Copyright: 1996 Warren Walker N8VNL


Contents

Contents - Main

  Automated Position Reporting System for Windows (WinAPRS™)

WInAPRS™ Mark and Keith Sproul.

APRS™ Bob Bruninga

Introduction  - An Introduction and overview of APRS / WinAPRS

System Requirements - System requirements for running WinAPRS

Installation - Installing WinAPRS

Registering WinAPRS

Configuration - Configuring WinAPRS, serial ports, TNC's etc.

Menu Commands

Troubleshooting

Other stuff - Howto's, features, more information, etc..


Other useful stuff

Contents - Other stuff

  Automated Position Reporting System for Windows (WinAPRS™)

WInAPRS™ Mark and Keith Sproul.

APRS™ Bob Bruninga

APRS Objects - Using APRS objects

CD-ROM call sign data base - Attaching a call sign database to WinAPRS

Global Labels - How to..

GPS set-up

Key Board Short cuts - For Map and Message windows

Maps - Using maps and the map files

Printing - Printing screen images

Terminal Window - Using the terminal window

TNC Settings - Some TNC settings

Weather Station - WinAPRS as a weather station.

Winds Aloft - How to..

Other APRS information via the Internet on the World Wide Web


I
Introduction

WinAPRS™ is a version of MacAPRS™ for the Windows operating system. WinAPRS implements the APRS™ protocol for Automatic Position Reporting System originally developed by Bob Bruninga.

MacAPRS™ and WinAPRS™ are licensed versions of APRS™. "APRS" is trademarked by Bob Bruninga, MacAPRS and WinAPRS are trademarked by Mark and Keith Sproul.

Overview of APRS™

Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, developed a system for tracking objects using Packet Radio. His system uses unconnected packets (UI frames) for transmitting the position and other information about each station or object. He has been working on this system since 1984. In 1992 Bob presented a paper at the ARRL Computer Networking Conference that introduced the DOS program called APRS™

(Automatic Position Reporting System). APRS™ is a program that receives these packets and displays the objects on a map on your computer screen. Since then, APRS has become quite popular in Packet Radio and is gaining new users daily.

MacAPRS™ and WinAPRS™

MacAPRS / WinAPRS are implementations of WB4APR's APRS protocols. MacAPRS / WinAPRS are written in "C" using none of the code from Bob's original QuickBasic program. MacAPRS / WinAPRS is designed to be fully compatible with the protocols developed by Bob Bruninga.


System Requirements

WinAPRS is a true 32-bit application written to the Win32 API, which means that it works under Windows NT and Windows 95. To run under Windows 3.1, you will need the Win32S* library (DLL).

WinAPRS has been tested on a 386 running Windows95 and while slow, worked just fine. A 486 of at least 33MHz and 8 megabytes of Ram running either Windows95 or Windows NT is recommended.

Serial ports mapped under Windows as 1 through 8 have been tested and all work fine.

All of my initial testing was done on a 486/66 running Windows NT. As of Jan 1, 1996 I am also running on a Pentium/100 running Windows95.

(Comment about Windows 95: WinAPRS on the 486 running Windows NT seems FASTER than on the Pentium running Win95. Also Windows NT is much more stable).

*Refer to the Win32S section for installation instructions:


Installation

WinAPRS is normally distributed via the internet as a ZIP file, To unzip the file while in DOS or a DOS window you will need to change your working directory to where you wish to install WinAPRS

C:\WINDOWS> CD \

C:\> pkunzip -d WINAPRS.ZIP

This will install WinAPRS in it's own directory off of the root directory. The file name might be slightly different. The "-d" option should make it create the necessary directories and sub-directories. The ZIP file should unzip to exactly what is below, if it does not, see MANUAL FILE INSTALLATION.

 NOTE IF YOU ARE RUNNING Windows 3.1

If you try to run the application and it IMMEDIATLY quits, then you do NOT have Win32S installed. Win32S MUST be installed FIRST!!!!  See Setting up Win32S


Registration Information

WinAPRS™ Registration Information

WinAPRS is shareware. The shareware registration fee is $60.00 (US).

MacAPRS, the Apple Macintosh version is $50.00 (US).

The downloadable versions of MacAPRS and WinAPRS are fully functional and are the SAME versions that registered users have. The only difference is that if you are not registered, you cannot save your settings. One registration covers ALL aspects, there are no hidden charges or extra charges for extra features. When you register, you will receive a validation number. This number allows you to save your settings.

Print the Registration Form, fill it out and send it along with the registration fee to:

     Mark Sproul

     698 Magnolia Rd

     North Brunswick, NJ 08902

 Registration Form


Registration Form

To print this form select Print Topic

WInAPRS™ / MacAPRS™

Shareware Registration Form

You may use WinAPRS™ at your home station, in the mobile, in your pocket, on your head, at work or school, in space, in your boat, under water, on your bicycle or anywhere else you wish. You may also use it simultaneously on as many computers as necessary as long as you do the following:

1. No two stations will have the same call sign and extension (FCC RULES).

2. You do not exceed the maximum FCC allowable extensions to your callsign.

Please fill out the following and send it in with your registration fee.

      Callsign: _____________________________ (Required)*

          Name: _____________________________

Street Address: _____________________________

City/State/Zip: _____________________________

    Home Phone: (___)_______ Work:(___)______ (Not required)

E-MAIL Address: _____________________________ (Not required)

Please enclose (circle one below)

   $60.00 for WinAPRS for Windows or

   $50.00 for MacAPRS for Mac.

Send it to:

     Mark Sproul

     698 Magnolia Rd

     North Brunswick, NJ 08902        Thank you for your order!

The following is not required and is only used as an aid for future development.

Will you be using WinAPRS with Windows 3.1 [ ]

                               Windows95™  [ ]

                               Windows NT™ [ ]

                      Other Please specify ____________

On how may stations will you be using WinAPRS™ (best guess) ___

Will you be using WinAPRS™ with a GPS receiver? _______

if so then what kind of GPS unit? (mfgr) _____________

How did you find out about WinAPRS™ ___________(friend, internet, etc..)


Configuration

Originally I thought that the settings for WinAPRS would have to be dramatically different from what was done for MacAPRS, this is due to the vastly different implementation of dialogues for Windows verses the MacOS. I was able to write software that read the Mac dialog resources and output Windows dialog resource descriptions. This made the conversion dramatically easier and made the dialog boxes for both versions practically identical.

Under the SETTINGS menu there are several different settings dialog boxes. They may not be in this order.

NOTE: Unregistered users: Any changes made will be lost when you quit the program. To preserve your settings see the section on Shareware registration.

Station - This is where you set your callsign, latitude/longitude, validation number, station type, etc.

APRS - ID String, beacon string, time out settings

Serial Port - Set up com port parameters

TNC - TNC type, TNC init strings

Position report settings - How often your station sends out a position report.

Weather settings - Set your weather station type, or if you don't have one, set the current temperature, etc manually so that you can transmit the values.

CallBook DataBase - Set your call book CD-ROM type.

Open selections

Manual Send


Station Settings

 Enter your callsign and registration number. If you do not have a registration number you will not be able to save your settings. You must re-configure WinAPRS each time you run it.

Latitude: Enter your latitude as DD MM SS tabbing between the fields. Select (N)orth if your station is in the northern hemisphere otherwise select (S)outh

Longitude: Enter your longitude as DD MM SS tabbing between the fields. Select (W)est if your station is west of Greenwich or (E)ast if it is East.

At the combo box under Longitude select the UTC offset of your station that coresponds with the number of hours difference from your station to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). If you are west of Greenwich then your offset will be negative. East is positive.

EX: Cleveland Ohio is UTC offset -5. Cleveland is 5 hours behind GMT.

Station Icon: Enter the ASCII character that corresponds to the station icon you wish others to see. For a list of ICONS see the Symbol List concerning APRS Objects

GPS Icon: Same as above for stations reporting GPS positions.


APRS settings

APRS Settings set parameters for the APRS functions.

Comment

ID String

Beacon Text

Tracking Options  Options for tracking stations

Automatic Logging  Options for logging functions

Automatic Input

Min Font Size

Auto Flag Macs

Auto Flag Windows


Comment

Enter any comments you wish to include in your APRS packet


ID String

Enter the text you wish to include when your station ID's


Beacon Text

Enter the text you wish to include when your station sends its BEACON.


Tracking Options

Auto Track Moving Stations

Number of points to save

Track Delta

Alarm Delta

Station Time Out

Station Dim Out

Special Event


Auto Track Moving Stations

Check this box if you wish WinAPRS to automatically track moving stations


Number of points to save

Enter the maximum number of data points you wish to save for tracked items.


Track Delta

Enter the number of seconds WinAPRS needs to…


Alarm Delta

Enter the number of seconds WinAPRS needs to…


Station Time Out

Enter the number of hours WinAPRS will keep a station alive on the screen before it times out and is removed from the map.


Station Dim Out

Enter the number of hours WinAPRS will keep a station active on the screen before it dims (turns gray) and starts to time out.


Special Events

Enter the ID of the special event if you are using WinAPRS in that event.

EX: Field day, Marathon, Bike run etc..


Automatic Logging

Station Logging - Logs all station activity

APRS Logging - Logs APRS stations

NMEA Logging - Logs local NMEA data

Weather Logging - Logs Weather station data

Message Logging - Logs all stations messages

RDF Logging - Logs RDF station activity

Stats Logging - Logs APRS stats


Automatic Input

These selections will cause WinAPRS to automatically open the ports associated with external devices and allow communications to begin whenever WinAPRS is started.


Minimum Font Size

Enter the smallest font you wish WinAPRS to use while displaying logs and text.


Auto Flag Macs

Automatically flags stations using MacAPRS


Auto Flag Windows

Automatically flags stations using WinAPRS


Serial Ports

Setting the serial ports

The port names correspond to the five devices that WinAPRS can control and monitor.

These are: VHF - The VHF link,   HF/Dual - The HF or Dual port link, GPS - The GPS receiver link, WX - The Weather station link and RDF - The Radio Detection Finder link.

The Number setting refers to the port number identified by Windows.  COMM1 is port 1, COMM2 is port 2 … All the way to COMM8 if you wish.

NOTE: Windows must be set-up to access each port through it's own low level drivers. WinAPRS does not need to know information about interrupts, address etc. It is possible to use a multiport serial card with the proper Windows drivers to allow WinAPRS to access any port.

The speed, data bits, stop bits and parity settings should correspond to the required speed of the device connected to each port.

If you attempt to open a comm port that has been already opened WinAPRS will respond with a Port Error message. Each device that you use should have it's own comm port.


TNC settings

Setting up your TNC's can be the most challenging thing you'll have to do when using WinAPRS.

Since the scope of RELAYs, WIDEs, GATEs and TNC commands can be quite varied I would recommend reading the documents included in Bob Bruninga's APRS software.

As new versions of WInAPRS are released we will make an attempt to detail this section on TNC's

WinAPRS supports dual port TNCs such as the AEA DSP-2232 and PK-900 and the KAM.

This configures the switch strings to

   * AEA are "|0" and "|A"

   * KAM are "~A" and "|A".

These strings can be set in the TNC settings dialog box using the P1 and P2 switch options. If you select the correct TNC button, it will automatically set these for you. If you are using non-standard TNC's put your settings in the boxes provided.

MSG Retries are the number of times WinAPRS will attempt to send a message before it gives up.


Keyboard shortcuts

While in the MAP Window:

   * "-" or "PageDown" -- Zooms in on the map, the most recent click location becomes the new center.

   * "+" or "PageUP" -- Zooms out on the map,

   * "A" -- Alarm, sets movement alarm for the currently selected station.

   * "B" -- Draw Map Boundaries, this shows the outline of all of the maps.

   * "H" or "Home" -- takes you back to the default zoom factor for that map

   * "L" -- Redraw the current map (From control-L for clear screen)

   * "R" -- Replay track, select a station that has tracking information, then press "R", it will replay the track of that station.

While in the Message List Window

   * "A" -- AGAIN If CAPS LOCK is not down, it RE-PLAYS the message via the Macintosh Text To Speech (Mac Only)

   * "R" -- REPLY Brings up a new-message dialog box pre-addressed to the SENDER of the message. The cursor is in the TEXT box ready for you to type.

   * "S" -- SEND Brings up a new-message dialog box pre-addressed to the RECEIVER of the message. The cursor is in the TEXT box ready for you to type.

   * "F" -- FORWARD Brings up a new-message dialog box with the text of the CURRENT message in the text box and the cursor in the TO field to allow you to type in a new recipient.

   * "Clear" -- Clears the counter(s) allowing the message to keep on trying to be sent.

   * "Delete" -- Deletes the message, sets the FLAG (changes to MAGENTA) so the message won't be sent any more

   * "=" -- Sets the message to ACKNOWLEDGED (changes to GREEN)


Winds Aloft

WinAPRS fully supports the APRS weather protocols with a sophisticated weather display. More and more will be added in the future.

The first advanced weather feature is the Winds Aloft display.

In order to take advantage of this feature you must have several things.

   * The airport list as described above

   * FAA winds aloft data files which can be obtained from gopher://geograf1.sbs.ohio-state.edu.:70/1/wxascii/aviation/flyUS3

     The files that you want are:

        * 6 Hour Forecast

        * 6 Hour Forecast (Above 40000)

Once you have the files, go to the select OPEN WEATHER from the FILE menu, and open each of these two files, not much will happen but then redraw the map and you will see the display shown below.

To display the different altitudes, press the keys 0 thru 9, each one will display a different elevation starting at 3000 feet. Note that some locations, such as Denver Colorado will not show any wind at that altitude because Denver is higher than 3000 feet. Also, control-W will display ALL of the winds at the same time.

Note that these airports will now show up in the station list. They aren't really stations but that is the way they are represented internally. You can turn on and off the display of the airport names by changing the Display Callsign option under the display menu.


Global Labels

Starting with WinAPRS version 1.0.5 a feature known as Global Labels has been added. Create a folder (directory) called LABELS in the same directory as the application. You can put as many text files containing labels here as you like. These labels will be shown on ALL maps. This allows you to create a list of your own labels that get added to ALL maps. The format for the file is EXACTLY the same as the label entries in a DOS-APRS map file so you can use a text editor to copy any and all labels that you want. There is no limit to the number of labels that you can have in this file (well, it will probably break if you put more than 32,000 labels in it). The label range feature is implemented so that you can set the labels so they won't clutter up the map if you are zoomed out.

Labels are drawn on maps at given lat / long coordinates. Each label has a range scale associated with it, so that more labels can appear at smaller ranges. Each line consists of 4 fields separated by commas.  The first is the label text followed by the LAT, LONG and RANGE.  LAT and LONG must be  given in decimal degrees.

Example - these are some of the exits on the New Jersey Turnpike

    Label text,  Latitude     ,    Longitude    , Range

     Exit 6,40.097777777777777,74.72944444444445,60

     Exit 7,40.12138888888889,74.70361111111111,100

     Exit 7A,40.19166666666666,74.60388888888889,100

     Exit 8,40.26388888888889,74.51194444444444,100

     Exit 8A,40.35111111111111,74.47361111111111,100

     Exit 9,40.47722222222223,74.40777777777778,100

     Exit 14,40.70666666666667,74.15194444444444,100

In the future you will be able to edit these labels from within WinAPRS.


Printing

NOTE: Printing functions are not yet directly implemented. Look for them in a future release.

For now you can use the Cut-And-Paste method. Use the <PrintScr> key to capture the screen in the clipboard. Start the Windows Paint program and paste the image to the clipboard. You can now edit and print the screen image.


Position Report Rate

    Position report rate is how often your station sends a position report.

Position rates should be 60 minutes or greater unless you are moving.

Weather rates should be 15 minutes or greater on VHF and 30 minutes or greater on HF.


Weather station set-up

  Setting up the weather station

Blam!  I need help with this one..


Call Book Database

WinAPRS can take advantage of call sign databases on CD-ROM. The following CD-ROMs are supported:

Buckmaster - both the older ones US only and the new format, (starting with October 95)

AmSoft

Percon

SAMS - To use the current SAMS CD-ROM, you must download an index file. We hope to get SAMS to include this index file on future versions of their CD-ROM.

QRZ - This is not yet supported on WinAPRS but is soon coming.

To setup the CD-ROM callsign database select the CD type from the combo box then enter the drive letter of you CD-ROM at the top right of the dialog box.  Next verify that all the appropriate files and support files are present by selecting the check file button for each entry.


Open Selections

If you wish to manually open a device, click the device you wish to open. You may set WinAPRS to automatically open devices on startup. See Automatic Input Settings in the APRS settings section.


Send selections

Click the desired function to force WinAPRS to send the selection.


MAPS

Map Windows

Map movement

Map Boundaries

Map Zooming

Default map

The map file format for WinAPRS is exactly the same as MacAPRS. This means that all of the maps developed for MacAPRS can be used for WinAPRS. You must have a "Maps" folder (directory) in the same folder as the WinAPRS application. All Maps must be placed inside this folder.

The maps that are used with DOS-APRS work just as well, simply put them into the same MAPS folder and they will show up in the MAP menu. There is no "MAPLIST.DAT" file as there is in DOS-APRS. All you have to do is put the maps in the MAPS directory and run the program. Please note that the DOS-APRS maps have far less resolution than the MacAPRS maps. They have a maximum of 3000 points. We have some MacAPRS maps that have 130,000 points and recently created one map that has 250,000 points (it took a few seconds to draw).

NOTE: Currently, if you put too many maps in the Maps folder, you can't see all of them in the menu. The menu will not scroll off of the bottom. I know about this and am working on a solution. In the meantime, go to the Map List window. You can double click on the map there and it will bring up a new window with that map.

Please note that if you put maps in the folder while WinAPRS is running, you have to quit and restart before it will recognize the new maps.

Some of the maps for Macintosh on the TAPR FTP site are in Macintosh "sit.hqx" format. This is similar to ZIP format for PCs, but of course not compatible. We have found a PC program called SITEX10.EXE that allows decompression of these files on PCs. It can be found at:

    ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/archiver/


Map Windows

WinAPRS supports many map windows open at the same time. On start-up, one map window is opened and the first map (default map) in the map folder is used. To create additional maps, use the "New Map Window" command under the "Windows" menu. Then use the "Map" menu to select which map to use. You can have as many maps open as you have memory to handle. When you run out of memory, you will get an warning and it won't open the map. You can also go to the map list window and double click on the name of a map file, it will bring up a new window with that map.


Map movement

Click on a location in the map and then using page-up, page-down or the '+' and '-' keys causes you to zoom-in or zoom-out. You can at anytime go back to the default magnification (Home View) by hitting the 'Home' key or the 'h' key. Once you have zoomed in on a map, you can use left, right, up, and down arrows to move around within the map. It does NOT automatically switch to another map when you reach the edge of the current map.


Map Boundaries

Display Map Boundaries command will show the outline of all of the maps on the current map window. This will show you the bounding rectangles of each of the maps. You can also do this by hitting the 'B' key.


Map Zooming

Using the right mouse button, double-click on any point to zoom to the next highest map resolution.


Default Map

During program start-up, maps in the MAPS directory are searched ALPHA-NUMERICALLY. (A-Z)

To set a map as the start-up default map rename the map so that alphabetically it is first. For instance rename OHIO.MAP to AOHIO.MAP.


Weather Station

WinAPRS supports several weather stations. Currently supported units are:

  1. Peet Bros Ultimeter-II

  2. Peet Bros U-2000

  3. Heathkit 5001

  4. Davis - We are working on Davis support, it is not finished yet.

The Ultimeter II and U-2000 are available from :

     Peet Brothers Company, Inc.

     PO Box 243

     Allenhurst, NJ 07711

     (908) 531-4615

     Peet Brothers will have their own web site soon. When it is available, there will be a link to it here.

Return to Contents


Menu Commands

The WinAPRS menus

File  Edit  Settings  Logging  Map  Display  Lists  Windows


File menu

About WinAPRS™

New Map Window

Open

Open Weather

Save

Close

Print - Not yet ready for WinAPRS

Exit


About

Display the ABOUT dialog box.


New Map Window

This selection will open a new window with a map display with the default map.


Open

The file open command lets you open a log file. The ability to SAVE log files is not yet ready in WinAPRS.


Open Weather

This selection will open a winds aloft data file. See Winds Aloft section


Save

This selection will save a file, each of the LIST windows will save out a log file with the information contained in that list, the MAP window will save out a new map. This is for when you modify the labels in a map.  (saving of maps is not yet ready in WinAPRS).


Close

Closes the current window only


Quit
Exit

Closes all files, COMM ports and exits WinAPRS


Edit menu

The Edit menu allows you to edit and add stations and labels to WinAPRS

Edit/Add Station

Edit/Add Label

Clear Stations and Msgs


Edit/Add Station

This will allow you to edit or add an APRS object or station.


Edit/Add Label

This selection will allow you to edit or add map labels.


Clear Stations and Msgs

This clears ALL stations and messages from memory.


Settings menu

Settings info here


Logging menu

The logging menu allows you to set or clear flags causing WinAPRS to log events.

Station Logging

APRS Logging

NMEA Logging

Local Weather Logging

Message Logging

Local RDF logging


Station Logging

Logs all station activity


APRS Logging

Logs APRS station activity


NMEA Logging

Logs NMEA data from GPS or Loran stations


Local Weather Logging

Logs local weather data (see Weather Station)


Message Logging

Logs messages (see List Messages)


Local RDF logging

Logs local RDF stations


Map menu

The Map menu gives you access to the various map functions.

Display Map Boundaries

Map List Window

Maps


Display Map Boundaries

This will show outlines of all of the current maps.


Maps

You can select a new map to be the displayed in the current window. On Windows, this menu does not scroll so you may have to go to use the Map list Window to see all of your maps.


Display menu

Home View

Station Call Signs

Station Icons

Map Labels

Map Symbols

Auto Refresh Maps

All Stations

Alarm Stations Only

Flagged Stations Only

Weather Stations Only

Course and Speed

Grid square (2 ltr)

Grid square (4 ltr)

Airports

Replay Track


Home View

Takes the current map window back to the default scale for that map. Does nothing for other windows.


Station Call Signs

This will turn on or off the display of Station call signs.


Station Icons

This will turn on or off the display of ICONs for the individual stations on a map. When turned off, a small circle is displayed instead. NOTE: This normally defaults to ON, except for     Windows 3.1, where it defaults to OFF. Under Windows 3.1, the icons are large, 32x32 bits. These look out of place and can really clutter up the map. You can turn them on if so desired.


Map Labels

This will turn on or off the display of map text labels such as city names and streets.


Map Symbols

This will turn on or off the display of map symbols, these are similar to labels but have an ICON associated them as well.


Auto refresh maps

When this is enabled, all maps will get redrawn every 3 minutes. This is useful when tracking lots of moving stations.


All stations

Turns on all stations for the current map, this is the default mode for a map.


Alarm Stations only

This selection causes the current map to display ONLY ALARMING stations.


Flagged stations only

This will causes the current map to display ONLY currently FLAGGED stations. See the section on using the Flagged List.


Weather stations only

This will make the current map display ONLY the stations that have weather information.


Course and Speed

This selection will enable the display of the course and speed vectors of moving objects.


Grid square (2 ltr)

This will draw 2 letter grid square lines and display the letter codes if space permits.


Grid square (4 ltr)

This will draw 4 letter grid square lines and display the letter codes if space permits.


Airports

This will display to the current map, the locations of all of the airports. The AIRPORT.DAT file must be in the data folder. (see Airport List for more info)


Replay Track

This will display a "track-line" showing the path that the tracked object has traveled. First you need to select a moving station on a map by clicking on it, then select Replay Track (or hit the "R" key).

NOTE: Objects that don't have "Track Packets" will not display a track. To see if an object has "Track Packets" check the Track List. Also be sure that station tracking has been enabled. You can automatically enable tracking for all stations in the APRS settings menu.


Lists Window
Lists Menu

There are many different types of list windows in WinAPRS. Each of the windows supplies a list of information organized in a different manner. Some of the information is constant such as the current list of maps. Most of the information is dynamic and will change as stations appear, etc.

* New Message - Send a message

* Message List - Display messages

* Map List

* Station List

* Flagged Station List

* Alarming Stations List (need info)

* When Heard List

* Weather List

* History List

* Track List

* RDF List

* CallBook List

* Weather Display

* Symbol List

* Global Labels List

* Airport List

* Internal State


New Message

  New Message will display a dialog box for your message.

In the TO box, type in the callsign of the station you wish to send the message to.

In the message box type in the brief message you wish to send. Keep it as short and brief as possible.


Message List

WinAPRS recognizes standard APRS messages. This window shows all of the messages that have been seen since the program started. Messages TO you will be shown in RED. Messages FROM you will be shown in BLUE until they are ACKnowledged, then they will be shown in GREEN. Bulletins and beacons will be shown in DARK BLUE. Station ID's will be shown in light BLUE. Other messages will be shown in BLACK. Selecting a message and typing 'R' will REPLY to that message, already filling in the destination call sign. You can click on the column headers and the messages will then be sorted by that column.


Map List

The Map list is a list of all of the currently available maps. This is NOT to be confused with "MAPLIST.DAT" from DOS-APRS. This list shows the name of the map file, the name of the map, the number of points, the number of labels, the creator and the type (Mac/Win or DOS). For DOS-APRS maps, the number of points and the number of labels is NOT available unless you read the entire map in and count them. Therefore this information is not available in the beginning. As soon as you use a particular map, that information is updated in the map list window so the contents of the window will change. While talking to several of the beta testers of WinAPRS, I have mentioned the "Map List". This refers to THIS window, NOT the menu list.

You can double click or hit the return / enter key and a new map window with the selected map will be created. Remember, you can have as many maps open as you have memory to handle.


Station List

This window shows all of the stations seen since the program started. The list includes the ICON of the station, a second ICON if the station has reported more than one type, i.e. QTH and WEATHER, call sign, number of packets, and station ID if any. While in this window, you can Double Click on a station to bring up the Station Info Window for that station. You can also use the up-down arrow keys and then hit RETURN or ENTER to bring up a Station Info Window. Page-Up and Page-Down work also.

Note: If the internal buffers overflow, the packet list will reset back to zero. Therefore, this window might say that you have received a large number of packets from a station and not show any. Don't let this alarm you.

When the message buffer is full, it will delete the FIRST HALF of the messages EXCEPT for any messages that are actually to you. It will continue to do this as every time the message buffer fills up. In other words, you can go away for the weekend (or a whole week) and come back and ALL of the

messages that were sent to YOU will still be there, all of the recent messages will still be there. You don't lose anything important and you don't have to remember to clear the message list.


Flagged Station List

This is a list of stations that you have "flagged". You can flag a station by going to the Station List window, selecting a station, and hitting the 'F' key. This allows you to keep track of stations that you are interested in without having to scroll through the entire list.


History List

The history list shows ALL of the packets received. This can get to be a very long list. When it fills up, it dumps the buffer and starts over.


Weather List

This window shows data from Weather stations and includes station type, call, time, temperature, rain fall, pressure, wind speed and direction, and weather alarms.


Symbol List

This windows displays the APRS object numbers and associated icons. See APRS Objects.


Global Labels List

This window lists the global labels found in the labels directory See Global Labels.


When List

Displays a window showing when the stations in the Station List were heard.


Tracked Station List

Shows the moving stations that are being tracked.


RDF List

Shows a list of stations reporting Radio Direction Finding information


CallBook list

Displays the CallBook information for selected stations. (requires a CallBook setup)


Weather Display

Displays the current weather information gathered either manually (you supply the data) or via automated weather instruments.  See the section on Weather Stations


Telemetry List

The APRS protocol defines an ability to have telemetry data transmitted from something like a balloon. This window will display that information if any is available.


Airport List

 If you have the file "Airport.dat" in you DATA directory, then you can display most of the airports in the world.

Select AIRPORTS under the DISPLAY menu, this will draw all of the air ports in the list on the current map. This is a temporary display only and the airports will disappear the next time the map is redrawn. If you hold down the Control key <CTL>, it will display the airport 3 letter code as well.

You can look at the entire list by selecting AIRPORT LIST under the LISTS menu. This will display the entire list showing the airport code, city, lat / lon and elevation. The elevation data is present for most of the airports. You can sort the list by clicking on any of the column headings. This can be interesting when you do a "Display Airports" because they will be displayed on the map in the same order they appear in the list. i.e. sort by elevation then do a display for the entire USA map.

The airport data file can be found on the CD-ROM that we produced or on the FTP site, it must be placed in the DATA directory and MUST be named "AIRPORTS.DAT".


Internal State

This window shows the values of important settings inside the program. This is different from the settings dialog boxes because they can be miss-leading at times. This window allows you to look at all of the important internals in one place and will allow us to better assist users in case of problems.


Windows menu

This menu gives you control of the WinAPRS windows

Next Window

New Map Window

Cascade   Tile   Arrange Icons (Standard window functions)

Terminal Window


Next Window

This will bring the next window into focus if more than one window is open. You can also use the <TAB> key to swap open windows.


New Map

This will create a new map window with the default map displayed.


Terminal Window

This will bring up a terminal window that will allow you to talk directly to your TNC or other port. It will connect to whichever port you have open. If you do not have any port open, it will not let you open the terminal window.

During the time that the terminal window is open, APRS data STILL gets processed. If the Terminal Window is the FRONT MOST WINDOW, then WinAPRS will NOT output any commands or strings to the TNC. If the terminal window is not the currently active window, then WinAPRS will output as normal. At ALL times, the INPUT from the port is still processed normally by WinAPRS so you do not lose any data.


APRS Objects

You can add an object by clicking anywhere on a map, then selecting the Add/Edit Station command from the EDIT menu. Fill out the information. You can change the location by clicking on the object, then editing it again, OR, you can hold down the Command/Alt key and drag it to the new location.

When you create an object, if you want it to be transmitted out so others see it, make sure that the OBJECT setting in the Position Rate Settings dialog box is something other than 0 (the default). A good recommended value is 30 minutes or higher.

A list of APRS objects and their icon symbols can be found under the Lists menu - Symbol List.


Manual File Installation

If you cannot use the pkunzip program with the -d option you will need to do the following:

1	Create a folder (directory) called "WinAPRS" (or what ever you want)

2	Copy the following files into that folder

WINAPRS.EXE

SERDLL32.DLL

SERTHUNK.DLL

SER16DLL.DLL

3	Either copy or create a folder called "MAPS". This folder MUST be here and must be called exactly "MAPS".

4.	Put any and all of your maps in the MAPS folder.

5.	Create a folder called "DATA"

6.	Copy AIRPORT.DAT into this folder

7.	Create a folder called "LABELS"

8.	Copy label files into this folder (see section on global labels)

Return to: Contents   Installation


Other APRS info on the Web

   * Sproul brother's MacAPRS/WinAPRS pages (location of this documentation):

     http://aprs.rutgers.edu/APRS/

   * Official MacAPRS / WinAPRS FTP site:

     ftp://aprs.rutgers.edu/pub/hamradio/aprs/

   * TAPR APRS Special Interest Group:

     http://www.tapr.org/tapr/html/sigs.html

   * Albemarle Amateur Radio Club:

     http://www.cstone.net/~hsgentry/aarc.html

   * California APRS Info:

     http://www.ccnet.com/~rwilkins/aprs.html

   * Kansas City APRS Working Group:

     http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/APRS_KC

   * Northern Illinois APRS Network:

     http://tbc2.tbcnet.com/~davidc/aprs.html

   * Ontario APRS web page (with Ontario Maps):

     http://www.projectx.com/aprs

   * Packet Radio & APRS in the UK:

     http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Mike_J_Tyrrell/aprs.htm

   * Ralph Fowler's APRS Home Page:

     http://www.mindspring.com/~rwf/aprs.html

   * TAPR APRS Special Interest Group:

     ftp://ftp.tapr.org/tapr/SIG/aprssig/aprssig.info

Related information

   * Advanced Electronic Applications (AEA):

     http://www.mvangel.com/aea/

   * PacComm Packet Radio Systems:

     http://www.paccomm.com/


Troubleshooting

When starting WinAPRS nothing happens.

Maps don't show up

Communications port problems

Configuration settings are not what I selected


WinAPRS doesnt load
WinAPRS doesn't load

Shoot yourself in the foot.

If you are running Windows 3.1/3.11 and when you try to run the application and it IMMEDIATLY quits, then you do NOT have Win32S installed. Win32S MUST be installed FIRST!!!!

WinAPRS is a true 32-bit application and will not run under "straight" Windows which is only a 16-bit application itself. The Win32S is a sub system that adds 32-bit functionality to Windows 3.1/3.11.

You do not need Win32S for Windows95 or Windows NT

See Installing Win32S then shoot yourself in the foot again.


Maps dont show up
Maps don't show up

All maps MUST be in a folder (directory) called "Maps". This folder must be in the same folder as the application itself.

If you have the Maps folder but WinAPRS does not find it, you may have created a icon shortcut that is pointing somewhere else, you must select the properties and make sure that the application folder is set under advanced settings.

NOTE: New maps placed in the Maps folder will NOT show up until the next time you start the program.


Serial Comm Problems

Communications problems for Windows. Serial port issues can be a large problem for Windows users. Every effort has been made to exactly follow the MS-Windows programming guidelines for dealing with serial ports. The software goes through the operation system to access the ports. There is no knowledge of the address or IRQs in the program. We have done testing with up to 8 ports in a machine and all has worked well. All problems that we have run into have been traced to some comm port setting or IRQ conflict.

Serial I/O doesn't work and DLL failed to load message appears

The DLLs are missing, see the installation section.

Serial I/O still doesn't work

When the start-up dialog box is displayed, hold the SHIFT key down while clicking the OK button. This will turn on serial port debugging messages. This may help in solving serial port problems.


Settings messed up

If your settings get messed up and you cannot get them to set correctly, delete the preferences file. It is the WinAPRS.prf in the same folder as the application. Note, if you do this you will have to re-enter ALL of your settings including your validation number.


Installing Win32S

First you must obtain the software. You can find the Win32S at the following URL.

http://tucows.com:8000/files/pw1118.exe       (2,530,739 bytes)

It is also available on CompuServe, America Online and the MSDN BBS. Search for Win32S.

After downloading create a temporary directory, copy pw1118.exe into it and run the program. The file will extract itself during execution into many files.

Run the set-up program and follow the instructions. Go ahead and install the FREECELL card game when asked.

After the 32-bit subsystem has been loaded and Windows has restarted, run the 32-bit FREECELL game application to verify that the Win32s has been installed correctly.

If all goes well you are now ready to run WinAPRS! (You can wrap up your foot now.)


NMEA

NMEA is an acronym for National Marine Electronics Association.

It is a non-profit association composed of manufacturers, distributors, dealers, educational institutions, and others interested in peripheral marine electronics occupations

                        (quoted from a promo in "NMEA News")

Here are just a few of  the NMEA-0180 GPS sentences that GPS receivers output and WinAPRS processes.  Please note that these sentences are normally preceded by a "$GP" header.

GGA - Global Positioning System Fix Data

EX:  $GPGGA,123519,4807.038,N,01131.324,E,1,08,0.9,545.4,M,46.9,M, , *42

           123519       Fix taken at 12:35:19 UTC

           4807.038,N   Latitude 48 deg 07.038' N

           01131.324,E  Longitude 11 deg 31.324' E

           1            Fix quality: 0 = invalid

                                     1 = GPS fix

                                     2 = DGPS fix

           08           Number of satellites being tracked

           0.9          Horizontal dilution of position

           545.4,M      Altitude, Meters, above mean sea level

           46.9,M       Height of means sea level above WGS84 geoid

           (empty field) time in seconds since last DGPS update

           (empty field) DGPS station ID number

GLL - Geographic position, Latitude and Longitude

EX:  $GPGLL,4916.45,N,12311.12,W,225444,A

           4916.46,N    Latitude 49 deg. 16.45 min. North

           12311.12,W   Longitude 123 deg. 11.12 min. West

           225444       Fix taken at 22:54:44 UTC

           A            Data valid

RMC - Recommended minimum specific GPS/Transit data

EX:  $GPRMC,225446,A,4916.45,N,12311.12,W,000.5,054.7,191194,020.3,E*68

           225446       Time of fix 22:54:46 UTC

           A            Navigation receiver warning A = OK, V = warning

           4916.45,N    Latitude 49 deg. 16.45 min North

           12311.12,W   Longitude 123 deg. 11.12 min West

           000.5        Speed over ground, Knots

           054.7        Course Made Good, True

           191194       Date of fix  19 November 1994

           020.3,E      Magnetic variation 20.3 deg East

           *68          mandatory checksum