APRS Test Setup
You may remember the APRS setup I had in the RV a couple of summers ago. I am looking to do more mobile\backpack\motorcycle operating and eventually get into Summits On The Air (SOTA) so I'm working on a lighter weight version of my setup and first I'm testing all this in the car. The main components of my system are:
- Baofeng F8HP
- Mobilinkd TNC2
- RIGRunner 4004U
- Diamond Antenna K702M Mag Mount
- Diamond Antenna nr770hb 2m/70cm
I had the RIGRunner from the RV trip and I used it as the base for getting power to everything. All those cables and connections proved to be a mess in the car. Here's all the pieces laid out on the bench.
This worked well with exception that all those connections were fidgety. If I bumped into anything things would shut down. On the way East I had lots of stretches where something was off or I had accidentally turned off Location Services in the phone. Practice is important! The main point of this was just to see if it all worked with the lower power Baofeng radio and indeed with the externally mounted antenna it worked great. Here's the tail of my route on APRS.fi to prove it.
The next things I plan to do is eliminate as many of the connections in the power side of things as I can and to try and make it all even smaller. I might make my own power distribution board because that sounds like a fun project. Another idea I have is to get another mobilinkd without the case and combine it and the power board all into one enclosure.
BTW, my definition of fun usually starts with the phrase "I have no idea how to do that at all, let's see if I can figure it out."