[aprssig] Delorme LT-20 - Cart bought before the Horse

[Wes Johnston]

THe kpc3 simply passes on the packets generated by UI-View (or other aprs 
client) to 2meters.  It sounds like you are getting confused with running 
aprs in a car with a laptop and running a kpc3 tnc as a stand alone tracker.

If you want to run the kpc3 as a stand alone tracker, you cannot use a USB 
type GPS.  It must be serial.  And there is no easy way to get serial data 
out of a USB GPS... sure you could probably hack into the GPS and solder a 
wire here or there, but I'm sure you don't really want to do that.  Besides, 
the kpc3 as a stand alone tracker ends up sending the raw GPS positions 
which are often 4 times as long as a "normal" aprs position report.

UI-view can run the show much better by instructing your kpc3 what and when 
to send data.  Of course you have to have a laptop in the car.

FWIW, Scott Miller has developed a tracker that will end up being the same 
size as the tiny track.  The big difference is that it will receive packets 
as well as transmit them.  The T2 tracker presently receives and sends 
packets and plots the received stations to a GPS unit just as the kenwood 
radios do (well better than the kenwoods if you use garmin host mode instead 
of NMEA).  It is quickly evolving into a 1)tracker 2)portable aprs receiver 
terminal, 3)digipeater w/ hop limits and preemptive digipeating, 4)home digi 
and kiss mode tnc.  Unlike the kpc3 tncs, you don't loose the digipeating 
functions when going into kiss mode.

For now, the T2 tracker is the approximate size of a TNC-x, does everything 
a tiny track does, has the option for built in 35A 12v power switching. 
Mine is happily chugging away on my desk at home feeding kiss mode data from 
off air to my pc, and acting as a gap filler digi.  I have a similar 
transmit only model in my wife's car that switches the 2m radio on and off 
just before transmitting.  Because of the radio power control, I can leave 
power on the tracker all the time w/o having to worry about a dead car 
battery.

Wes
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <w7psk at w7psk.net>
To: <aprssig at lists.tapr.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 12:18 PM
Subject: RE: RE: [aprssig] Delorme LT-20 - Cart bought before the Horse


> Now the Trick Being.
>
> How does one then get it to my KPC3 in the mobile (Yes I know Id have to 
> leave the laptop running).
>
> Ive only USB on the laptop, but run the KPC via a 232/Usb converter cord.
>
>
> Scotty W7PSK
>
>
>>UI-view can connect to a GPS on any COM Port below COM9. Since NMEA
>>output is simple ASCII messages, I'd guess your USB GPS receiver creates
>>a COM Port when you plug it into the computer and the driver gets loaded
>>[we're talking Windows here?] You can look up in the device manager -
>>right click My Computer and select Manage/Device Manager - and look for
>>a COM Port that is only there when the GPS receiver is plugged in. Aim
>>UI-view, or whatever, at that COM Port.
>>
>>
>> Chris - AE6VK
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Wes Johnston [mailto:wes at kd4rdb.com]
>>Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 7:31 AM
>>To: TAPR APRS Mailing List
>>Subject: Re: [aprssig] Delorme LT-20 - Cart bought before the Horse
>>
>>I know some commercial mapping programs that would connect to a GPS
>>directly
>>via the USB port, but don't know of any aprs programs, so you have to
>>fall
>>back on providing the aprs programs a com port to talk to.  Seems like
>>if
>>their software could map the USB port to a psuedo comport (ie com8 or
>>com9),
>>then you'd just tell your APRS software to use com8 or com9 as a GPS
>>port.
>>
>>Wes
>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>From: <w7psk at w7psk.net>
>>To: <aprssig at lists.tapr.org>
>>Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 9:55 AM
>>Subject: [aprssig] Delorme LT-20 - Cart bought before the Horse
>>
>>
>>> Semi New to this APRS stuff.  have downloaded the software and tried
>>to do
>>> manual position stuff but it doesnt work well.
>>>
>>> Have always wanted GPS and for my Birthday the wife bought me a
>>Earthmate
>>> LT-20 (I made sure it was NMEA Compliant before I did)
>>>
>>> It is unfortunatley USB.
>>>
>>> Now, they do have serial drivers (emulators) but Im not sure how it
>>all
>>> goes together.
>>>
>>> Anyone Successfully Run this yet.
>>>
>>>
>>> I noticed a few threads about it, but I couldnt garner from all the
>>> branches what the final was.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> So did I get the cart before the horse ?
>>>
>>>
>>> Scotty W7PSK
>>> Everett, Washington
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> aprssig mailing list
>>> aprssig at lists.tapr.org
>>> https://lists.tapr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aprssig
>>>
>>
>>
>>
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