I've been revisiting APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) communication lately. I recently connected with a veteran who used to work for a Vietnamese military radio station, and it suddenly dawned on me that I had been overlooking such a sophisticated communication method. He wasn't just sending coordinates! He wasn't just sending coordinates! He wasn't just sending coordinates!
1. What is APRS?
In my understanding, APRS is a system based on location services that allows any connected or disconnected device to communicate with each other using various methods, such as EME (Earth-based Mobile Exchange), satellite forwarding, shortwave radio, and the UV band. This is what the title refers to. Oh, and by the way, APRS can also send emails and text messages.
It allows you to achieve your dream of global communication for just $100, or emergency assistance!
2. Someone might ask: But what about actually demonstrating how to connect these devices together?
1) APRS gateway
First, there's something called an APRS gateway, which can send data packets received via radio to the internet, and also transmit data packets received from the internet via radio.
For example:
1. I am in Anhui and would like to contact a HAM in Guangzhou using APRS. Their equipment might be a handheld radio or a shortwave radio.
I have a smartphone with internet access, and I'm sending messages to the APRS server through my phone. The APRS server then forwards these messages to the gateway connected to the Guangzhou ham radio network, which in turn transmits my message via radio to him.
2. Guangzhou Ham: This won't work; I don't have a gateway nearby!
Me: Aren't you holding a shortwave radio?
Guangzhou Ham: Yes, indeed!
Guangzhou Ham was able to connect with a distant APRS gateway using shortwave radio, and I could easily communicate with him through my connected phone.
3. Reader: This won't work; I still need a phone that can connect to the internet.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention this: even if I can't connect to the internet, I can still communicate with the APRS gateway and the HAM in Guangzhou using any wireless device. As long as I can establish a connection through the gateway, no matter where he is (whether it's on the other side of the world), I can contact him. (There will always be a gateway available to provide a connection, regardless of distance. This applies even when using satellite communication.)
2)APRS中继
APRS Relay: As the name suggests, it's a crucial component for UV segments that helps you forward data packets.
Or, let me give you an example:
I want to communicate with a ham radio operator in Guangzhou using my handheld device and APRS, but I don't have any gateways nearby. However!
There's an APRS repeater about 40 kilometers away from me in Xuzhou.
There's a淮北 APRS repeater located about 50 kilometers from Xuzhou.
There's a gateway about fifty kilometers away from Huai North Relay Station.
Now it's easy! I can communicate with HAM in Guangzhou!
APRS has something called WIDE-n. I set the relay path to WIDE2-2, which means that my data packets will be forwarded twice.
I transmit data to the Xuzhou APRS relay using a disconnected radio.
After receiving the message from Xuzhou, my data was forwarded by them, and my path was changed to WIDE2-1.
The淮北中继 received data from Xuzhou and forwarded it, also changing the path to WIDE2-0.
The gateway received information from Huai-bei and uploaded my data to the internet.
If the internet can connect my data to a gateway that's connected to Guangzhou Ham, then we can communicate with each other.
This forwarding feature allows you to configure it to forward multiple times, and it will decrement the count each time a message is forwarded until it reaches zero. Without this setting, your data packets could be endlessly forwarded, leading to a broadcast disaster.
APRS can also send internet emails and SMS messages, allowing you to contact family members online in an emergency so that your message can be received by many people!
And when it comes to this, don't think of APRS as just a software for sending coordinates anymore. Don't miss out on such a comprehensive and useful communication method.
Regarding the software and settings needed to implement the APRS system described above, please check if anyone has already written about it. Theoretically, the article should have been widely discussed by now, but unfortunately, it seems not to be.