[aprssig] Hiking with APRS at low risk

[Jason Rausch]

Another option would be our soon-comming RTrak all in
one tracker with built-in GPS and 2 meter transmitter.

See: http://www.rpc-electronics.com for more details.

I have already had several hikers email me about
buying these for this reason.  When they become
available, we will be actively looking for people
willing to try these out with battery power and let us
know how it went.

Just my $0.02
Jason KE4NYV
RPC Electronics
www.rpc-electronics.com


--- Robert Bruninga <bruninga at usna.edu> wrote:

> > I often hike with my D7...
> > I would rather have a small battery powered 
> > GPS that doesn't need a display...
> 
> Not wanting to derail that thread, but an
> alternative I use on
> the Appalachian trail is to simply jot down the
> coordinates of
> some major landmarks every 3 miles or so along my
> route before I
> go.  For a day hike, that's only 6 coordinates or
> so, and a
> posit every hour.
> 
> Then I don't bother with the weight of the GPS and
> batteries,
> and cables and wires and broken connectors, and dead
> batteries,
> etc..  I just pull out the HT, manually enter the
> coordinates,
> TX a few times until I am sure it got digipeated. 
> Turn it off,
> and keep walking.  If I am monitroing 2 meters, I
> turn off the
> TNC and APRS band to save power.
> 
> Since I carry a map of the trail, I can interpolate
> or estimate
> my posit anywhere in between.  And entering it
> usually is only a
> change in a digit or so.  So I just scroll to the
> last posit,
> bump the knob a few times to my new position, done.
> 
> In fact, if I want a more continuous plot, I can
> easily estimate
> my tenths of a minute(LAT/LONG) per 10 minutes
> walking time and
> just increment or decrement my position every 10
> minutes easily
> enough.  No, it is never precise, but who cares.  It
> shows my
> progress and postion within a tenth of a mile or so
> all day
> long.  It wont help if I fall off a cliff, but then
> I don't plan
> on doing that.  But IF I do need a good posit, then
> I can unpack
> the GPS, get a good fix, and manually enter it.
> 
> My whole point is to avoid any cables AT ALL COST. 
> They will
> just snag and usually break a $300 radio or $200
> GPS.  It is not
> worth the risk to me.  So remember, APRS was
> designed for MANUAL
> updating.  That's why the clients are supposed to
> DEAD RECKON
> all moving objects.  Theoretically all you need to
> do is enter
> your STARTING coordinates, enter a SPEED and
> DIRECTION toward
> your end point for the day, and then turn everything
> off.
> 
> Good APRS clients will then automatically move you
> along the
> display minute by minute all day long.  Each time
> you update
> with a fresh manual posit, then your track is also
> refreshed.
> 
> KISS is my motto (except when I need to show off)..
> But usually,
> I consider showing off a bunch of wires and cables
> and junk to
> be counterproductive and a turn-off.  So I keep it
> simple and my
> track looks pretty good on FINDU...
> At least for what I intend it to be.
> 
> Just a thought
> Bob, WB4APR
> 
> 
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