internet access is spotty

[@AhmetKaan]

Great video, awesome content my friend! Love the things that you share. Keep putting in the work and impacting peoples lives :) 👌🙏

[@TheTechPrepper]

Wow, impacting people’s lives... Thank you. I’ll keep producing videos. Take care!

[@thomasmanson1119]

Hey prepped, thanks for the vid’. The first thing that got my attention was the mention of Pagosa Springs, been there done that, went for the hot air ballon ride, Et al. Great place for a week long escape, but it’s been awhile ago. But what do you use the rasp’y pi for? A sound card? Thanks again, 73 de Tom KC3QAC

[@TheTechPrepper]

My pleasure. Pagosa Springs is a really nice destination for a week getaway. It's been awhile since I recorded this video, but I believe I was running an APRS client on the Pi called Xastir. I have since moved away from that client and have been running YAAC (Yet Another APRS Client). I'm actually working on a project called EmComm Tools that builds on YAAC and simplifies the user experience to make field operations easier. I'll need to check out the balloons next time in CO. 73

[@DonzLockz]

This is an old video but just wondering how this has changed or not. Do you still need or use it?

[@TheTechPrepper]

It is time for a new video. My new setup is very different these days. I am running everything in a manpack, my preferred radio is the FT-2980R, I use the DigiRig Mobile for the digital interface, and run everything on a Panasonic CF-20 Toughbook. Even the software is different. I have a "reboot video" in the backlog. 73's

[@EdwardRaybould]

I heard you mention trail running. I started running trails about five years ago. 73 de N8OIF

[@TheTechPrepper]

That’s great. I’m looking into getting into SOTA while running on the trails. I may do a gear dump of my radio/trail setup. 73.

[@bthemedia]

2:30 wouldn’t antenna on roof be better?

[@alvarogaitan2529]

great video thanks 73 from kb2uew