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The WILLAM digipeater and IGate began APRS service around lunchtime yesterday, Sunday, Feb 2. Congratulations and thanks to the sysops of the APRS station! Sited atop Williams Hill, overlooking the Highway 101 corridor through southern Salinas Valley in Monterey County, this station's coverage fills the span between Paso Robles and Salinas very nicely. We'd been missing that region's VHF digi coverage for a sad number of years before now. Thanks to Tom WB9VXY, Kenneth W6KWF, and everybody else in support. Fine business. https://aprs.fi/WILLAM 73, Cap KE6AFE

[2 Feb 2025] i originally released version 1 of the "WA8LMF TNC Test CD" in 2006, with with a slight update, version 1.1, in 2009. This was an image file that created an audio CD. The disk contains a variety of recordings of packet APRS transmissions to verify/compare the performance of packet TNCs (both hardware and software). Over the past 16 years it has become sort of a de-facto standard for testing/comparing various packet radio receiving systems. In 2009, computer CD systems were plagued with cheap unstable software-based audio decoding (the infamous "AC97" codec) that used system interrupts for timing. The audio sample rate would actually vary, depending on CPU loading and the number of tasks currently running on the computer. On the other hand, AUDIO CD players (even cheap boomboxes and DiscMan portables) used stable crystal-controlled time-bases. In 2009, I chose to produce the disk as an audio CD (not a CD-ROM with .WAV files) to yield more accurate and repeatable tests of TNC performance. The ver 1.1. CD was produced in the "CD-Extra" format that combines CD audio tracks playable on a music CD player -- with a data CD-ROM area accessible with a computer CD/DVD drive. (This hybrid format is sometimes used on modern music CDs to include song lyrics, artist bios, etc on the disk along with the music.) Some users have had problems with recording the BIN/CUE format of the TNC Test image file to physical CDs. (This now-somewhat-obscure disk-image format was required because the more-common .ISO disk image format can't handle the mixed-mode half-music-CD/half-CD-ROM format of the disk.) Today, the "horsepower" of the average computer has increased orders of magnitude since 2009. More importantly, for the last decade or so, most computers have been equipped with the "RealTek HD" audio chips that use an accurate crystal-controlled time-base. As a result, computer-playback of audio files is now very accurate with stable sample rates. I have now re-released the Test CD as a standard CD-ROM in the common .ISO image format. This disk contains the identical test audio tracks, but now stored as lossless FLAC files. The .ISO image file can be used to burn a physical CD. Or the .ISO file can be used as-is, "mounted" as a virtual CD-ROM drive using an used drive letter on your system. Or the FLAC-format audio files could be copied to a flash drive. I have extensively revised the page on my web site for the Test CD . It now includes download links for both the original ver 1.1 audio CD image, and the new ver 2.0 .ISO CD-ROM image. <http://wa8lmf.net/TNCtest/ > Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com Skype: WA8LMF EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band] Home Page: http://wa8lmf.net New 30 Meter APRS-over VARA Frequency As of 1 Jan 2025. Details Here: <http://WA8LMF.net/VARA/NewFrequency.htm> - APRS over VARA -- <http://wa8lmf.net/VARA/APRSoverVARA> "Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels <http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner> -

As of 0000 Hrs UTC 1 January, the WA8LMF APRS-over-VARA igate and webserver has moved from the old APRS-over-VARA channel (10.147.60 MHz USB) to the new channel at "dial frequency" of 10.148.200 MHz USB . This corresponds to an actual RF center frequency for VARA of 10.149.700 MHz . You can view the real-time mapping anytime on my webserver at <http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14439/index2.htm> Note that the new VARA map spans the Atlantic because we ARE hearing stations from the UK and Europe here in Michigan, USA on APRS-over-VARA. Or visit the gateway page for all the WA8LMF igate/webservers at: <http://WA8LMF.net/map> Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com Skype: WA8LMF EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band] Home Page: http://wa8lmf.net 30 Meter APRS-over VARA Frequency Change As of 1 Jan 2025. Details Here: <http://WA8LMF.net/VARA/NewFrequency.htm> - APRS over VARA -- <http://wa8lmf.net/VARA/APRSoverVARA> "Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels <http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner> -

APRS Foundation Sent from Cap’s iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: "JeffH - W4JEW - APRS Foundation via groups.io" <jeffh@...> Date: December 30, 2024 at 7:39:12 PM PST To: [email protected] Subject: [APRS] To Our Members & Donors - Thank You! Reply-To: [email protected] ? All, Before we slip out of the holiday season entirely - this is a great time to recognize those who stepped forward to show their support of APRS and the Foundation's efforts to ensure the continuity and advancement of APRS! The outpouring of support from the APRS community has far exceeded our expectations! To say the support humbles us would be an understatement. The Foundation has received eleven (11) donations via Donorbox. We received two donations in particular that we never dreamed would be possible: The Bruninga Family: $1041.44 Amateur Radio Digital Communications: $1000.00 The following is a list of the other donations we've received - I am only including the donor's initials so they can identify themselves on the list - otherwise, we want to ensure we respect privacy and the same anonymity I would expect if I were the one donating. GT: $52.45 RB: $104.42 PV: $10.90 CB: $104.42 TM: $10.90 CK: $26.34 CR: $10.90 WJ: $26.48 SB: $52.45 In addition to our donors, as most, if not all of you are aware, the Foundation officially unveiled our membership program on August 22, 2024. Over the past 119 days (including today), the membership grew from the five founding members to 174! I cannot express the warmth I feel when I log into email almost daily to find that my membership has increased by yet another ham committed to APRS. There is one other option that doesn't require opening your wallet. That is through donating your time! Please watch for another email in the not-so-distant future where we will send out how you can help simply by contributing your time (and skills). Stay tuned for more news! -JeffH P.S. Since this group is still relatively new, I will cross-post this message to aprssig and APRS on 开云体育. -- -- APRS Foundation - Ensuring the Future of APRS! Jeff Hochberg - W4JEW President https://www.aprsfoundation.org

I have just discovered that during the re-organizing of my website pages focusing on VARA and APRS, that I accidentally screwed up links and left out some important pages. This included pages on configuring various APRS client applications to work with VARA. This has now been fixed, I hope! Main gateway page to VARA-related topics: <http://WA8LMF.net/VARA> Main page for using APRS-over-VARA with various APRS clients <http://WA8LMF.net/VARA/APRSoverVARA/index.htm> 30 Meter APRS-over-VARA Frequency Change <http://WA8LMF.net/VARA/NewFrequency.htm> Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com Skype: WA8LMF EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band] Home Page: http://wa8lmf.net 30 Meter APRS-over VARA Frequency Change Coming 1 Jan 2025. Details Here: <http://WA8LMF.net/VARA/NewFrequency.htm> - APRS over VARA -- <http://wa8lmf.net/VARA/APRSoverVARA> "Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels <http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner> -

Due to frequency overlap with, and interference to/from, the "Robust Packet" channels used in Europe, APRS-over-VARA is moving to a new channel ABOVE the present AX.25 APRS channel on 30 Meters. Currently, APRS-over-VARA is operating with a radio "dial frequency" of 10.147.600, placing the center frequency of it's 500-Hz wide RF signal at 10.149.100 MHz. Starting January 1st 2025 at 0000 UTC, the new RF channel center will be 10.149.700 MHz . To make the change, set your radio "dial frequency" to: 10.148.200 MHz USB Until Jan 1st, I will be running the old channel as usual, and ALSO beaconing test signals (KJ4ERJ's Space Station Object) every two minutes on the new channel. More info is on my web site at: <http://WA8LMF.net/VARA> This page is a gateway page to multiple posts on VARA and APRS-over-VARA that have previously been scattered rather haphazardly around my web site. Click on the link in the yellow box near the top of the page for the frequency change info. Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com Skype: WA8LMF EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band] Home Page: http://wa8lmf.net APRS-over-VARA igates now operating on 30 & 60 meters <http://WA8LMF.net/map> "Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels <http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner> -- APRS over VARA -- <http://wa8lmf.net/VARA/APRSoverVARA.>

I run APRS on the A-side of the radio as normal. I use smart beaconing and transmit my QSY frequency in my packets. I have 3 radios mounted in my semi-truck, side by side and in a motorhome. As the radios have aged, all three are having the same issue. I will hear a beep so I look at the radio and see an outgoing beacon has been transmitted. The B-side of the radio will then jump down one memory channel if in memory mode or 25 khz if in vfo mode when set to a UHF frequency. It always goes down, never up and only when the b-side is on a UHF frequency. If the b-side starts on a VHF frequency it is unaffected. The b-side will keep clicking down each time a beacon is transmitted and will cycle through all of my memory channels if the b-side starts on a UHF frequency, passing by any vhf memory channels I have stored. I sent one of the radios to United Radio and they couldn't duplicate the problem. They are going to change out the channel selector, but I haven't received the radio back yet. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm beginning to think it's software related as its happening to all of my 710s.

On Wednesday 24 July, I will be departing for the annual Evergreen, Colorado Jazz Festival <http://EvergreenJazz.org> happening this coming weekend. Once again, I will be beaconing APRS alternately on classic 300-baud AX.25 packet and on VARA. This will again provide a direct side-by-side comparison of the two modes. On Wednesday 24 July, I will depart my QTH in central Michigan (Haslett) and wll be stopping in Cedar Rapids, Iowa the first night. On Thursday 25 July, I will be stopping at the Nebraska/Colorado state line where Interstate 76 branches off from I-80. On Friday morning, I complete the last 4 hours of the drive to Denver, and then up the mountains to Evergreen. The return trip will be Monday 29 July and Tuesday 30 July. The radio setup is the same as previous events: Three copies of UIview (2M VHF, 30M AX.25 and 30M VARA) running on my Panasonic Toughbook mobile laptop. Radio is Yaesu FT-891 running into a 30M Quicksilver Radio "QuickStick" ham-stick type whip ball-mounted on the left-rear corner of the car. (This time, I will NOT be towing "Studio B", my radio trailer.) The festival itself starts Friday afternoon around 3 PM MDT, and goes all day Saturday and Sunday before ending around 6:00 PM local Sunday. In addition to my own position, I will be beaconing an APRS object for the festival on HF. (At the main venue, I have access to AC power so I can leave the radios and computers running in the car during the event.) My APRS webservers will be running, showing what I can receive at home in Michigan during the trip. Go to: <http://WA8LMF.net/map> to select the main 30M AX.25 packet APRS page, the 30M VARA APRS page, and the Special Events page. In addition, the Road Trip Tracker page will be live. The two 30M pages only reflect what my home station is hearing OFF THE AIR - there is no Internet feed. The Special Events and Road Trip Tracker pages combine off-the-air AND the APRS-IS Internet feed. AS usual, WA8LMF (no SSID) is 2M FM, WA8LMF-2 is AX.25 HF, WA8LMF-3 is VARA HF. Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com Skype: WA8LMF EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band] Home Page: http://wa8lmf.net APRS-over-VARA igates now operating on 30 & 60 meters <http://WA8LMF.net/map> "Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels <http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner> -- APRS over VARA -- <http://wa8lmf.net/APRSoverVARA.>

It's been a year since I shut down and sold my vacation QTH in southern Yosemite, and I'm finally getting to one of the boxes with radio gear. I've got two radios in front of me that were chosen for their low power consumption: Radio Shack HTX-202 - this thing is rock solid but oh so dated. I might have a battery pack but I'm sure it's no good. Great for a tracker or a low-level igate? Western Radio WR-154B. This is a crystal-controlled mobile radio made in Japan by Unimetrics, and sold in the Washington state/British Columbia area, apparently. I wrote up what I know about them at https://dimebank.com/cak/k6dbg/ - I had crystals made up and retuned it and used it for a digi for a number of years. 15W out (plenty if you have a good antenna) and about 1/4W idle. Free to a good home; I'd rather do an eyeball QSO than get involved in shipping, but if you really want, I'll ship if you cover the cost. VY 73 de chris K6DBG

On Sunday 16 June 2024, I will be departing from entral Michigan on a cross-country road trip to Los Angeles. I will have "Studio B" (my mobile hamshack and radio operations trailer) in tow. Once again, I will be doing side-by-side comparisons of classic HF AX.25 packet APRS and APRS-over-VARA-HF. I will alternate beacons on AX.25 and VARA, each mode on a 10-minute cycle while enroute. Both modes are originated from the same computer, interface, radio (Yaesu FT-891) and antennas (Quicksilver Radio ham sticks for 60 and 30m) in the car. Note that because this is being run as a full laptop-based APRS setup (not a dumb transmit-only tracker), I should be able to receive/send APRS messages on any of the three modes (VHF, HF packet, HF VARA). Three instances of UIview will be running side-by-side from separate folders to generate the three modes. For the first day out (Sunday 0-500 miles / 800 km), I will be operating on 60 meters "Channel 5" (5.403.5 USB). Plans are for the first overnight in Des Moines IA. For the rest of the trip (too far away from my home igate/webserver for 60M), I will be on the usual 30 meters APRS frequency -- 10.147.600 USB with standard 1600/1800 Hz "KAM" tones on 300-baud AX.25 and standard VARA-HF tones. I will be using WA8LMF (no SSID) for 2M and direct-to-Internet beaconing via cellular, WA8LMF-2 for the HF AX.25 mode, and WA8LMF-3 for the HF VARA beacons. Thus you can distinguish the posits from the three modes on sites like findu.FI or my own personal APRS webservers at <http://WA8LMF.net/map> I also have a dedicated Road Trip Tracker up at my web site: <http://WA8LMF.net/RoadTrip> This tracker plots all three modes with their three different SSIDs. It plots only what is heard off-the-air on HF RF, as heard from my home QTH (no Internet).near East Lansing MI. (The two-meter WA8LMF [no SSID] is plotted from both off-the-air and the APRS-IS Internet feed.) The road trip tracker plots posits on 3D-looking relief maps, so once I get to Denver and the beginning of the "real west" (the Rocky Mountains), the map display should be quite interesting. The outbound trip will be on I-80 across Iowa and Nebraska, I-70 across Colorado and Utah, and I-15 Utah to L.A. The return trip about a week later will be along the lay of the old Route 66 (I-40 Barstow, CA - Arizona - New Mexico onward to the eastern US. As an added "side-show" to this trip, I will be running my "Mobile SSTV LiveCAM" from a second HF rig in the car on 15 or 10 meters if the higher HF bands are open. I have a web cam pointed out the front window that automatically grabs and beacons a live SSTV image every ten minutes. This gets especially interesting when I get west of Denver into the Colorado Rockies and the Utah red rocks desert. Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com Skype: WA8LMF EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band] Home Page: http://wa8lmf.net APRS-over-VARA igates now operating on 30 & 60 meters <http://WA8LMF.net/map> "Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels <http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner> -- APRS over VARA -- <http://wa8lmf.net/APRSoverVARA.> On Sunday 16 June 2024, I will be departing from entral Michigan on a cross-country road trip to Los Angeles. I will have "Studio B" (my mobile hamshack and radio operations trailer) in tow. Once again, I will be doing side-by-side comparisons of classic HF AX.25 packet APRS and APRS-over-VARA-HF. I will alternate beacons on AX.25 and VARA, each mode on a 10-minute cycle while enroute. Both modes are originated from the same computer, interface, radio (Yaesu FT-891) and antennas (Quicksilver Radio ham sticks for 60 and 30m) in the car. Note that because this is being run as a full laptop-based APRS setup (not a dumb transmit-only tracker), I should be able to receive/send APRS messages on any of the three modes (VHF, HF packet, HF VARA). Three instances of UIview will be running side-by-side from separate folders to generate the three modes. For the first day out (Sunday 0-500 miles / 800 km), I will be operating on 60 meters "Channel 5" (5.403.5 USB). Plans are for the first overnight in

I've come to the realization that I'm not going to install my 710A in my (no longer) new vehicle, so I'd like to find it a better home. I've got an ad on eham: https://www.eham.net/classifieds/611674# Price is a bit of a guess. Comes with original boxes, bracketry, and various add-ons. Happy to discuss or send more photos. I'm in Palo Alto and more than happy to hand off locally for an eyeball QSO. VY 73 de chris K6DBG

-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: [APRS] APRS Foundation Inc. - Why? Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2024 20:30:13 -0800 From: jeffh@... Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] Why did we start the APRS Foundation? I think it’s safe to say that many of us agree that APRS is in a precarious position. While there are undoubtedly thousands of APRS users worldwide, the number doesn’t seem to grow as it used to. Other technologies have entered the space that have garnered the attention of hams to the point where APRS is losing relevance. It seems like there’s a new shiny object that gets other's attention. Whether it’s WinLink, FT8, JS8Call, Rattlegram, or Meshtastic…there’s so much out there, and, in many ways, the roots of these technologies stem from APRS. There’s still a lot of lifeblood in APRS. We must make every effort to ensure APRS maintains its current foothold and, ideally, get it back on the growth path! Bob did a great job establishing and vetting the protocol and standard but fell short when communicating the capabilities and use cases. You can ask ten ham radio operators what APRS is, and you will likely get ten different answers. Some think APRS is nothing more than a method for tracking their vehicle’s location. Others believe sharing telemetry data is inserting plain text data in the body of a message. We need to band together to establish what APRS is and what it is not. We should make every effort possible to be technology evangelists and use our knowledge to educate others. As crazy as it may seem, we are in a position where we can hit the reset button and redefine what APRS is. Nothing says we can’t! The Foundation’s charter is to ensure APRS has a future! What’s taken so long? To bring you up to speed on what we’ve been working on… Established APRS Foundation Inc. as a Delaware non-stock (non-profit) corporation on March 1, 2022 Selected Harbor Compliance as our Registered Agent in the State of Delaware (legally required for a Delaware Corporation) Awarded 501(c)3 non-profit and 509(a)2 public charity statuses by the Internal Revenue Service! This was a crowning achievement! It took a lot of work! We initially only pursued 501(c)3 not-for-profit status - receiving 509(a)2 was a welcomed addition! The IRS made our not-for-profit status retroactive to the date the corporation was formed! Domain Registration: aprsfoundation.[org/net/com] Wireframed a very rudimentary website (www.aprsfoundation.org) - Don’t look right now - it’s embarrassing - we need a webmaster! Developed bylaws (heavily based on TAPR’s bylaws) Monthly meetings with executive team members (“monthly” is more of a best effort) - we will open these meetings to anyone interested in attending. Implemented Google Workspace and Okta to support official business operations Established financial services - bank account & PayPal account to support business operations Created an APRS Foundation presence on GitHub: https://github.com/APRSFoundation/ Sneak Peek at the Plans Here’s a short list of areas that the APRS Foundation plans to address. More details on these will follow in future e-mail messages. Documentation APRS Specifications Define Use Cases Website Project Management Intellectual Property New APRS Logo Foundation Membership More to Come As you can see, there’s a lot more coming. We’re looking for a few good hams!!! We are just getting started! But we cannot do this without YOU! To make this point abundantly clear - our door is open to any licensed amateur radio operator worldwide interested in contributing to the effort! Watch for upcoming messages to find an area where YOUR expertise is needed. Thank you for taking the time to read this message. We look forward to working with you! Best Regards and 73, Jeff Hochberg - W4JEW President APRS Foundation, Inc. Ensuring the Future of APRS jeff.hochberg@... PS. Discord Invite We’ve also set up an APRS Foundation Discord server for those who prefer more chatty-type communications. Join us at https://discord.gg/5SqCJQAU and say hello!

The world's first Tri-Mode APRS igates are now "open for business" 24/7 on both 30 and 60 meters.... The WA8LMF UI-Webservers now receive and igate APRS over classic 300-baud AX.25 HF packet, APRS over MFSK16 & PSK31, and now APRS over VARA on both 30 meters and 60 meters from my home station located in central Michigan. VARA is one of the newest sound-card "digi-modes". Written by Jose Ros EA5HVK, It can receive and decode error-free data transmissions at signal levels and S/Ns that literally can not be heard in the radio speaker. With stronger signals, it can exceed the net data rate of VHF/FM 1200-baud packet in a 500 Hz CW bandwidth on HF ! VARA is adaptive, adjusting it's transmit speed up and down based on error rate and S/N., switching from simple to more complex multi-tone QPSK wave forms, based on error rate and the bandwidth of the radio. In a 2300 Hz SSB bandwidth, it can exceed the throughput of 9600-baud VHF/UHF packet on HF! It is already starting to replace the pricey (USD $600) SCS Pactor4 modems on Winlink HF radio email systems, purely in software with a standard soundcard interface. The basic version, usable on the low data rates of APRS, is free. A USD $70 registration unlocks the higher-speed modes. Currently, the other widely-used activity, layered on top of the VARA "softmodem" is "VarAC Chat", a live keyboard-to-keyboard chat application that can also do file transfers and "igate" received beacons to the PSK Reporter network. Running on top of VARA, it can equal the weak-signal performance of FT-8, but with free-form conversations instead of the hello--sig report--goodbye canned exchanges of FT-8. VARA presents a KISS-over-IP interface to external programs. In principle, any application that can run over classic packet TNCs (messaging systems, BBS systems, APRS, etc) can run over a VARA link instead, with an ENORMOUS increase (15-20 dB advantage) in weak-signal capabilities. I have been testing APRS-over-VARA for over a year now. Some of my findings early this year are summarized on my web site at: <http://WA8LMF.net/APRS_VARA/index.htm> This was a competitive "shoot out" between classic 300-baud HF packet and VARA on 60 meters, on a 500-mile road trip. At least three APRS client applications (PinPoint, APRSis-32 and YAAC) can link directly to a KISS-over-IP interface. For older APRS clients, like UIview, that can only do KISS over a serial port, the third-party "Swiss-Army-Knife" of com port utilities "VSPE" can quickly and easily create an IP<-->Serial-Com-Port bridge. Full details on setting up VARA for use with APRS applications is here on my web site: <http://WA8LMF.net/VARAforAPRS> Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com Skype: WA8LMF EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band] Home Page: http://wa8lmf.net "Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels <http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner> -- APRS over VARA -- <http://wa8lmf.net/VARAforAPRS.htm> 60-Meter APRS! HF NVIS APRS Igate Now Operating <http://WA8LMF.net/map/> Flying Digipeater! <http://WA8LMF.net/FlyingDigi>