APRS+SA on old 386

I like to use things until they're worn out, shot, kaput...I have an old computer in my shack from 1994 a Pionex 386 running Windows 3.1. For abt 20 years, it has been running DOS APRS. For many of those years, it was a stand alone APRS station, lacking many of the things that newer APRS stations have.

A few years ago, I installed Win98. I tried winXP, but this old PC was far too feeble for a newer OS in it's current state, but it runs Win98 just fine. I put it on my home network, and connected 2 TNCs. It did a great job running a local packet cluster RF port on one TNC, and my DOS APRS application on the other TNC. A year or so ago, I pulled the DXCluster RF port down, as no one was using it. The PC was left running only the simple DOS APRS program...but doing a great job at that.

Recently, I decided to see what could be done to "upgrade" my APRS operations with better maps and such. I found APRS+SA was available, and is now has free registration. I already had SA 6.0 (Street Atlas) on this old computer, so the mapping part would be much better. I got it installed, registered, and sorted out for the most part. Wow, what a great improvement it was over what I was running. It can run as an IGate, interface my WX station, sends & receives messages very easily, and the mapping is a huge improvement.

It's not the newest whiz-bang option out there for APRS, but it really gave this old junker APRS station a new lease on life :-) Thanks to Brent KH2Z for a great APRS program that still runs on this old platform!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

APRS Keyboard QSOs, where did they go?

Many years ago (around 1995 or so), in a land not too far away (Zebulon NC), Jay KQ4MS and I put up the first APRS node east of Charlotte. At that time, we were cut off from the outside world, and used it for our own local keyboard chatting. From time to time, we would have band openings, and could work guys out in the western parts of NC and into Virginia. It was a lot of fun! Some of us had trackers and could see each other moving about, but for the most part we had daily communications via APRS.



The clock spun ahead, and other nodes began to appear on the map. It was awesome, we could easily work folks on the keyboard every night over a 3 state area. Friendships developed, and things improved in the network. Lots of folks were getting interested and wanted to participate in this network of mostly low altitude nodes.

We continued to revolve around the sun, and newer protocols arose that really helped with the unwanted ping-ponging, equipment got better, and lots more hams appeared on the scenes. Many of us had a blast every night, making keyboard contacts all around, even through the I-Gates that were beginning to pop up, and the many HF gateways that would allow us to work folks all over the US via RF APRS.

Sometime shortly after that, a new breed of APRS ops began to emerge that discouraged keyboarding due to the increased overhead on the network. Some of us got blacklisted on nodes and could no longer communicate with each other, and other were publicly chastised on the APRS forums. I closed my APRS station down and moved on to other modes of operation that were fun for me.

I recently got back on APRS, and discovered the crowds that were _all about_ APRS, telling the rest of us "how it should be done", are no longer there. There is a moderate amount of traffic, but a lot of the folks who used to operate APRS are now gone. What a shame, but that is the cycle we so often see on various modes of Ham Radio... AMTOR, SSTV, 2m repeaters, etc... Those of us who have been in the hobby many years have seen this over and over.

I've been sending out a CQ on APRS when I'm in the shack, and have been pleasantly surprised by making keyboard contacts with others who are interested in doing the same thing, once again. The maps aren't as crowded as they once were, but there are still lots of folks who enjoy actually communicating via APRS, even for just a short "hello" and to set up a schedule on a repeater or HF.

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net