APRS: SSIDs, Paths, and Beacons - Ham Radio Q&A

[@mikenester8868]

I have seen several "how to's". Your videos actually say "how to" AND why you might want to. That is info I need the most. Thank you Michael.

[@adampettus]

This is the only person I’ve been able to find that actually explains some important concepts about how APRS works and the protocols of APRS.

[@user-su5sq5ib3i]

I've been trying to find info on aprs and it's been hard. Very glad I found these aprs videos!!!

[@waydwalker3674]

Probably one of the easiest and cleanest ways to build an APRS station (besides buying a radio with the APRS function built in) is a Mobilinkd TNC and APRS droid on an Android phone then add a 2m mobile or handheld transceiver and one cable to connect the radio to the Mobilinkd. I use an old cell phone that no longer has service or my Android tablet, or you can by the cheapest Tracfone smart phone ($30, don't need to by a service plan) and you are set with a GPS and monitor. APRS droid allows for downloading maps for offline use. I have built a few digipeaters with a raspberry pi, TNC pi, and an inexpensive mobile radio. Lots of ways to play with APRS some more complicated and cable intensive than others. I'm glade to see the continued or maybe increasing interest in APRS. It is fun and can be very useful. Thanks for the videos.

[@markt.3454]

I'll vouch for this one. I "repurposed" and older handheld and an old cell phone with 12V power adapters, added a Mobilinkd TNC and run it as my mobile. Works great, but I'm going to make some adjustments to the path based on this video.

[@vagabond4621]

I would like to see a video of how to set up the mobilinkd system and test it.

[@I-am-EmJay]

100% agree - I have a lot of different options, but I love the Mobilinkd for being an easy to use, adds mapping and messaging to a small portable APRS station.

[@dogsareloud]

At 13:35 you mentioned that the station would only digipeat your call sign. I would like to do that as well for my use-case. How would I program the TNC just to digpeat my call sign only ? Thank you...great video...

[@rvamike]

Michael, I really appreciate you taking time out to make these great videos!! ‘73 W4MAF

[@genebodenberger]

Thanks for the video. I have a new Anytone D878 and I left the house today and traveled about 100 miles before I ever got a packet into the system. I remembered quickly in my setup of the radio that the Anytone CES defaults to wide1-1 which tells me my packets were probably just dying and not making it to an i-gate. You learn something new every day.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

That was most likely the case. They went out one hop and there wasn't an igate close any of the other digipeaters.

[@adairw]

One of the better videos I've seen about APRS. Good work!

[@JeffSukow]

I would love to see a video on how to create and configure a beacon box like you have.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I'll put together a beacon box video. I need to dig out my list of commands for the TNC

[@MichaelLloyd]

I may actually be able to get my APRS devices to work after watching this series. You're explaing the system very well. 73 NE5U

[@alex-835]

Thanks a lot, Michael! I watched your videos about APRS and antennas. I like the way you explain technical issues. Alex from Moscow, Russia. 73 de R2BGE

[@roeljamil]

@KB9VBR, Please make a video of the equipment needed to make a DigiPeater. (Antenna, Feedline, TNC or Raspberry Pi etc. etc.) Thanks in advance!

[@kenburnett]

Thank you for continuing your videos on APRS. Looking forward to your next one as commented on CharlieMic5.

[@DuckingAround58]

Another great video on APRS. I've only ever been able to play around with APRS on my HT. If you ever get around to it I would love a video on how to set up a home station

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Home station video is coming up next, so stay tuned.

[@redbonesmith44]

Vids are great, I am just getting to know this field and find your information very thorough thanku

[@shortwavelistener]

Great video intro. I’m a newbie - what keeps anyone from spoofing your callsign? There’s no callsign to device ID registered anywhere? So I could just plug in anyone’s callsign into my HT?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Really nothing other than the honor and integrity of other amateur radios operators to not do that.

[@Ne9n]

great 2 questions 1) What is the difference between low and high level digipetes? 2) why do you need 2 wide statements in the path like wide1-1, wide2-2 rather than just wide 3-3?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

There are two different thoughts on digipeaters: Some believe that digipeaters should have a high vantage point and cover large swaths of area and others think that APRS should be a distributed network of low height digipeater and digipeat configured home stations to reduce overall channel congestion. The best is a combination of both types. The low digis work to fill in holes and catch the signal of weaker stations and the high, wide area, digis propagate the network further distance. A properly configured low digi or home station set up to digipeat will digipeat only Wide1-1 packets while a wide are digipeater will digipeat any WideN-N packet. So a mobile station or a tracker should use Wide1-1 as its first path position to ensure it will get into some type of digipeater. Once digipeated, the Wide1-1 expires and the next digipeaters work on the Wide2-2 path. Home stations should almost never use the Wide1-1 in first position. Those stations are not moving, so they should be able to hit a wide area digipeater. You'll use only a Wide2-2 or a Wide3-3 as your path for a home station and not use the Wide1-1 at all. When you set up your home station, you'll want to listen to the APRS channel for a bit to find which digipeaters you can hear directly and include them in your path to help reduce channel congestion (we'll talk about that in a future video). I hope this makes sense, let me know if it doesn't.

[@Ne9n]

got it, the multiple wide statements allow the message to fan out as is goes from a local node to the larger network

[@zl2seazl2sea98]

Thanks for a great video, can you advise what is the best software for off line tracking, i.e. out in the field and only using a radio and PC to track without any internet connections. thanks

[@bobcraft7810]

Excellent video, I really enjoy your thorough break down of a very complex subject.

[@licanmartinez569]

Whats the difference between wide1-1, wide2-2 and wide3-3 ?

[@KempOutside]

This was very helpful, thanks!

[@garyzimmerman8679]

I wish that their would be another number after the -7 ssid, as I maybe on multiple same time radios, or run multiple digipeater weather stations in a large area. Like -7-1 or -12-1 The other issue with the ssids, is that one station can be both a digipeater, igate and weather station. There needs to be a code for those three.

[@TheOpenAirGarage]

You can also do APRS through your mobile hotspot also.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I noticed that my hotspot shows up on the local APRS map.

[@jeepinbanditrider]

Probably a dumb question but do i put a space between the comma and second path? Example Should it be WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 OR WIDE1-1, WIDE2-1

[@ksink74]

Great work!

[@Oregun]

Excellent explanation! Thank you!

[@sphexes]

Hi michael, I may want to talk to you about setting up an aprs igate or some other possibility to make use of an ftm-300d Japan only radio that I bought that doesn't have full US band plan and it's too expensive to return. More details later. Take care., Scott W8XDX

[@bhamptonkc7]

We do search and rescue far into the mountains could you use wide1-5 to get more low power digi to reach out to a wide2 or irate?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I'm not sure I see an advantage to doing that. The purpose of a low power digi is to get your packet to a wide digi so it propagates in the system. If you are in a remote location‚ what are your chances of being heard by more than one low digi? And if you are heard by more than one low digi- wouldn't you just as likely be able to be heard by a wide? Wide1-1 is an established protocol so you are better off sticking with it.

[@bhamptonkc7]

@@KB9VBRAntennas thanks for the reply, I am still learning, that said sar group = multiple moble digi so it is possable to hop 2 or 3 times before hitting a wide2 or gate.

[@brianmaier7529]

Great video. It does feel like APRS has pretty much come down to tracking the movements of people or vehicles. Am I wrong? I have a stand alone VHF mobile ham radio in the car with a Tink Track3. I turn it on for events or road trips, but that's about it.

[@bhamptonkc7]

APRS Digi for SAR, we operate very far in the mountains with poor line of site, we want to properly use mobile fill in digis, I was reading the spec but no luck resolving my question yet. for an alias syntax we were thinking of SAR instead of the generic wide1-1 so I am wondering if we need a SAR1-1 or if a basic SAR-1 will do the job. looking at maybe doing a couple fill digi hops out commvan will usually have a hotspot gateway if, it gets cell coverage. I am guessing if the beacons have a path of SAR-2 and the mobil digi has an alias of SAR that work for a couple hops.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

If your digipeater is set up properly with the 1-1 nomenclature then you will SAR1-1 as your alias. I wouldn't use SAR1 as the alias especially if you are planning to use multiple low level digis. The reason is that if the alias is SAR1‚ does not properly utilize the N-N packet structure so you will get a higher amount of bounces between digis- degrading the channel through put. (This would be similar to what happened back in the day when we used the RELAY alias for low level digipeating). SAR1-1 will will do a proper countdown and reduce duplicate packets on the network.

[@FinneganThompson]

Hi. I just started watching your channel, and I really enjoy it. I have a question that is unrelated to ham radio, but I was quite curious about your workbench, it looks quite nice, and I was wondering where I could purchase one.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

It's an Edsal workbench with a formica top and the electronics riser. My wife's employer used to do service work and I purchased it used when they cleared out that department. It looks like you could piece the components together via Amazon or Global Industrial.

[@romankalinchuk2750]

This got me more confused. I saw a recommendation to get to an igate as wide1-1,wide2-1. If you want 3 hops, why not use wide3-3? Also, why use wide2-1 and not wide1-1?

[@DonzLockz]

Very informative, thank you! 👍🤓

[@revadan]

I live in a city area with several digipeaters, i want to enable my digipeater but i dont want to congest the existing system. My question is, what would be my hop /path settings that wont hurt the network? Currently my paths APX210 via Wide2-2 and Igate ->Rf Path Wide2-1.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I have a low level fill-in digipeater at my home. This gives me better APRS coverage in my neighborhood and inside the house when I use my Yaesu FT3DR. I set its UNPROTO path to WIDE1-1 so that it will automatically digipeat first hop packets that it hears so that they can be repeated by a higher digipeater. It will also digipeat other packets but since those have already been digipeated once by a higher lever digipeater‚ they won't get digpeated by the high level digipeater again. Here's a video on how I do it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4TZmpWHpcaLeLs

[@revadan]

@@KB9VBRAntennas Thanks. Am using Xastir, on the Unproto Paths. I have 3 paths to put in details and 1 Igate ->RF path .. Path 1 to 3 it says APX210 via ______ .. where will i put WIDE1-1 ? any of the APX210 via or the Igate ->RF?

[@BorntoVenture]

Great video! What APRS software are you using on your Windows computer near the beginning fo the video?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I was using UIview with the PA7RHM map server. Development stopped long ago when the original passed away, but the program keeps running as it has an open architecture that allows for add-ons. I'll be looking at a newer software option in a future video.

[@bhamptonkc7]

Alias what are valid aliases, for example a friend has several beacons -9, -5, -2 can I just enter his call to Fiji all of them?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

If you are using aprs.fi‚ you can use the wildcard '*' to search for all the aliases for a particular callsign. That is CALLSIGN* to show all aliases for a callsign

[@bhamptonkc7]

@@KB9VBRAntennas now that I think about it if I just enter the call x7xxx that would be the only ssid repeated because x7xxx-9 would actually be ssid different.

[@luismirandakunert3475]

Nice...!!!73 con you also talk about APRS satellites next!!

[@borderlandsroadkill1288]

I wonder if you can answer a question; I went through the video and got an sms text off from my FT3D to my cell ok and replied from the phone and it came through ok too. Then I texted a friend about 180 miles away who got the text and replied but the reply never came through. I tried them twice and they replied twice but neither came across. Any ideas? I tries "Auto" and digital modes. Thanks in advance! Watching your channel regularly now as I grow into my new hobby!

[@justinbrewer5628]

How can I find out where the digipeaters are in my area?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Best to do is to go to APRS.fi and see which digipeaters show up on the map. A digipeater will have the star icon.

[@ScottSimmonsSaltSpringRE]

Thanks, Michael another very informative video. I have been playing around with APRS and have set up an Igate using APRSIS 32 which is such a simple system and APRSdroid for my HT. The only thing I can not figure out is why more have not set this up. Seems like such a simple and slick system. One would think all hams would want this in their car while mobile, just imagine a bad winter storm and getting stranded in a remote local at least one could post a message or text with it. It would be nice to see more use of the system. VA7EFZ Cheers Scott

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

15-20 years ago, APRS was quite popular and there was a lot more activity. Now it seems like it has settled down quite a bit. But with the popularity of the Yaesu FTM-400, I'm seeing quite a few more mobile stations on the air again.

[@richryan6326]

baofeng ht and android app is that a 5 for app or 7 for ht?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

It would be -5 for the app. You use -7 if your HT supports APRS natively like the Kenwood D7 or Yaesu VX8 series

[@CaptainK007]

Excellent presentation..subscribed.. ok so we are all now setup on our FT3’s . We are receiving “stuff”. What do we do with it? Acknowledge? Just go ok I have a packet? Or what? Can you explain? Just returned to the hobby after 30 years and yes things have moved on digital wise massively. I can’t grasp why you would want to use a mobile phone through an internet connection and give a signal report there’s always Zoom, ping pong or dong whatever.. but there you go... was a marine electronics engineer so no smoke and mirrors with aprs reporting. So what do we do with the stuff we receive, sending a reply while mobile appears fiddly and could lead to a trip to casualty off your bicycle in seconds. All for tech but what can/do we do? Cheers again. Steve

[@dexascan1]

I'm just starting and studying for my test. Can you recommend a channel that is more basic than yours? For beginning beginners! :)

[@donnymazon8516]

How do you add a weather station to aprs?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Some of the pricier weather stations from Peet Brothers and Davis Instruments offer native APRS support, but I'll do a bit of research and see if I can come up with a cheaper alternative to create an APRS weather station.

[@donnymazon8516]

Ok

[@tittiger]

I think you are incorrect about a route of "wide 1-1, wide 2-2 going" 3 hops. This would be the case ONLY IF this routing first hits a fill in DP then the full DP -- then will it go 3 hops. If it hits a full digipeater first it only goes 2 hops. They are not additive are they? The wide 1-1 is mainly for the fill in diigipeaters.

[@N4EJM]

Well my only experience with APRS so far is on my iPhone XS with APRS.fi. Hopefully soon I’ll have an FTM-400 in my truck.

[@sphexes]

Hi Michael, I'm discovering the latest/greatest and cheapest way of doing APRS. It seems that I can successfully use my Baofeng u 6r with btech cord and my Android phone with or without cell coverage (primarily for GPS) I can't wait to use this on the way up to the Keewanau Peninsula. 73 W8XDX

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I'm not sure if you saw this video I did recently on low power APRS trackers: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5jUXqR4ndN_n8k but it may give you insight. Be sure to pack an external antenna, like a mag mount for the vehicle as the duck on the handheld won't cut it when you are moving. I looked at APRS.fi, and fortunately there is a digipeater in Eagle Harbor, so you should have APRS coverage.

[@sphexes]

@@KB9VBRAntennas Thank you very much Michael!

[@ramorrisey]

Did you just combine bicycle with slower than 5-10 mph? :) 🚴

[@collinmac24]

Appreciated the info

[@K4SRF]

In my area, APRS seems to be hit-and-miss. It may work flawlessly for a week and then sporadically for the next two weeks, all in the same area. No one has been able to really find out what is causing this.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Barring any equipment failures in your local APRS network‚ maybe the problem is due to atmospheric conditions that affect propagation. Could it be when propagation is good that distant signals from other digipeaters overwhelm your local digis? You'd have to monitor the APRS channel with a TNC and terminal program so you could watch how active the channel is and from how far packets are coming from.

[@garyzimmerman8679]

For moving, I think smart beaconing is best.

[@mabo4848]

tnx for your work !

[@hehe3301]

So you are saying, if I want to be sure I get out, I should have my mobile set to retransmit my packets at 50W and set WIDE7-7 on my HT

[@jameslee522]

thanks for the time links

[@joeblow8593]

Very good

[@EthanShort4014]

i subbed to your channel.

[@AI5HV]

Great video. You have included a lot of very useful information about APRS in this video that I had not yet discovered in my research trying to learn more about the topic. Thank you. AI5HV.

[@LOGITRUST]

APRS is not a mission critical protocol/system in any way. It Works for short VHF/UHF repeater range/line of sight action. Alternatively relay with HF digital modes as JS8call or FT8 to stations with gateway or digipeat will do the job for off-the-grid tracking. APRS is not reliable in any way when it comes to back-country hiking, SOTA or other Off-the-grid activitie is my experience. Go for a GPS tracker device with subscription service if you need relibale tracking for mission critical and make sure you get your position on the map.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

No it is not mission critical. That was never the intention of APRS. With APRS‚ transmission is guaranteed but reception is not. Since their are no acknowledgements of packets received‚ it shouldn't be used in situations were verification of your signal being received is required. But it is a very robust communication system and excels at what it does well: which is to provide real-time information of locations‚ tracks‚ and objects for a local area.

[@VE7QRZ]

Thanks, now I can tell those packets were to go......... ;-) de vE7qRz

[@tittiger]

Nice series but you like everyone else can not explain routing worth a damn.

[@tittiger]

I think Yaesu and RTsytems hate us.... there is no good correlation between my FTM300DR APRS menu settings and the settings offered in RT software!!! Its a real cluster fuk and if there were real competition for either company they both would be out of business. As an aside I have never dealt with such a clueless useless company as Rt-systems....they offer no real support for their product and neiither does Yaesu for that matter..

[@user-su5sq5ib3i]

Hi Kevin, I setup my pk232 to be a WIDE1-1 fillin digipeater and have not seen it digipeat as of yet on aprs fot fi. Is it possible that other repeaters are picking up the packets before my station can? I went over my settings and tried wide1-1, 2-2, and ever 3-3 with no luck. Here are my settings mycall ve1qet-1 myalias wide1-1 unproto apn232 beacon ever 54 (540min) btext !4440.38NS6334.46#W Fill_in_Digipetetar hid off digi on