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ZL3AI > APRDIG 21.05.03 11:28l 212 Lines 9581 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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To : APRDIG@WW
TAPR APRS Special Interest Group Digest for Sunday, May 18, 2003.
1. Re: HUD (was: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle)
2. Wx station
3. Re: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle
4. Re: HUD (was: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle)
5. xastir review
6. Information for APRS microsat for sciencefair project
7. Re: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle
8. Re: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle
9. New at Dayton?
10. U-100 and WinAPRS
11. Re: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle
12. Re: Telemetry
13. Re: I Thought PCSAT Was DEAD?
14. Re: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle
15. WalMart $200 computer review
16. Apples & Oranges : Was about: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle
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Subject: Re: HUD (was: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle)
From: "Mark Fellhauer" <sparkfel@qwest.net>
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 22:58:56 -0500
X-Message-Number: 1
At 08:31 PM 5/17/2003, Dick C. Reichenbach wrote:
>BMW won't even import the System 4 Helmet
>to the US because of our idiotic liability/tort laws. No way would they
>ever import a helmet like that.
I don't to get too far afield from APRS, but I've been told German tort law
is far more onerous than here in the states. Many years ago I had to
attend traffic school and they showed us videos of crash testing in Europe
- Most of which has to be done in France, because they can't do it in any
other country over there. Likewise with auto RF and lightning strike
testing...
Although there are rumors that Schuberth (maker of the System 4 helmet)
declined to bring their products to North America due to fears of product
liability suits, that doesn't necessarily mean the rumors are true or the
fears are well founded. I have found that non-staters have many odd
misconceptions about the U.S. Many years ago I worked for a book jobber
and we had a Canadian publisher refuse to send us books with Christian
themes because they we certain that teaching religion (or supplying
religious materials) to school children was ILLEGAL in the United States...
A number of OTHER manufacturers have offered helmets with features very
similar to the System-4 helmet since at least 1984 in North America, and I
don't recall hearing about any lawsuits brought based on their
designs. Have you looked at the Shoei Syncrotec? BTW, I think the
biggest payout in a motorcycle helmet lawsuit was not in the U.S., but
Canada.
73,
Mark
KC7BXS
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Subject: Wx station
From: James Smith <k9apr@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 00:31:33 -0500
X-Message-Number: 2
What are the settings to get the Ultimeter 100 to work with WinAPRS?
--
73, James, K9APR Webmaster Webmaster
Chairman \ Coordinator Indiana Repeater Council Henry Co.
Amateur Radio Club
Tri-State APRS Working Group http://www.ircinc.org
http://www.qsl.net/hcara
http://www.tawg.org
mailto:k9apr@tawg.org
Run a APRS Website? Why not join the APRS Webring. http://www.tawg.org/join.htm
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Subject: Re: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle
From: "Darryl Smith" <Darryl@radio-active.net.au>
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 15:57:33 +1000
X-Message-Number: 3
G'Day All
I have done a few installs of APRS on BMW motorcycles... But these have
been for tracking only... One was inside the pantiers with an external
aerial on the back of the bike for the 2000 Olympics (with John Zilavy)
and the other was during the 2002 Ironman in Hawaii where I cable tied
trackers to the frame, and used HT's with their own antennas... In both
cases things worked well.
One thing that the newer BMW's have is a micro-cigarette lighter
adapter... [Which reminds me... I need to get some of those... ]
Darryl
---------
Darryl Smith, VK2TDS POBox 169 Ingleburn NSW 2565 Australia
Mobile Number 0412 929 634 [+61 4 12 929 634 International]
Darryl@radio-active.net.au | www.radio-active.net.au
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Subject: Re: HUD (was: APRS Install on BMW Motorcycle)
From: "Dakota Summerhawk" <dakotas@dotorg.org>
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 01:38:49 -0600
X-Message-Number: 4
Might be able to hack our SCBA gear that has a HUD in the corner for APRS as
well, have to see what the interface is first.
Dakota
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Subject: xastir review
From: "Wes Johnston" <wes@johnston.net>
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 10:40:41 -0400
X-Message-Number: 5
I've been playing with xastir for a few days now. Actually, what got me
interested was the release of winaprs supporting tiger maps and a vauge
recollection that xastir supported over 100 map types. Yes, xastir is for
linux, but you can run it on windows. There is a program called CYGWIN
which is a linux "environment" which runs on your windows desktop.
When you install CYGWIN, you have a full functioning linux workstation on
your desktop. This is not unlike the macintosh emulator I've used in the
past. Something which tricked me during the installation was that I didn't
realize the CYGWIN was not written specifically for xastir, and wrongly
assumed that the default applications installed would work. They don't -
you have to manually select the app's listed in the xastir documention.
That fact is in the install documentation, I just didn't read it in my
haste. Note:CYGWIN can also install cool things like PERL and APACHE
webserver while it's being setup.
Once CYGWIN is installed, you must download the source code to xastir. This
is really simple and takes only a few minutes.... and guess what.... you
have the source code to the whole program on your PC. If you want to change
anything, it's right there in front of you! A simple command called CVS
will download the source code. Once the source code is on your PC,
subsiquent CVS commands will only download the updated source code - a few
small files which even on dial up takes like 30 seconds. You type in about
4 more 1 line commands, and xastir is ready to run.
At this point, xastir is able to run and display any pocket aprs, dos aprs,
or winaprs maps. By installing two more modules (freely downloadable from
the net), you can add support for tiger line maps and terra server photos.
Add another module and you have support for topo maps (and they'll get tiled
with the next map when you get to the edge of a quad).
Something which I thought really cool was the dead reconing implementation.
It plots a vehicle with a lighter faded version of the icon at the dead
reconed distance away with a semicircle arc showing the degree of
uncertainty. I just used it Friday night to track my wife's position as she
drove up to visit me. Since I didn't enter the heading exactly, her car
"drifted" off the interstate, but because of the range semi-circle, I still
knew about where she was on the interstate.
Another cool trick is that the icons rotate to face the approximate
direction the vechicle is moving.
Now back to maps.... Every other aprs mapping program requires you to
download maps before using an area. The exceptions to this are the use of
instantly downloadable tiger maps in winaprs and commercial add-on's like
Street Atlas, Precision mapping, and mappoint ($$$). UI-view for example
has an add in which allows you to snag a photo map from the terra server and
display it. But it requires you to fetch the map, then once you are
satisfied with the view, save it , and finally display it. Xastir on the
other hand, displays the map on the fly. It will automatically download a
photo from terra server and display. Same for tiger maps. It will even
layer different maps. You can set the display order of the maps so that it
lays a tiger map on the bottom and overlays winaprs maps or shapefiles on
top of the base map. This means that you could create a BMP or JPG drawing
of a race course with your own notes on it, and overlay streets ontop of it.
Unlike PMAP and street atlas based products (Which cost $60 to $100), the
mapping data for xastir is free... and updated yearly for free. A website
called mapshots.com is probably the easiest way to download tiger maps from.
It bundles all the different components of tiger files together into a ZIP
file for you.
Now that you have some maps loaded, you'll need to either open a connection
to the aprs internet stream or a TNC on a serial port. In xastir this is
called an interface in either case. You simply create an interface by
choosing from about 12 options... including AGWPE, AX25 tnc, tnc with HSP,
gps, etc.... You can select for any interface you create to auto start and
autoreconnect. Once you create two to three interfaces, you can START and
STOP them... this is similar to the winaprs OPEN VHF tnc menu option. I'm
still learning... I still want to find out about "bridging" tncs together
and a few other things.
By and large, I think xastir is the sleeper app of the year. You never seem
to hear much about it, and when I did, I never realized it would run under
windows. There are so many map types which can be displayed that it is
overwhelming. The installation is not your standard "unzip these files and
run the installer", but it's not hard. Just be sure to print out the
directions and check off the steps as you complete them (Heathkit did have a
good idea).
http://www.xastir.org
Wes
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