VE6AB Technical
RC Sailplane APRS Package
I finally got around to putting the finishing touches on the APRS
package that will be residing in my radio controlled sailplane.
In the photo the unit is kicking out beacons with the info as seen in the insert photo from aprs.fi.
The on-board 2 meter transmitter is putting out approximately 1/2 watt, while powered by the small 3.7 volt lithium-ion battery connected to the device in the photo, and attached to the rear of the board.
With 5 volts powering the board, the transmitter will output 1 watt.
If your wondering where the transmitter is located, its beneath the GPS receiver that I have doubled-sided taped to the transmitter. This high-altitude GPS receiver (in the future, I may place this package into a APRS high-altitude balloon) may be the best gps receiver in my stable of units, as with it located in my basement shack, it gets a lock on satellites in under 45 seconds from a cold start....impressive.
As you can see by the information, for the moment I have the board programed with path settings of WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1,
My reasoning for this is the fact that I fly my RC sailplane over the slopes of the Bow River valley south of Langdon AB, and with APRS activated on my Kenwood D72 HT and outputting 5 watts from this location, I cannot be heard by a distant digipeater.
So with the path settings as set, and my mobile parked nearby with the Kenwood D710A mounted in the radio stack set up as a fill-in-digi, I will be able to be seen on aprs.fi.
Once I fly my RC sailplane with the APRS package on board, and when I get the sailplane up to altitude, if I'm being heard direct by a distant digipeater, then I'll change my path settings to WIDE1-1 and power down the fill-in-digi.
Click on the photo for a closer look.
The RC Sailplane this package is being installed in......
http://www.jerryclement.ca/HamRadio/VE6AB-Technical/i-dNbNh5v
