Hi everyone!
With my recent adventures into the world of APRS, I figured that I should create a digipeater/iGate combo for the Maryville area. We have at least a dozen hams in town and I know of one in particular that uses APRS. Receiving packets in Maryville is easy - there is a station close to 30 miles away in Iowa that digipeats several packets down to our town without error. There is also a station in St. Joseph that I can hear perfectly too, as well as Falls City, NE - a little over 40 miles away from Maryville.
For this, I'm utilizing a Raspberry Pi Zero + WiFi, a handheld radio (any Baofeng or HT should work well for this, as well as any mobile rig), a GPS dongle and some radio interfacing wires. That's it! The Pi runs full-time with Direwolf as a digipeater and iGate (when connected to the internet), which will relay the received packets to the internet! It will also digipeat packets along the local RF network. I plan on using a simple external quarter-wave vertical with a few ground radials as well, mounted about 20 or 30 feet off the ground. Also, if things don't turn out, I could make this a portable digi to take with me on vacations, campouts, or outdoor ham radio ops. I think it would fit in an ammo box perfectly! Plus, the Pi runs off of a 5V power bank easily.
Of course, many of you are wondering if you can use more power for digipeating functions, and yes, you can. This would enable you to reach possibly a hundred miles. I do have some spare VHF base radios laying around that need to be fixed, and I could also use one of these. However, I'm looking into getting a new HT like a Yaesu or a Kenwood with APRS capabilities and I don't want my Baofeng to sit and collect dust. For now, 5 watts will do, especially if the antenna is placed at a high enough elevation. I can reach across the entire city with this power with ease and can hit the Maryville repeater well. I'd like to try it with a 1/4-wave though.
So the next time you are in the Northwest Missouri, Southwest Iowa, or even Southwest Nebraska area, send out a few APRS packets on 144.390. You just might show up on the aprs.fi network and people in and slightly around Maryville should be able to hear you!
I plan on adding a lot of amateur infrastructure at my place for my town, including an AllStar node for IRLP connections! I have a spare 2-channel UHF radio that I don't have a specific use for and I'm sure it puts out a fair enough amount of power. That, however, will come much, much later in the future.
The easiest way to set one of these digis up can be found on KM4ACK's YouTube page. His tutorial is very thorough, and if you are still struggling, documentation is your best friend! I'll leave links to the main YouTube video below, along with some helpful links that go along with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCpt6NY1kew - This is the main link that I used to build the digipeater. Jason walks through the process completely and doesn't leave a single detail out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kluL1atBtWw - Here, Jason uses a Digirig mini soundcard to interface into a Baofeng.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvkDWOXu7o8 - This is a real field test application of the portable digipeater. Not bad for what it's worth, if you ask me!
https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf - The Direwolf GitHub page for documentation, FAQs, and installation instructions.
Of course, there are several ways you can build a digipeater, and this is just one way!
In conclusion, this would be an excellent club or individual project for the beginning amateur. The only way APRS can work at all is if there is infrastructure to support it. While you are limited to specific bands as a Technician, just remember that the world of VHF is full of opportunity! It's not just limited to repeater operations.
The Ham Shack is Moving!
That's right! With a week-long Thanksgiving break coming up, I have finally decided to move my station to the lower decks (aka, the basement) and set up a proper, permanent antenna installation.
With that said, I am also revamping my area downstairs to accommodate for these changes, including installing a shelving unit to put all of my equipment in. I have also decided to continue using a random wire setup because they are just so dang cool! I do have enough room for up to 100' of wire, but I'll only be using a 71' or 74' radiator with a ~28' - 29' counterpoise. Our house also has a perfect place to pass coax through to the basement, and installing a bulkhead connector shouldn't be a problem. As an added bonus, it will be MUCH easier to make an eventual grounding system. Alongside my FT-891 will be my Yaesu FT-2200, which I got a while ago but never got around to using it on-air. It will more than likely use a simple 1/4-wave vertical like my future digipeater will use. Then again, I might keep this radio up in my room...
Stay tuned for an update!
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