[aprssig] Another APRS-over-VARA Road Trip About to Start

[chiefsfan2]

I will have my igate on listening from Ks. 


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad


On Monday, July 20, 2026, 08:17, Denis Barton <wb8skp at gmail.com> wrote:

  
 I will be watching. Safe trip.
 
73,
 
Denis, WB8SKP
 

 
 On 7/19/2026 12:44 PM, Stephen H Smith via aprssig wrote:
  
 
I will be departing Tuesday afternoon (21 July) on my annual road trip to the Evergreen Jazz Festival in the Colorado Rockies 40 miles/64 km  west of Denver.    I will, once again, be testing APRS beaconing over VARA en route, and at the festival.  
 
Depending on propagation, I will be either on 30 meters or 40 meters.   The mobile setup will be my "VARAtrack" device, a Yaesu FT-891 and mono-band Quicksilver Radio "Quicksticks" on a ball mount on my Jetta TDI.  
 
HF    APRS-over-VARA   Frequencies
   40M   7.083.5  USB       30M   10.148.2  USB   
 
 
 
As in previous years, I will be beaconing on both 2 meters, and on HF VARA.  
 
    WA8LMF (no SSID)     is the two-meter beacon
 
    WA8LMF-3    is the HF VARA beacon, either on 30M or 40M 
 
Unlike previous years, I will NOT be HF beaconing on classic 300-baud AX.25 packet.APRS.   Traditionally, I have used WA8LMF-2 for this mode. Over several years now, VARA has shown to be so overwhelmingly superior to AX.25 that I have decided that the added hassle of dual-mode beaconing isn't worth bothering with. 
 
You can follow the trip on the usual websites, or on my own RoadTrip Tracker on my website at:
 
     <http://wa8lmf.net/RoadTrip/Tracker/index.htm>
 
This displays a composite of what my off-the-air receiver at my home QTH is hearing on HF, along with 2-meters from the APRS-IS. 
 
 Once I get into Colorado (some time late Thursday afternoon), my "Special Events" page (which normally covers hamfests, swapmeets, Dayton, etc) should start showing me heading west on I-76.   The default page is currently set to show the greater Denver/Front Range area of Colorado, with a second page showing the detail of the Evergreen, CO area.  
 
     <http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14445/>
 
More links and info:
 
This page contains links to details on the VARA high-performance soundcard soft-modem,   how to use VARA with APRS clients,  and my lightweight "VARAtrack" tracker device based on a cheap "stick PC". 
 
     <http://WA8LMF.net/VARA
 

 
 Stephen H. Smith    wa8lmf (at) aol.com 
 
 
 Live APRS Mapping on HF & VHF
    <http://WA8LMF.net/map>
 
 "Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels
    <http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner>
 
 -- APRS over VARA  --
    <http://wa8lmf.net/VARA/APRSoverVARA>
 
 
   

 
 
I will be departing Tuesday afternoon (21 July) on my annual road trip to the Evergreen Jazz Festival in the Colorado Rockies 40 miles/64 km  west of Denver.    I will, once again, be testing APRS beaconing over VARA en route, and at the festival.  
 
Depending on propagation, I will be either on 30 meters or 40 meters.   The mobile setup will be my "VARAtrack" device, a Yaesu FT-891 and mono-band Quicksilver Radio "Quicksticks" on a ball mount on my Jetta TDI.  
 
As in previous years, I will be beaconing on both 2 meters, and on HF VARA.  
 
    WA8LMF (no SSID)     is the two-meter beacon
 
    WA8LMF-3    is the HF VARA beacon, either on 30M or 40M 
 
Unlike previous years, I will NOT be HF beaconing on classic 300-baud AX.25 packet.APRS.   Traditionally, I have used WA8LMF-2 for this mode. Over several years now, VARA has shown to be so overwhelmingly superior to AX.25 that I have decided that the added hassle of dual-mode beaconing isn't worth bothering with. 
 
You can follow the trip on the usual websites, or on my own RoadTrip Tracker on my website at:
 
     <http://wa8lmf.net/RoadTrip/Tracker/index.htm>
 
This displays a composite of what my off-the-air receiver at my home QTH is hearing on HF, along with 2-meters from the APRS-IS. 
 
 Once I get into Colorado (some time late Thursday afternoon), my "Special Events" page (which normally covers hamfests, swapmeets, Dayton, etc) should start showing me heading west on I-76.   The default page is currently set to show the greater Denver/Front Range area of Colorado, with a second page showing the detail of the Evergreen, CO area.  
 
     <http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14445/>
 
More links and info:
 
This page contains links to details on the VARA high-performance soundcard soft-modem,   how to use VARA with APRS clients,  and my lightweight "VARAtrack" tracker device based on a cheap "stick PC". 
 
     <http://WA8LMF.net/VARA
 

 
 Stephen H. Smith    wa8lmf (at) aol.com 
 
 
 Live APRS Mapping on HF & VHF
    <http://WA8LMF.net/map>
 
 "Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels
    <http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner>
 
 -- APRS over VARA  --
    <http://wa8lmf.net/VARA/APRSoverVARA>
 
 HF    APRS-over-VARA   Frequencies
   40M   7.083.5  USB       30M   10.148.2  USB   
 
 
 -
   

 
 

 
 
  _______________________________________________
aprssig mailing list
aprssig at lists.tapr.org
http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig_lists.tapr.org
 
 _______________________________________________
aprssig mailing list
aprssig at lists.tapr.org
http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig_lists.tapr.org



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.tapr.org/pipermail/aprssig_lists.tapr.org/attachments/20260721/11aaee5e/attachment.htm>