APRS with Mobilinkd TNC3 + Baofeng BF-F8HP

 As a new HAM, I wanted to start with something cheap and easy (maybe? maybe not?) so that I can keep exploring while I am learning and build up my knowledge/experiences/skills as I progress. APRS is something came to me that fits this perfectly.

APRS stands for Automatic Packet Reporting System which is a great system to share tactical position data (and many more) using amateur radios. If you are interested, Google "APRS" and you can find plenty of materials and videos that will give very detailed information about it.

Devices Involved

  • Baofeng BF-F8HP
  • Mobilinkd TNC3 (with cable to connect the Mobilinkd TNC to BF-F8HP)
  • Pixel XL (without sim card)

Configurations

Pixel XL

Install following two applications on the device:
  • Mobilinkd Config App for Android which you can scan the QR code comes with the package or search in the PlayStore to get it
  • APRSdroid which you can get from PlayStore by searching the name. If you want a free version, the developer also offers a free download on their website. To support their development effort, I paid for it.

BF-F8HP

I am located in the United States where the APRS main frequency is 149.630MHz (simplex). The most important configurations are listed below:
  • SQL(squelch): 1 , Mobilinkd suggested to turn this fully off, however, Baofeng HT won't transmit in that mode.
  • VOX: 1
  • Offset: 000.000Mhz

Antenna

I tried a couple of antennas: the stock antenna came with BF-F8HP, the stock antenna (retractable, stretches up to 12inch), 48inch tactical antenna from Amazon, a mobile antenna with magnetic base also from Amazon. Out of the four, the 48inch tactical one has been giving me the best result where I can send and receive APRS packets with highest success rate from my home.

I am not an expert in evaluating antennas nor do I have any equipment to do so. My assessment is purely based on how my packets can easily show up on aprs.fi and how many nearby stations I can receive APRS packets.

Mobilinkd TNC3

Mobilinkd TNC3 is configured using the Mobilinkd Config App where you can follow the instructions/process on their user manual to set the values for all the configs. Below is the list of values I used for my BF-F8HP where I can send/receive APRS packets
  • Modem Settings: 1200 baud AFSK
  • Receive (RX/Input) Volume: I tend to check it each time before I actually use APRSdroid to send/receive data. The idea is that the Input Volume Level should be at the right most red bars. If it's not there, turn up the volume knob on the HT and/or increase the Input Gain Level. Leave the Input Twist Level at 6dB as is.
  • Transmit (TX/Output) Volume - the "Transmit" button needs to be clicked on to allow change the values
    • Output Volume:
    • Output Twist:
  • KISS parameters
    • TX Delay: 52 as Baofeng HTs needs to it ensure the sending action can be done without data damage (a lot of YT videos talked about this)
    • Persistence: 128

APRSdroid

  • Set callsign and SSID which I used SSID 7 as it's common for hand-held radios
  • APRS digi path:WIDE1-1,WIDE-2-1
  • Location settings
    • Location source: "Periodic GPS/Network Position"
    • GPS Precision: Low / Use network position
  • Connection Preferences
    • Connection Protocol: TNC(KISS)
    • Connection Type: Bluetooth SPP
    • TNC Bluetooh Device: TNC3 Mobilinkd
After all above, clicking on the "Start tracking" button to start receiving APRS packets. After a while, if everything works as expected, a list of nearby stations sending APRS packets can be observed.

Clicking on the "Send Location" button will trigger a APRS packet sending action. If everything works as expected, you can find your APRS packet by check your callsign's raw data on aprs.fi as well as see your avatar on aprs.fi.

Similar to send location, one can also send message to the stations just like text messaging where the TO field is the CallSign-SSID.

Me on APRS.FI




What's next for me on APRS? Maybe taking my setup to a hiking somewhere and see how my track looks like or employing it in some events to make it really useful :) 


[Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any products mentioned in this post so please Google the stuff if needed. This post is mainly for my own record of what I have exercised to enable my own APRS operations].

Location: California, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FT8 with ICOM 7300 (WSJT-X on Ubuntu)

Image
  So it starts... from the point my ICOM 7300 arrived. The first thing to try? The famous FT8 that has been discussed a lot, really a lot, by the HAMs around me, and the journey started. Equipment Radio: ICOM IC-7300 (bought from dxengineering.com) ICOM IC-7300 & MFJ-4230 Antenna: Portable HF Antenna ( CHA EMCOMM II )  Matching Transformer of CHA EMCOMM II Power supply: MFJ-4230MV 50 feet RG8X cable with PL-259 self made ~16feet mast from dissembled analog TV antenna from 10 years ago. The set up can be easily setup or put down because I put a 8 feet pole into the ground with ~3 feet buried in the dirt and ~5 feet above the dirt so that I can insert the mast into the pole when I need the antenna to be ready and I can relatively easily put down the mast when the weather is not so safe to operate. Self Made Mast (~16ft) for the CHA EMCOMM II  Antenna Configuration According to the manual (available on the product site linked above), the CHA ECOMM II can have 3 different...
Read more

APRS with Baofeng -F8HP WITHOUT A TNC

  This is to record my settings to get APRS working on my Baofeng HT without a TNC, following the instructions on https://www.instructables.com/APRS-and-the-UV-5R/ with some minor tweaks to make it work with my own devices. Devices Involved Baofeng BF-F8HP Pixel XL (without sim card) Configurations Pixel Install following two applications on the device: Mobilinkd Config App for Android which you can scan the QR code comes with the package or search in the PlayStore to get it APRSdroid which you can get from PlayStore by searching the name. If you want a free version, the developer also offers a free download on their website. To support their development effort, I paid for it. System sound settings Media: around 3/4 and full Ringtone/alarm/etc: off BF-F8HP I am located in the United States where the APRS main frequency is 149.630MHz (simplex). The most important configurations are listed below: SQL(squelch): 1 , Mobilinkd suggested to turn this fully off, however, Baofeng HT w...
Read more