Tacos Digest, Vol 37, Issue 7

[Robert Bruninga]

>>> Michael Chisena <ka2zev at yahoo.com> 03/09/06 1:37 AM >>>
> a pun on Zen and the art of motorcycle repair...

A GREAT book for real engineers!
>
> About the APRS DFing, is there one fool proof set 
>of equipment that can be purchased.... A GPS, TNC, 
>Radio, and Antenna seem like a lot of work.
   
All you need is your moble rig and some grey matter
between the ears.  Of course I too played with Doppler
DF and lots of beams and junk for the TOY factor, but
soon realized I NEVER had them when I needed them.

You dont need APRS except that it makes a nice map
drawing for plotting the data you gather.  But if you
read my web page:

http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/dfing.html

You will see that I can give a lecture on how to DF
with your mobile and HT and in under a half hour
members of the club can go find my HT which I left
keyed in a field 5 miles away...

It ALWAYS works, anyone can do it and you dont
need anythign but yoru mobile rig and your common
sense about VHF propogation.

> What's the limit on APRS stuff. Is it a bi directinal 
>service? Can messages be sent to me while mobile, 
>like a vast store and foward kind of thing?
   
Yes, and no.  It is fully 2-way and message capable
but it is LIVE COMMS only.  There is no store-n-forward
in APRS.  APRS is only for LIVE exchange of instantaneous
data.  That is why it is IDEAL for instantly localizing a
jammer if only a few peopld get on the air and enter
the data... APRS lets EVERYONE see the same map
of ovelapping data evolve in real time... 

Please see the link above.  And read it NOT just to
see what APRS can do, but what anyone can do 
just by driving, thinking and visualizing the data he
is gathering without any PC, maps, or anything.
Just your mobile  (and HT for when you get close)...

Bob