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<p><font face="Arial">I will be conducting another comparison of
VARA vs AX.25 for APRS on 60 meters on Saturday 10 Feb 2024.
This will be on the drive up to Traverse City and back, for the
Traverse City "Cherryland ARC" Swap-N-Shop event. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">As in previous tests, I will be transmitting
APRS position reports alternately with classic 300 baud HF AX.25
packet and with VARA-HF. Two copies of the UIview APRS program
will be running, one for each mode, into the same soundcard,
interface, Yaesu FT-891 transceiver, and same Quicksilver Radio
60-meter Hamstick-type mobile whip. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">The trip up will be at night - I have to
depart Haslett, Michigan at about 3:30 AM to arrive at the event
in Traverse City by 7:00 AM to setup. The return trip will
start in the early afternoon. The propagation characteristics of
60 meters are sharply different night and day. Nighttime tends
toward long-haul (300-600 miles/ 480-1000 km) propagation, while
daytime favors short-haul NVIS coverage (0-250 miles / 0-400 km)
or so. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">My home station, which is now running dual
AX.25 and VARA mode igates 24/7 on both 30 and 60 meters will
be receiving these tests and passing anything heard to the APRS
Internet system. To distinguish the AX.25 reports from the VARA
reports, the AX.25 transmissions will use WA8LMF-2, while the
VARA beacons will use WA8LMF-3. I.e:</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://APRS.fi/WA8LMF-2"><http://APRS.fi/WA8LMF-2></a>
will show what is heard on AX.25 packet<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://APRS.fi/WA8LMF-3"><http://APRS.fi/WA8LMF-3></a>
will show what is heard on VARA</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Both modes will be sending APRS
compressed-format posits.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">My own APRS real-time tracking maps, generated
by my own UI-Webservers, are visible at:</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"> <htttp://WA8LMF.net/map></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">If anyone actually wants to get up at the
ungodly hour of 3:30 AM (local US EST) to monitor, or even try
to send a beacon or APRS message to my mobile enroute, so much
the better!<br>
</font></p>
<hr width="100%" size="2"><font face="Arial">Stephen H. Smith
wa8lmf (at) aol.com <br>
Skype: WA8LMF<br>
EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]<br>
Home Page: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://wa8lmf.net">http://wa8lmf.net</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<b>NEW</b> WA8LMF Road Trip Tracker<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://WA8LMF.net/RoadTrip"><http://WA8LMF.net/RoadTrip></a><br>
<br>
"Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner"><http://WA8LMF.net/Aliner></a><br>
<br>
-- APRS over VARA --<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://wa8lmf.net/APRSoverVARA."><http://wa8lmf.net/APRSoverVARA.></a><br>
<br>
Flying Digipeater!<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://WA8LMF.net/FlyingDigi"><http://WA8LMF.net/FlyingDigi></a><br>
</font>
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