| |
ZL3AI > APRDIG 15.02.03 11:02l 171 Lines 7624 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 900-ZL3AI
Read: GUEST
Subj: TAPR Digest, Feb 13, 4/4
Path: DB0FHN<DB0ZWI<DB0HST<HB9OK<IK1ZNW<7M3TJZ<SP7MGD<VK7AX<ZL2BAU<ZL3VML
Sent: 030215/0739Z @:ZL3VML.#80.NZL.OC #:59490 [Chch-NZ] FBB7.00i $:900-ZL3AI
From: ZL3AI@ZL3VML.#80.NZL.OC
To : APRDIG@WW
Subject: RE: APRS and ArcView?
From: "Brian Webster" <radiowebst@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 19:54:55 -0500
X-Message-Number: 23
Scott,
Ok if I have your idea right you want to be able to eliminate a lot
of search area because people in the field can see a certain area or
something like that. If that is what you want then you will want to check
out the Radio Mobile program, it is really designed as a radio propogation
tool but it does integrate with aprs. The beauty of this program is that it
uses the Space Shuttle SRTM elevation data and is available down to 1 arc
second. The program allows you to run a line of site propogation from any
given station/aprs unit to another. You can also do a cross sectional path
study between two different stations. Once you have done one of these you
can do a 3d rendering of that view from either point and then create a
flight movie of the straight line path. I have personally done a 3D
rendering after merging the terrain data with an aerial photo and it looks
surprisingly realistic. I will give the link to the program web site, but
feel free to contact me off list as this program is difficult to master and
weak on documents. Once you do figure it out it is great. I have some
screen shots to show what I am talking about. The web site for radio mobile
is http://www.cplus.org/rmw/english1.html.
Brian, N2KGC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: mobile APRS - beyond a tracker
From: WA8LMF2@aol.com
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 21:47:14 EST
X-Message-Number: 24
In a message dated 2/13/03 2:07:02 PM Pacific Standard Time, ramon@ieee.org
writes:
>1. I'm driving a not-too-big car, a VW Golf. Yes-- we're city-folks, and
>small cars do lots better there :). As a result, I don't want to have a
>laptop installed "police cruiser" style, especially since most trips are
>either commute or family grocery runs.
Take a look at my mobile office table for a laptop installed in a Passat.
It was previously installed in a Jetta (same interior and body pan as the
Golf up front).
http://members.aol.com/wa8lmf/ham
Look for the new Mobile Office Table link near the top of the page.
> The laptop would be banned to the
> "APRS box" in the trunk. Any clue how to get a small, cheap, preferably
> over-the-visor LCD screen that is suitable for this? Around 5 inch
> should be sufficient, I'd guess...
Totally useless -- Assuming you are running standard Windows apps on the
(hidden) laptop, you are basically trying to run Windows on a 5" screen
external monitor. The standard Windows "widgets" ( scroll bars, icons,
buttons, etc) would be unusably small, not to mention the mouse cursor.
> 1. I can charge my laptop battery while driving, but it doesn't seem to
> be a good idea to have it up and running 24/7, taking its energy off the
> car battery.
I am running a Dell Inspiron 3000 laptop (Pentium 200 MMX with a 12" LCD
600x800 screen) which I consider the BARE MINIMUM for running any kind of
mapping related application in Windows. This classic original Pentium I
actually has enough horsepower to run APRSplus, Street Atlas 9.0 and a sound
card SSTV or packet program all at the same time. This machine draws about
1.1 amps from a 12-->18 VDC "car adapter" after the machine has booted and
the CD drive and hard disk power down. (Most laptops use 18-19 VDC as their
primary power input -- this is what comes out of the AC supply "brick").
Normally, I leave the laptop and a GPS on 24/7 . I have a 110VAC-to-12 VDC
switching power supply in the trunk of the car connected to the car's battery
at all times. Whenever I am at home, especially overnight, the car is
plugged into "ground power" in the garage. During the day, I find I am never
engine off for more than 4-5 hours at a time; the laptop doesn't suck enough
amp-hours over that time span to be a problem. If I do manage to run the
battery down to the point that I can't start the TDI turbo-diesel, I have a
75' extension cord for the supply stowed in the trunk!
>Also, I don't want to be booting/shutting down every time I
>park my car, so I was thinking about the laptop's "sleep" or "standby"
>function.
>Any ideas how I can put the laptop in standby automatically
>when the motor is switched off? How much energy does a laptop consume
>when in standby?
The standby/sleep functions in Windows are so horrendously buggy and
unreliable, and their interaction with the BIOS and particular hardware on a
given machine so unpredictable, that you will be going to the trunk probably
on every 4th or 5th start!!!
I routinely disable ALL power management on my laptops unless I expect to
operate for an extended period on the machines internal batteries.
>Any clues, or examples of how you did this would be appreciated... Of
>course, it should stay a hobby-- it should stay cheap enough and
>estethic enough to pass the "wife"-test...
Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf @ aol.com
Home Page: http://wa8lmf.com
Ham Radio/Mobile SSTV page: http://members.aol.com/wa8lmf/ham
APRS Stuff
http://members.aol.com/wa8lmf/aprs
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: mobile APRS - beyond a tracker
From: "Pat Karp" <pkarp@conwaycorp.net>
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 21:27:23 -0600
X-Message-Number: 25
I think you will find that a 5" screen is too small to see details. But if
the laptop has a RF video out it should hook into most the the LCD screens.
As for putting the laptop into sleep mode? The problem you will find is
waking it back up when you start the car. Putting it into sleep mode should
be nothing more then haveing an inverter powered through a relay that is
controlled by the ingition. When the inverter looses power then the
laptop should be timed to go into Sleep mode. Depending on the laptop you
will need to wire a external power switch up so that you can manually wake
it up or maybe wire it up to the ingnition in such away to wake it up.
good luck
Pat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: mobile APRS - beyond a tracker
From: "Ramon F. Kolb" <ramon@ieee.org>
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 22:37:20 -0500
X-Message-Number: 26
Nice setup..... Good tips. A few comments:
The reason I was thinking of a small display was because of the fact
that it is easily hideable. I drive a lot of city traffic, and leaving
my laptop out there seems to be begging for someone to smash my window.
Also, I drive a lot with a second person in the car (my wife), and I
don't want to obscure her view with the laptop.
Your construction looks nice, but it has been mounted straight in front
of the passenger size airbag. In the unfortunate case that your airbag
goes off, the by-rider would get the laptop, or at least the
plywood/aluminum table launched in the stomage... Seen that you drive a
lot, you must have thought about this?
Another person suggested the use of a Palmpilot. I am actually
considering this, since I have both a Visor Deluxe and an Palm m100
lying around here catching dust. I also have a Magellan GPS for my
Visor, which may make a nice combo with PocketAPRS right there. Not as
good as a complete laptop setup, but worth the consideration.
Thanks again for your responses, 73s,
--Ramon
Ramon F. Kolb, W1/PA3EUG, Boston, MA, USA [FN42KI]
ICQ:77117744; MSNMGR:legalalien30@hotmail.com
http://pa3eug.webhop.org
---
END OF DIGEST
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
