Full Size Jeep Network

There has been a lot of interest in Ham radio's. Let's see what we have showing up at Ouray. I will try to keep a summary on this first page.
I am thinking call signs, capabilities (bands/APRS) and repeater information. As we get closer we can decide on frequencies for SIMPLEX and such.

IF YOU HAVE A LICENSE I WILL PROBABLY HAVE AN EXTRA HANDHELD AND MAG MOUNT. Let me know.



clovisman: AF5RY Yaesu FTM-400DR APRS, Digital, Analog,
derf: KE0ITX - 70's vintage Yaseu for trail comms and a Baofeng HT. I may have more by the time Ouray rolls around.
REDONE: KE0LSU - Luiton 25w 2m/70cm transceiver
shimniok: K0FSJ <<< winner! Alinco DR-605TQ 2m/70cm also Alinco DR-M06TH 6m I have had for ages.
WILL E: KI7JPL - Kenwood TM-d710, APRS also a Handheld dual band BAOFENG 7 watt and rubber duck Antenna.


2M band plan: http://www.ccarc.net/images/CCARC_FUP_144MHz_revB.pdf
70cm Band plan: http://www.ccarc.net/images/CCARC_FUP_4 ... z_revd.pdf


Simplex (Voice):
146.400-146.580
147.20-147.570

Repeaters:
147.270+ 127.3 KB5ITT At Engineer Peak << This will probably be our 'go to' repeater.
147.375+ 156.7 KB5ITS Sliverton, Kendall Mountain
146.670- 100.0 K0EP Durango, Eagle Pass
146.700- 100.0 K0EP Durango, Missionary Ridge

derf: KE0ITX - 70's vintage Yaseu for trail comms and a Baofeng HT. I may have more by the time Ouray rolls around.

AF5RY, I will go ahead and put my Yaesu FTM-400DR in whichever Jeep I decide to bring up there this year. It pretty much has everything. APRS, Digital, Analog, etc. Is there a repeater in the area that everyone uses? I can go ahead and program that in while I'm at it.

will e wrote:
WILL E: KI7JPL - Handheld dual band BAOFENG 7 watt and rubber duck Antenna. (I am hoping to upgrade before Ouray...)

You would be surprised how effective those handhelds are when paired with an antenna adapter and a real 2M mobile antenna. I have a Comet 2m/440 dual band Search and Rescue antenna that does the job just fine with a handheld.

Cool. I'm K0FSJ.

I put a new (to me) Alinco DR-605TQ 2m/70cm rig in the Jeep to replace a really old, user unfriendly, flaky ICOM.

It sits above an Alinco DR-M06TH 6m I have had for ages.

Maybe I will bring the Yaesu Vertex vx-150 2m HT too.

Anyone running APRS for location tracking?

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shimniok wrote:Cool. I'm K0FSJ.

I put a new (to me) Alinco DR-605TQ 2m/70cm rig in the Jeep to replace a really old, user unfriendly, flaky ICOM.

It sits above an Alinco DR-M06TH 6m I have had for ages.

Maybe I will bring the Yaesu Vertex vx-150 2m HT too.

Anyone running APRS for location tracking?

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Coolest call sign ever! I added you to the list. clovisman is running APRS. I think REDONE is putting together an APRS solution as well. I might upgrade from handheld to mounted and if I do I probably will be stupid and get a radio with the bells and whistles. This is cheaper (overall) than doing 3 upgrades....

I will add you to the list above. This could be kinda fun. With a repeater on top of Engineer it will be interesting to see where we can get coverage. The dual bands can monitor the repeater all of the time. Perhaps we can have a regular time or two we try to connect during the day. Especially cool if we are on different trail rides.

KE0LSU

Yep! I'm working out a cheap and easy APRS system that anyone (licensed) could duplicate. I've scrubbed my old phone, found an app that overlays APRS onto google maps, figured out how to store google maps for offline use (with topo!), and ordered the cable to hook the phone to a Baofeng! Also found solutions for setting up the phone and radio to work together without a TNC (which is a thing I don't know what it is yet). I test on Saturday, so once I get my ticket I'll try out the APRS system, if it works I'll post it all up on the forum for all to see!

There are some APRS Android apps if that helps. I played with APRS Droid for awhile.

I was bit by the APRS bug for awhile then other things happened and I stopped messing with it.

I can supposedly use one of my laptop topo software to display markers for other vehicles. The laptop can also decode/encode audio to send to the radio. And I have a couple of APRS apps too.

Where I am stuck is ... On what bands do I broadcast the audio? I know there is a designated frequency for APRS. But I would want to talk on a repeater. So I would need 2 radios?

Or, there's a solution that sits between radio and mic. It doesn't broadcast if the mic isn't being keyed. Maybe it transmits after you talk? Or periodically? Not entirely sure if any of that is 'allowed' on general use repeaters.

Like I said I got sidetracked so I didn't find those answers yet.

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shimniok wrote:There are some APRS Android apps if that helps. I played with APRS Droid for awhile.

I was bit by the APRS bug for awhile then other things happened and I stopped messing with it.

I can supposedly use one of my laptop topo software to display markers for other vehicles. The laptop can also decode/encode audio to send to the radio. And I have a couple of APRS apps too.

Where I am stuck is ... On what bands do I broadcast the audio? I know there is a designated frequency for APRS. But I would want to talk on a repeater. So I would need 2 radios?

Or, there's a solution that sits between radio and mic. It doesn't broadcast if the mic isn't being keyed. Maybe it transmits after you talk? Or periodically? Not entirely sure if any of that is 'allowed' on general use repeaters.

Like I said I got sidetracked so I didn't find those answers yet.

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The radio I have (Yaesu FTM-400DR) has 2 VFO's so it is a true dual TX/RX radio. So I can have a simplex frequency on VFO a and have the APRS frequency (144.390) on VFO B. Or as you can see in the picture, I have a Repeater stored and on VFO A and APRS on VFO B. It will still collect APRS data while you are transmitting on VFO A. Pretty nifty. There are a few radios that do this like the Kenwood TM-710G, etc.

So I guess I could use mic-e on voice, per this: http://www.aprs.net/vm/DOS/MICE.HTM

But then everyone's radio would have to listen for APRS on the voice channel or else the repeater would have to listen for it and repeat it on the APRS freq.

Or else I need a dedicated APRS radio :/

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Hey Redone, I added you to the list. What equipment are you sporting?

So that's five of us so far. Pretty cool. If we find we have good access to the repeaters it will be both fun and possibly even helpful.

I will probably have at least one spare handheld available.

When Ouray gets a bit closer I will add a link in the general thread to this one. I will print up a one pager of the call signs, repeaters and such for us to use. I will make the font BIG so it is easy to read...

I want to be able to talk on 2m and also do APRS.

But I don't want to spend a lot on an APRS capable rig like that Yaesu or the Kenwood.

So as mentioned I need another 2m transceiver. I have a few options including a beat up Kenwood I just got.

But one cannot just plug two radios into the same antenna because when one transmits, all that power will probably blow out the front end of the other rig's receiver.

Apparently there is something called a cavity filter you can use to notch out the APRS freq. but it sounds like a large device. Probably not cheap either. I don't know.

Simpler is to use a second 2m antenna. The caveat is when one rig transmits, the sensitivity of the other rig is affected because it gets swamped with the APRS transmission. I can probably live with that.

Also, antenna placement should help. Separate by distance other than multiples of 1/8 wave. The best placement appears to be vertical displacement which is impractical.

Since I already have 3 antennas on the roof I may do a mag mount or glass mount until APRS justifies another permanent antenna.

A final option is to use an HT which seems the simplest provided it has adequate range. My Vertex 150 could work. I can always add a higher gain antenna to it.

I may do a separate thread once I have all this finalized, if anyone is interested.

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Totally!

I have a MotoX+UV-5R setup I plan to test next weekend for APRS. I'll post a thread "Where's REDONE?" on saturday and ask anyone on the forum to go to aprs.fi , punch in my call, and then post if they see me, where they see me and what time is shown for my last update on aprs.

This will give me actual time stamps for the tracking instead of just looking at my track on aprs.fi after the fact. I've got a total of $50 invested in my APRS rig so far (including cables and antenna), BUT I've repurposed an old phone for the GPS AND it's not proven which is why I haven't posted much about it yet. I only want my APRS to transmit 2m at low power because it's automated. I don't want it to blast over other stations unnecessarily. If I have problems getting my packets through then I'll look at a more powerful transmitter.

My comms rig is just a Luiton 25w 2m/70cm transceiver, but I haven't even installed it yet so I don't have anything to say about it yet.

Sounds cool. If I have time I will fire up a 2m rig to listen for ya in addition to looking at APRS.fi ... via PC w/ direwolf or APRSdroid on my Moto x.

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REDONE wrote:Totally!

I have a MotoX+UV-5R setup I plan to test next weekend for APRS. I'll post a thread "Where's REDONE?" on saturday and ask anyone on the forum to go to aprs.fi , punch in my call, and then post if they see me, where they see me and what time is shown for my last update on aprs.

This will give me actual time stamps for the tracking instead of just looking at my track on aprs.fi after the fact. I've got a total of $50 invested in my APRS rig so far (including cables and antenna), BUT I've repurposed an old phone for the GPS AND it's not proven which is why I haven't posted much about it yet. I only want my APRS to transmit 2m at low power because it's automated. I don't want it to blast over other stations unnecessarily. If I have problems getting my packets through then I'll look at a more powerful transmitter.

My comms rig is just a Luiton 25w 2m/70cm transceiver, but I haven't even installed it yet so I don't have anything to say about it yet.

I bet I can see ya all the way from Texas.

shimniok wrote:Sounds cool. If I have time I will fire up a 2m rig to listen for ya in addition to looking at APRS.fi ... via PC w/ direwolf or APRSdroid on my Moto x.

My APRS base station is now ready to go, so let me know when you want me to watch for ya.

My setup: Icom 2340H connected thru leftover CATV cable to homebrew 2m antenna; Win10 laptop with Direwolf acting as a modem (terminal node controller, or TNC), and APRSIS32 with ArcGIS topo maps.

For the Jeep: same setup but different radio. My Vertex VX-150 HT or Kenwood TM231A should be easy to interface to laptop audio. APRSIS32 with the topo maps look promising for navigation, replacing Overland Navigator. GPS: Hemisphere R120 GPS with A21 antenna. Some day maybe I will convert to bluetooth for audio & serial.

You guys make my head hurt.....

srobertsfsj wrote:You guys make my head hurt.....

Agreed... I am going to try and study up for my local test on 3/11/17. Hopefully the radio nerd gods are smiling when I take the test!

A bump. Also, I bought a new radio with that includes aprs so I am looking forward to trying that out as well

Bump for info,

Craig KI7FAN Kenwood TM-V71
FT-60R Handheld