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With help from KA1GJU, I got my OpenTracker 1m (Rev 2) APRS unit connected to my Yaesu VX-6R HT. It took a bit of soldering, testing and troubleshooting. GJU discovered that the blue wire on the VX-170 HT cable wasn’t connected to any pin on the 4 conductor 3.5mm waterproof connector. We installed the 10uF cap to pin 1 on the DB-9 and the 2K Ohm resistor to pin 3 on the DB-9, connected them to the white wire (Mic audio) and the tracker came to life!

So far, the set up works fine using only 5 watts from the HT. Once I get the mobile antenna mounted on the car, it should perform even better. Here is a picture of the OpenTracker, GPS receiver and HT.

So what does all this mean? What is APRS? To paraphrase Wikipedia, “APRS is the Automatic Packet Reporting System which uses amateur radio to automatically report the position of a person or object…” In my case, the tracker is used to report on the position of my car. I connect a small GPS receiver to the serial port on the back of OpenTracker and the HT transceiver, a Yaesu VX-6R, is connected to the radio port. The tracker itself is DC powered by a 3 amp fused cigarette lighter adapter. Using configuration software specifically for the OpenTracker, the tracker stores my ham callsign and other parameters controlling tracker behavior. Once everything is powered on and the GPS receiver has a satellite fix (about 10 seconds or less in my testing), the tracker takes the lat and lon from the GPS, bundles the data into a packet that is then passed to the transceiver. The transceiver sends out the data in a burst on 144.390 MHz (in the USA) that is picked up by a local digital repeater, or “digipeater”, for retransmission. An IGate, internet gateway software for APRS data, takes the incoming radio frequency data (the packet) and passes it to the APRS-Internet Service. So as I drive, I send out GPS position reports at periodic intervals that appear on the ‘net. You can view my position in real-time using FindU.com or APRS.fi. I prefer the latter, so go here to view the last transmitted position of my car. Here is a map of a short drive around town I took yesterday while testing the tracker.

Cranmore, North Conway, NH – 3/10/08

The kids had Monday and Tuesday off so we stayed in North Conway and skied Cranmore. Conditions were excellent, sunny, little wind. Snowboarding was terrific and the kids loved the long green runs.

Wildcat Mountain, Pinkham Notch, NH – 3/9/08

We headed up NH 16 to North Conway on Sunday. Our plan was to stay in Conway and ski locally. Got to Wildcat about noon and headed up the mountain for some runs. Looking back, the drive up to the ski area should have been our first clue that this was not going to be a relaxing day of skiing with the kids. In town it was sunny and relatively warm with no wind. The drive fifteen miles up into the mountains became darker, windier and colder along the way. As we rode the chair to the green and blue runs, I noticed the snow flying and knew this snowboarder was going to be tested. I was not disappointed. The descent was filled with crud and I learned that, in this case at least, ‘frozen granular’ equates to ice sheets. I augured in a few times and after being spanked hard for a while, headed for the lodge.

After a Guinness (okay, two), Kirsten and the kids came blaring through the radio. Giving them my QTH (ham-speak for location), they arrived and was treated to their story. They had headed up to the summit but the cr*ppy conditions caused them to spend an hour getting down the hill starting from Upper Pole Cat. It was tough for the kids (hey, they are only 6 and 10) but they came through it fine and we continued on with our skiing and boarding the next day…

Pats Peak, Henniker, NH – 3/2/08

Did a half day of snowboarding. Messed around with my stance width and pretty sure I had it set too wide. After about two runs my quads were on fire. As a beginner, I’m still fighting the board a bit and trying to dial in an angle that feels best for me. More experimentation and boarding needed.

The kids skied well. Abby took a path off a green run onto a short black diamond and went through the woods. She handled it with ease. Cate just loves the speed and picks a line that is almost straight downhill – and she stays in control and can turn on a dime. Next week, I think we’ll hit Cranmore and BW again.

Bretton Woods, Bretton Woods, NH – 2/24/08 – 2/29/08

Some of our best skiing and snowboarding to date. Fresh powder, almost 2′ while we were there, and flurries every day. The kids passed the tipping point and are now true skiers. Both were running through the green trails with ease. Abby ran many blues and a black diamond or two during our trip.

Loon Mountain, Lincoln, NH – 1/25/08 – 1/27/08

Excellent conditions. Warm and sunny, little wind. Very crowded. Kids skied well and really progressed.

Happy New Year! We’re back. Spent Christmas at Disney World and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge which was absolutely amazing. On Christmas day we went to a very crowded Epcot. We quickly learned our lesson and decided from that day onward we would get up early and hit the other parks during the morning ‘magic hours‘, get fast passes as often as possible and schedule our daily events in greater detail. This worked out well and the trip went smoothly. The weather was warm and sunny, had drinks by the pool each day, and reluctantly, returned to a cold and snowy New Hampshire.

I’m a fan of TiVo and have been using a TiVo Series 2 (S2) for years now with no problems. On 12 November, I noticed that my TiVo S2 would no longer change channels on my Comcast Motorola DCT cable box. Naturally, I restarted components and checked cables but nothing would get the cable box and TiVo to communicate with each other. I had a feeling that the problem was due to Comcast since the last TiVo service update occurred weeks earlier and all had been fine after the update. Turning to Google, I came across this post, Comcast Cable box – Serial connection, in the TiVo Community Forum. After browsing the posts there and reading other user complaints, it seems clear that Comcast did some sort of firmware update here in the Northeast which disabled the serial port in the older Motorola cable boxes (here’s a picture of my cable box above the TiVo.)

One could easily make the case that Comcast, in some sort of monopolistic fit, did this to push consumers to their own PVR. I doubt this is the case since a solution exists, albeit not nearly as elegant as the serial cable. Simply use the IR blaster. Another possible solution was posted and suggests that Comcast can send a “Factory Default Reset” to the cable box and raise the serial port from the dead. I’ll have to call and have Comcast give that a try before I dig out the IR blaster.

All of this has me thinking about my future TiVo plans. My TiVo S2 does not work with my HDTV using a Comcast Motorola HD box so I have it connected to my non-HD TV. Admittedly, there may be a workaround or two to get the TiVo S2 working with the HDTV-Comcast HD combo but, the last time I checked, the workarounds seemed too troublesome to bother attempting.

So do I go for the TiVo HD DVR or the pricey TiVo S3 HD DVR? Maybe I do the unthinkable and drink the Comcastic Kool-Aid (now available in blue pill form) and get Comcast TiVo. I think I’ll build my own DVR with MythTV before it comes to that.

Comments?

Last Sunday, with a lot of help from KB1OMS, I finally postioned the 2 meter / 70 cm vertical antenna on the peak of the roof. The antenna (a Comet GP-3), with a short mast attached so the radials clear the roof line, rises approximately 30′ from ground level to its base. The top of the antenna is nearly 36′ from ground level. A 50′ run of coax now makes it way into the shack from the GP-3.

I immediately noticed a significant improvement in the number of repeaters I could receive. I’ve only tried xmitting on a few so far but last I night I easily participated in an ARES net in a neighboring county.

This past weekend I sat for my General Class amateur radio license at the Great Bay Radio Association in Rochester NH. Passed with a 94% score. With a General Class license I now have HF operating privileges on portions of all amateur bands. Next up, the Extra Class license.