Tricks

Here are a few random thoughts/tricks about APRS that I've come up with myself or heard others  voice aloud.

Take Advantage of APRS Without a Radio

Did you know that you can get involved in APRS without even knowing it?  It's true!  If you know anyone that is involved in APRS, they can place you "on the map" using their APRS equipment.  You would then be on the maps of every APRS user in the world!

The advantage to this is that they can place you on a map and in motion somewhere and other can track your approximate location.  The older the packet about your speed, course and position is, the less accurate it will be, but it's better than nothing!

Take Advantage of APRS Without a TNC

If you've got a two meter radio, then you can take advantage of a trick that many mobile APRSers are doing.  Simply set your radio to the standard APRS frequency.  In the USA it is 144.390 MHz.  If you listen you'll hear all the packet bursts.  Now here's the trick.  Turn on your CTCSS to decode a tone of 100Hz.  If you hear a packet burst now, then it is a CQ CQ CQ.

Here's what's happening.  The Hams who want to talk simplex to others around them enable the CTCSS tone.  This means that their own packets will be sent out to the other APRS systems out there and bounced around doing all the APRS "stuff."  Digipeaters and I-Gates don't have the tones turned on so you'll never hear them.  The Ham's that have CTCSS turned on will send the tone directly, via Simplex RF, to your radio.  That's a dead give away that you are in simplex range!

If you hear a packet burst, then pick up the Microphone and make a quick call out on the APRS frequency.  If you get a reply back, quickly move your voice traffic to another frequency.  This will free up the APRS channel for its main purpose; APRS.

Using this trick, on a long trip you can hear a Ham as he approaches and you can make a quick contact.  Without this, it's like "ships passing in the dark" as Bob Bruninga/WB4APR said at the 2007 Dayton Hamvention.  So next time you're on a trip or just in the car or sitting idle at home turn your radio to the APRS frequency and turn on CTCSS.  Maybe you'll make an unexpected but welcomed contact.

If you are already into APRS, but didn't know about this trick then enable it on your own APRS radio, but make sure you turn the volume on you radio up so you can hear those people replying to your CQ CQ CQ.