[aprssig] What sort of events have you been using APRS with?

[Jim Andrews]

We too use APRS on a car rally.

http://www.2300club.org/

10 course vehicles, including some of the rescue/recovery crews, and what is
known as the "flying control car" - a rally car that travels the course at
full speed immediately ahead of the competitors as a wake-up for marshals
and practice run for timing etc.

Mounting the kit in the flying control car was a challenge, as we had to
design and build a shock mounting that would absorb a lot of vibration, plus
comply with the stringent motor sport safety regulations.

We also need 6 digipeaters to achieve 100% coverage of the course and get
the information back to rally control, as the rally takes place in one of
the most mountainous areas of the UK - the Isle of Mull on the west coast of
Scotland - and has around 120 route miles that is rallied three times over a
36 hour period.

It's as much a test of operator (and rally driving) endurance as putting in
a temporary APRS network! This year will be our 6th using APRS on the event
and my 19th as a radio operator.



Jim, G1HUL


-----Original Message-----
From: aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org [mailto:aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org]
On Behalf Of Anders Green
Sent: 22 June 2006 02:53
To: TAPR APRS Mailing List
Subject: [aprssig] What sort of events have you been using APRS with?

I think it would be fun to have some talk about what folks are using APRS
for. Oh, I know it _can_ be used for all sorts of things, but I'd just like
to hear some cool stories. :)

We used APRS at our last car rally. This event is a full-out race, via
closed roads, on sand/gravel roads. The cars range from relatively low
dollar two wheel drive machines to $150,000 four wheel drive monsters.
Here's a link to a picture gallery:

http://sandblastrally.com/2006/media/KevinAllen-Pics/CooperBlackFourWay-SS1/

We had APRS in the lead pre-race cars, and in the post race sweep cars. A
single digipeater covered the area relatively well; there were some drop
outs. Next year we'll add my D700 to the mix, and probably another dedicated
unit on one of the three lead cars, to get full coverage of resources.

Cheers,
Anders





+==========================================================
| Anders Green
| ki4iwx
+==========================================================


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