[amsat-bb] TH-D72A for satellites (and everything else)

[Robert Bruninga]

> I know that a $500 radio.. is still not cheap, 

I would tend to rephrase the above sentence more like this:

...$500 for a dual band full duplex Satelliite radio PLUS a
built in 1200 and 9600 baud TNC, PLUS 600 pages of built-in TEXT
and DATA information DISPLAY on the nearest 100 ham radio
information transmissions, PLUS a text and Email storage of the
last 100 text/email messages PLUS text entry keypad for ISS and
the many APRS satellites and Email PLUS a built-in GPS... All
completelly self-contained is ... Cheap!

Remember, the primary purpose of the APRS Radio was NEVER
vehicle tracking.  It was to provide the handheld and mobile
operator an information CAPTURE and DISPLAY system and a single
continent wide data channel for keeping the operator informed of
everything going on in ham radio in his immediate area instantly
(10 minute refresh). Notice:  RECEIVE AND DISPLAY DATA, Not just
TX your GPS coordinates that no one cares about. 

As a Traveler or Visitor, just turn on the radio, and in 10
minutes you should capture (wherever you are) all of the
following information:

1) The frequency, tone and offset of the locally recommended
travelers Voice repeater

2) The date and time of the weekly net on that repeater

3) The day of the month of that club's meetings

4) The freq, tone, offset, and node number of Echolink and IRLP
nodes

5) Same for Winlink, Wires, and D-Star nodes

6) Any local special meeting notices

7) The location and date of any HAMfests in the area this month

8) Any traffic problems, wrecks, fires or whatever

9) The speed of traffic past locally designated choke points

10) The direction and distance to any AMSATS in view once a
minute

11) The up/dnlink freq & DOPPLER of said satellites in view
every minute

12) A Schedule of AOS of any other satellities in the next 80
minutes

13) The ability to receive text messages from any other ham on
the planet in real time from their APRS, their PC, or their
smart phone or blackberry

14) The ability to send text messages and/or Email to any other
ham on the planet

15) and oh, by the way, the location of all APRS mobiles nearby.

16) And the current repeater FREQ and TONE they are on!

Oh, and the POSITION, direction and distance to every one of the
above from your present location.

The sad truth is that 99% of ham radio operators are only aware
of #15 and ignore all the rest.  They have been completely
misslead about APRS in thinking it is only a vehcile tracking
system.  Since I don't really care where most other people are
most of the time,(#15) then I can fully understand why most of
them don't care either.  Hence, only the 1% of hams interested
in #15 use APRS... And since they are only interestd in #15,
they do not make any effort to support the other 16 and the
other 99% of hams.

The sad result is that VERY FEW AREAS are actually then putting
out all the info #1 through #14 because none of the other 99% of
ham radio operators keeps asking them WHERE IS IT?

The APRS radio is supposed to be your real-time front-panel info
resource in your hand or in your car.  Kenwood gets it.  Yaesu
gets it.  But 99% of hams don't get it.

See about #1,2,3,4,5 and 6: www.aprs.org/localinfo.html
See about hamfests: www.aprs.org/hamfest.html
See about #8 & #9: www.aprs.org/traffic.html
See about #10,#11 and #12: www.aprs.org/astars.html (70% down
the page)
See about all of the above: www.aprs.org/APRS-tactical.html

Or see the sept 2008 article in QST, "Maximizing the Mobile
Motorist Mission.

If you are not seeing this data on any of your eight APRS
radios: D7, D700, D710, D72, FTM350, VX8R, VX8DR, VX8GR then get
on the air in YOUR area and ask the local APRS Digipeater SYSOPs
why not?

And if you really want to see where we have been headed for the
last decade, then see: www.aprs.org/avrs.html

Our ultimate goal is global ham-to-ham TEXT and/or VOICE using
CALLSIGN only and using ANY radio, ANY wireless device, or any
PC. (in addition to providing the INFORMATION resources above.

Bob, WB4APR