APRS was developed in the early 1990s
While packet was developed in Vancouver BC (hotly followed by lots of
activity in Arizona) it was Robert Bruninga WB4APR that was the driving
force behind APRS. The acronym is sometimes referred to as "Automatic
Position Reporting System" but it is really "Automatic Packet Reporting
System". Reporting a position is just one of the things that APRS can do. Bob's website is at
aprs.org.
The DNS is a bit screwy there, so if you can't reach it, there is a mirror
site at
www.wa8lmf.net/bruninga/aprs.html.
See also the NWAPRS site at
www.nwaprs.info for lots of information on how to set up a digipeater
using the settings that are now recommended for all of North America. It
also has suggestions for users as well. Keep in mind that RELAY, WIDE, TRACE
and TRACEn-N are OBSOLETE in North America. The recommended path for mobiles
is WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1. The recommended path for fixed stations is WIDE2-2
unless a shorter path is needed (e.g. within earshot of a "big" high
elevation digi) in which case you could use WIDE2-1. The common APRS
frequency in North America is 144.390 MHz, but some low powered trackers use
144.990. Most of the rest of the world uses 144.800 MHz. |
