APRS maps & stuff

by Alan Crosswell, N2YGK, n2ygk@weca.org

Last update: Saturday, 28-Feb-2004 15:25:24 EST

APRS for Linux

Check out Xastir. It is the best APRS client (on the best OS) available and it's free!

Downloads!

All my code is free software released under the terms of the GNU Public License. No warranty, no guarantee. No support. But, send me mail if you have trouble and I promise to try to reply eventually depending on how swamped I am!

aprs.pdf (566K bytes, Monday, 30-Dec-2002 20:31:28 EST) is an article based on a presentation I made at the December 2002 WECA meeting.
aprs.tgz (428K bytes, Monday, 30-Dec-2002 20:31:32 EST) is source code (gzipped tar file) for the aforementioned article and the MagicPoint presentation used at the meeting.
aprsdigi at SourceForge.net
aprsdigi-2.4.4:
- Source code: aprsdigi-2.4.4.tar.gz (119K bytes, Saturday, 28-Feb-2004 15:21:47 EST).
- Press Release:-) aprsdigi-2.4.4/NEWS (2.5K bytes, Friday, 27-Feb-2004 09:09:57 EST).
- Documentation: aprsdigi-2.4.4/aprsdigi.html ( 22K bytes, Wednesday, 25-Feb-2004 10:37:03 EST).
- Sample /etc/init.d script: aprsdigi.test (835 bytes, Friday, 26-Jul-2002 17:33:38 EDT).
Old files from previous releases
tig2aprs: Generates APRSdos maps from US/Census TIGER/Line files.
- Source code: tig2aprs.zip ( 58K bytes, Tuesday, 01-Dec-1998 15:11:43 EST).
- Documentation: tig2aprs.html ( 14K bytes, Tuesday, 01-Dec-1998 15:12:07 EST).

Words:-)

I've been experimenting with creating maps for APRS (DOS version) from US Census 1994/1995 Tiger/Line data. The program I use is something I've cobbled together over the last several months. It is up to 3500(!) lines of C and runs under Linux on my P83 PC with 20MB RAM and P100 laptop with 16MB. I can generate maps for an entire county in about an hour -- after spending several days getting the data and the tig2aprs options right. I am available to create maps for hire. The maps and software are free; the payment is for my time to run the software for you. I encourage you to just run it yourself.

What's what (in reverse chronological order):

tig2aprs.zip ( 58K bytes, Tuesday, 01-Dec-1998 15:11:43 EST) Is source code to the program which is free software available under the terms of the GNU Public License. Included in the archive is this documentation. This version now supports the 1995 version of the TIGER/Line files.
See an article I wrote in the WECAGRAM (and reprinted in the PSR) which describes using some of these maps. Also, here's an accompanying schematic for the RS-232 connections of my Mic-Encoder and Delorme Tripmate. Tripmate users should visit Eric Cotrell's Tripmate FAQ. This where I found all the answers to my questions. I also use Delorme's Street Atlas USA both to generate special event routes which I then import into my DOS maps and, more recently, with Brent Hildebrand's APRS Plus.
See the Westchester County APRS page for current maps of Westchester County.
aprsmon.zip ([an error occurred while processing this directive] bytes, [an error occurred while processing this directive]) Contains an updated version of aprsmon, a javAPRS TNC monitor for Linux. "As seen in Linux Journal", and, "As heard at Dayton":-) This version is now able to decode PRODUCTION APRS Mic Encoder compressed position and telemetry reports. Mic-E decoding can also be disabled with the -M switch. For a live demo of javAPRS with aprsmon, see NE1H's javAPRS page or KB2EAR's.
And, aprsdigi a new version APRS NODE digipeater that includes the MIC-E decoding and is now running on W2AEE in New York City. Now supports the production Mic-E and has some improvements to eliminate unneccessary retransmission of duplicate packets.
javAPRS demo An example of Steve Dimse's Java APRS stuff using a couple of my tig2aprs maps.