| |
ZL3AI > APRDIG 20.07.03 07:02l 252 Lines 10401 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 1637-ZL3AI
Read: GUEST
Subj: TAPR Digest, Jul 17, 1/3
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0BEL<ZL2BAU<ZL3VML
Sent: 030719/1327Z @:ZL3VML.#80.NZL.OC #:4652 [Chch-NZ] FBB7.00i $:1637-ZL3AI
From: ZL3AI@ZL3VML.#80.NZL.OC
To : APRDIG@WW
TAPR APRS Special Interest Group Digest for Thursday, July 17, 2003.
1. TinyTrak 3 and stuff
2. INIT Files Obtained, FILES Not Recognized
3. Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
4. TinyTraks and timestamps
5. Re: SMALL 144MHz Transmitter
6. Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
7. Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
8. Re: SMALL 144MHz Transmitter
9. APRSWORLD.NET
10. W0EEE-3
11. Re: APRSWORLD.NET
12. Re: W0EEE-3
13. Re: APRSWORLD.NET
14. Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
15. Re: SMALL 144MHz Transmitter
16. Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
17. Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
18. Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
19. Igate setup advice
20. IGATES
21. Re: W0EEE-3
22. TEST
23. Re: SMALL 144MHz Transmitter
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
From: "Scott Miller" <scott@home.miller.org>
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 22:35:08 -0700
X-Message-Number: 1
So I got my TT3 kit in the mail today and got it assembled and running in
under an hour (well worth the $30 savings over the pre-build unit if you've
got even the most modest soldering abilities). I got it tuned up as close
as the trim setting would allow, but the first thing I notice when
listening to it on the air next to other stations is that it sounds
noticeably different. Sort of a thinner sound, with less of a low-pitch
component. A waterfall spectrum shows that it's got less energy in the
area between 1200 and 2200 hz than the other signals I'm hearing off the
air (alas, no TT3s in the local area to listen to). Is this due to the
difference in data, the proximity to my receiver, the artifacts generated
by the 16-step sinewave approximation, or something else? It seems to
decode just fine, I just find it odd that it's audibly different. Even
compared to the unfinished opentracker, though that thing's still got some
timing issues and it can't really be called Bell 202 yet.
Anyway, I went ahead and put an emergency message in the alternate config,
just in case. I included the phone numbers of my mobile and my next of kin
in the status text, so hopefully it'll give responders a starting point if
it ever goes off. I know testing of emergency beacons has been an issue
here before, but the method I used seems pretty benign. On a system NOT
running an IGATE, I fired up an AGWPE sound card modem and UI-View and
connected the audio output from the TT3 to the audio input of the computer.
No RF involved, and it lets me see that the beacon works. Though honestly,
if you can get the primary config to work, chances are the secondary config
will work fine as long as you proof-read your digi path and everything.
Now my main complaint is power. Got batteries in the HT, batteries in the
GPS receiver, and a battery hanging off the TT3. Does anyone have an
example of a really slick, integrated system they've built using the TT3
and a Garmin GPS? Any suggestions for running the GPS without shelling out
$40 for a 12v to 3v auto adapter?
I've got an old Yaesu FT-203R that's got enough room in the big battery
pack to hold an entire Alinco HT with room left over. I'm thinking of
stripping it down to 1/2 or 2/3 of its nominal capacity (probably using
NiMH cells) and putting a TT3 board inside it You can see the CTCSS encoder
board through a hole in the bottom of the rig, so I think I ought to be
able to route audio through there (the hole, not the CTCSS board.) Again,
anyone done something like this before?
I'll be hiking in Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs so hopefully I'll have all
of the kinks in my setup ironed out before then. Any suggestions on
backpack-friendly antennas? My stubby duck seems kind of inadequate, but a
1/4 wave whip seems a bit fragile.
Thanks,
Scott
N1VG
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: INIT Files Obtained, FILES Not Recognized
From: "Matthew Stennett" <wa4tkg@iwon.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 01:44:39 -0400 (EDT)
X-Message-Number: 2
I now have the INIT files downloaded (thanks), but MacAPRS is not SEEING them,
in the TNC TYPE window:
What am I forgetting?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
From: WA8LMF2@aol.com
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 05:23:35 EDT
X-Message-Number: 3
In a message dated 7/16/2003 10:40:09 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
scott@home.miller.org writes:
>I got it tuned up as close
>as the trim setting would allow, but the first thing I notice when listening
>to it on the air next to other stations is that it sounds noticeably
>different. Sort of a thinner sound, with less of a low-pitch component. A
>waterfall spectrum shows that it's got less energy in the area between 1200
>and 2200 hz than the other signals I'm hearing off the air
My TT3s (I have three of 'em) have the same sort of thin, slighly "fuzzy"
sound. I assume it is an artifact of the stepped sinewave approximation
being richer in high frequency harmonics of the tones. They seem to work
OK. Indeed, I am using one of them in Mic-E burst-after-voice mode through
a voice repeater for APRN operation. The short packets have a much higher
successful decode rate than the longer plain text ASCII posit strings
transmitted by my laptop/APRSplus/D700 combo transmitting at the same peak
deviation.
Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) 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: TinyTraks and timestamps
From: "Rochte, Robert" <rrochte@gpacademy.org>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 09:08:00 -0400
X-Message-Number: 4
Someone just pointed out to me that the data recorded from our last balloon
flight on Findu doesn't have any timestamps. Is this simply a limitation of
the TTII, did I configure something incorrectly or is it the result of
something completely different?
Thanks.
-R
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: SMALL 144MHz Transmitter
From: julian@privateasylum.com
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 09:16:28 -0500 (CDT)
X-Message-Number: 5
>Can anyone advise of where I could find a small (VERY SMALL) 144MHz
>transmitter
>Thanks,
>Eric KF4OTN
I have been working with an animal tracking solution just for this purpose.
Time is limitied witht he new job in Germany now but im sure I will have
more information soon.
I would be more than happy to send this information to the group when I
have results to show.
To give you some idea of the size, think of an ericsson t39m mobile phone.
or a type 3 pcmcia card (excluding antenna).
Ill post pics as the project moves along.
Best regards
Julian
DL/OH8GEJ
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
From: "Gregg G. Wonderly" <gregg@skymaster.cytetech.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 10:14:42 -0500
X-Message-Number: 6
>I'll be hiking in Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs so hopefully I'll have all of
>the kinks in my setup ironed out before then. Any suggestions on
>backpack-friendly antennas? My stubby duck seems kind of inadequate, but a
>1/4 wave whip seems a bit fragile.
If the antenna is connected to the HT directly, you'll be using the HT's
groundplane. If your not holding it and providing the rest of the grounding,
I'd suggest that a piece of coax to a 5/8 wave would give you much better
coverage. Perhaps you can bring both, and only cable up the 5/8 if you need
it?
-----
gregg@cytetech.com (Cyte Technologies Inc)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: TinyTrak 3 and stuff
From: "Curt Mills, WE7U" <hacker@tc.fluke.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 09:24:36 -0700 (PDT)
X-Message-Number: 7
On Wed, 16 Jul 2003, Scott Miller wrote:
>Now my main complaint is power. Got batteries in the HT, batteries in the
>GPS receiver, and a battery hanging off the TT3. Does anyone have an
>example of a really slick, integrated system they've built using the TT3 and
>aGarmin GPS? Any suggestions for running the GPS without shelling out $40
>for a 12v to 3v auto adapter?
Too bad it's not requiring 5V. I run a Trimble SV6 board connected to a
TT2 at times, and swapped out the TO92 regulator on the TT board for a
TO-220 one so that I can steal power for the GPS from the TT. Works well.
You could either hook in a 3V regulator to the TT, or put a few diodes in
series with the 5V and feed that to your GPS, again swapping out the TO-92
for a TO-220 on the TT.
>I've got an old Yaesu FT-203R that's got enough room in the big battery pack
>to hold an entire Alinco HT with room left over. I'm thinking of stripping
>it down to 1/2 or 2/3 of its nominal capacity (probably using NiMH cells)
>and putting a TT3 board inside it You can see the CTCSS encoder board
>through a hole in the bottom of the rig, so I think I ought to be able to
>route audio through there (the hole, not the CTCSS board.) Again, anyone
>done something like this before?
A friend of mine glued a project case to the back of his old HT and
hooked into the battery back of the HT with small wires. Problem he
had with the TT-2 in close proximity to the radio was that it would
lock up. We added caps to the TT-2 to reduce the problem, but it
would often lose its configs. Even went so far as to run the TT-2
off a separate 9V battery and it still wasn't reliable, making us
think it's still and RF susceptibility problem.
>I'll be hiking in Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs so hopefully I'll have all of
>the kinks in my setup ironed out before then. Any suggestions on
>backpack-friendly antennas? My stubby duck seems kind of inadequate, but a
>1/4 wave whip seems a bit fragile.
A piece of spring-steel wire, 1/4 wave long, with a loop in the end so you
don't poke out an eye. Hang a flexible piece of wire off the bottom for
the 2nd part of a 1/2 wave dipole.
--
Curt Mills, WE7U hacker_NO_SPAM_@tc.fluke.com
Senior Methods Engineer/SysAdmin
"Lotto: A tax on people who are bad at math!"
"Windows: Microsoft's tax on computer illiterates!" -- WE7U
"The world DOES revolve around me: I picked the coordinate system!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
