For those who don't know what APRS is or want to know more, here's a wiki on it
LINKOne of my recent additions to my rig is a Byonics MicroTrak RTG package.
From the Byonics site-
The Micro-Trak RTG (Ready To Go) FA is a complete 10-watt APRS tracker, including a frequency agile 2-meter transmitter, a TinyTrak3 controller chip, a Byonics GPS2 receiver, and a magnet mount SMA antenna. The MT-RTG FA was designed for easy vehicle installation. Since it comes pre-configured with your callsign, it is literally "Ready To Go". Simply connect the included antenna and GPS receiver to the top of your car, plug into the cigarette lighter jack, and you are on the air!
For $220 it's not a bad system at all.
The other system I was considering was from Argent Data Systems T3-301.
LINK Our fire department comm group likes to use these but they've had some problems the last 6 months with suppliers and fulfilling orders. They are just now shipping some new units so once I see some stability, I may consider one of theirs, but they are only 5 watts. One nice thing about the argent system is it is a transceiver so conceivably you could also plot out other people on your computer if needed. It runs $229.
Since I'm also installing a Lowrance HDS-7M and Point-1 sensor system, I'll drive the APRS unit from the NMEA-0183 output from the HDS-7M.
Since these systems are designed to be always on, I'll of course be putting a switch inline somewhere so I can turn things off when I don't want to be tracked.
There's a pretty good website that is google maps driven called
aprs.fi. You can see activity and filter for certain stations. Looks like there are a number of Digipeaters and Igates that cover areas we normally run in.
