APRSPH and #APRSThursday nets

[DU2XXR]

I know there has been some discussion about FM APRS in light of the firmware having experimental support. I'm aware it does not support messaging (yet?) but perhaps some of us here are also into APRS. For those with APRS-enabled radios or desktop/smartphone applications, I am inviting you to join two of the nets that I am active in:

APRSPH - https://aprsph.net

This is a daily net, wherein all traffic is relayed to stations checked in, as well as logged on the above website. The instructions for joining are also on the website. Checkins can be done via FM APRS, DMR APRS, or even through apps that directly connect to APRS-IS (internet) like APRSdroid. I am the net manager, and I also customized the script that handles the bot responses and net logging.

This is a small net, with around 10 or less checkins per day (most checkins was 24 during an active APRSThursday). But it's fun, and can be used for chatting on APRS messages.

#APRSThursday - https://aprsph.net/aprsthursday

This net happens every 0000Z to 2359Z every Thursday. This one is managed by KC8OWL, but I do support it by automating logging on my own app. Instructions for joining are also on the website, and this one is handled by ANSRVR (developed by KJ4ERJ).\

This is usually a bigger net with around 400+ checkins per day. It somewhat "burns up" the airwaves during APRS thursdays, but it has helped developers and sysops with rooting out some issues with improperly configured software. It has also introduced me to a lot of other APRS enthusiasts across the globe.

I look forward to seeing you on the nets!

[VK3KYY]

The hardware can theoretically send AX25 messages on the GD77, DM1801, RD5R, UV380 and DM1701, but not on the MD9600 at the moment because of hardware limitations on the C6000 tone generator

However because we don't know whether the hardware can ever support AX25 Rx, we have not spent any time writing code to send messages

Its likely if we did do this, that we would not initially include an editor for messages, and messages would all need to be defined in the CPS, and the only option would be to choose which message to send.

[DU2XXR]

I recall there was a previous discussion about AX.25 receive, and the potential hardware limitations. Being able to transmit is a good start, though. I recall some of the other radios like the Anytone portables started with being able to transmit FM APRS and then moving on to being able to receive (packets and messages) in subsequent firmware revisions. I don't know how many from the openGD77 community use APRS, but there is a dearth of radios within the price range of the GD77, DM1801, etc. that can do APRS (most accessible would be the Yaesu FT3, FT5, I believe). Short of homebrewing equipment, this would be a boon to the APRS community, I think.

Having CPS-defined messages would be a good start. On some handheld and mobile radios, text input is not exactly that easy, but some users save several pre-defined texts and just paste them in.

Thanks for all the work and development.

The hardware can theoretically send AX25 messages on the GD77, DM1801, RD5R, UV380 and DM1701, but not on the MD9600 at the moment because of hardware limitations on the C6000 tone generator

However because we don't know whether the hardware can ever support AX25 Rx, we have not spent any time writing code to send messages

Its likely if we did do this, that we would not initially include an editor for messages, and messages would all need to be defined in the CPS, and the only option would be to choose which message to send.

[VK3KYY]

There appears to be a Rx audio signal path to the CPU from the TRx chip on the GD77

We think there may also be a path on the UV380 and MD9600, we don't know about the other radios, because we don't have accurate schematics for any of them, and some of them we have no information at all

The signal path would also need to be clean enough

And we'd need to see if the CPU has enough processing power to do this and still run the RTOS

So. Its not going to be a quick or easy job, even to find out whether this is possible with the hardware