I'm wondering who here has some knowledge on APRS?  There is something
I'm looking into involving it, and the little bit that I've gleaned
from playing with it hasn't been able to help.  (Granted, I've not spent
enough time, so maybe I just need to tinker more.)

Even if it's just some pointers would be useful.

The use I have in mind is for Skywarn, and auto-tracking of the spotters.
(Seems like that's a natural for it, especially since Skywarn is
in stuff about APRS.)

16 responses total.

I believe many Skywarn groups use APRS for exactly that purpose.  Some may
use the standard frequency, though I believe others use Mic-E on voice
repeaters.  I don't really have any good web sites marked for general
information, but if you have specific questions I may be able to help.  I've
been into APRS for a couple of years.  I've set up two APRS digipeaters (and
am working on a third with a group a couple states away) and run an I-gate
at my home.  I've also done some balloon tracking with APRS.

I've just found out what Mic-E is a couple days ago.  I kept seeing it
show up on people's info, and finally did a websearch on it.  I think
that might work wonderfully for what I have in mind.  Only thing I can
seeing being a small obstacle to overcome is TAPR not selling the kit
they had anymore.  (I can only assume technology had out-moded it, or
at the least someone else has something similar available.)

Of course, this is just stuff I've found in a very short amount of
time, so I'll be doing more searching.

I don't know much about Mic-E, but I believe it's been replaced with Pic-E.

Did a bit of research on Pic-E yesterday, looks like a decent setup.
Funnily enough, is along the lines of something I had in mind when I
found out what can be done with PICs.

Of course the people who did this already knew how to program them,
and I'm sure are more familiar with APRS formats than I am, so it
saves me some headaches.  :)

APRS might be a fun thing to try, but I'll need to buy a
more powerful radio and probably a newer TNC first.  I would
still like to find a manual for my Kantronics KAM (KAM 1,
not KAM+, KAM98, KAM XL etc.) though.

Actually, you probably don't need a more powerful radio.  I've just
been using a 3 or 4W portable, into a j-pole antenna.

APRS is digipeated very well, and really only needs to get to the
next station(s) to be sent along.

I'm not sure if the KAM is capable or not, but it's not hard to get
ahold of something that can handle it.  Anything that is TNC-2 will
suffice.

My HT allegedly yields 2W on external DC power, but I take
that with a pinch of salt. I finally obtained an SMA Male to
BNC female adaptor, but it's not ideal. I should try to find
a local packet operator who's willing to help me test my KAM
TNC.

You could also do most of the functions through KISS mode, but the
TNC-2 has some benefits due to built-in commands.

I don't really like using "hard" adapters on HTs, because of the strain
on the connector.  I prefer to use short jumpers with different
connectors on the ends, instead.  RG-58/U or RG-174 is great for this.

That's probably a good idea, but I also don't mind replacing an occasional
BNC on something.  It keeps signal loss to a minimum.

If you're sufficiently talented to open up an HT and replace its BNC
connector, go to it.  I hate working on SMT devices.  I don't have a
steady enough hand when the components and solder pads are that small.

I do that kind of work under an illuminated magnifier, but I will also
admit to difficulty in doing a good job at that scale. I've only repaired
a few such things.

I was looking at an Icom IC-F21 (commercial land-mobile HT)
at work today, and a very solid looking thing it was too.  I
wonder how one of those might perform on 70cm :-)

As long as they're setup for the correct emission, they work well.  But
the one thing that tends to be a problem is if you need to access
different freqs on the fly.

Re #14: It has 16 channels, I could have it programmed up
  with the 70cm 'calling' channel, another simplex channel,
  the local repeater at three different power levels (I'm
  guessing that's set on a per-channel basis) and perhaps
  some neighboring repeaters.  Of course, that doesn't help
  me if I'm travelling out of the area, or if I move house.
  :-)

If you have the stuff to program the radio on a laptop, it can work
just fine.  :)

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