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Monster Media 1993 #2
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README.WX
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1993-05-24
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USING APRS IN THE SKYWARN SYSTEM
The Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) is an ideal tool for
reporting weather conditions via packet. The system is compatible with both
human entry as well as automatic weather station entry of weather conditions.
In the APRS system, current conditions at any station are broadcast to all
stations on the net in a periodic fashion. Not only are these individual
conditions available to all stations on the net, but also importantly, the
location of these conditions are also displayed. There are several
capabilities of APRS that are directly applicable to the SKYWARN system:
MAP DISPLAY - Shows the location of all reporting stations, their wind
speed and direction. Can also show the location of other objects, such
as reports of TStorms, Hail, Tornados, etc
REPORT BROADCASTS - The individual station weeather conditions can be
placed in the Beacon Broadcast from each station
OPERATOR MESSAGES - The Point-to-point message capability can be used
for operator to operator messages and alerts.
COMMENTS - Transmitted along with each position report, there is a
short comment field which can be used to report station status,
intentions or other broadcast type information
VEHICLE TRACKING - APRS can track the movements of any mobile with a GPS or
LORAN-C receiver properly interfaced to a packet TNC.
SKYWARN APPLICATION: The map display has the capability of presenting both
a station's position and his course and speed. APRS recognizes a special
weather report indicator so that all weather reporting stations are highlighted
in blue and the software recognizes that their course and speed indicators are
for wind reporting and not for station course and speed. To indicate a weather
report, the letters WX: must be inserted as the first characters in the comment
field. The rest of the comment field is free-format so that weather reports
can be tailored to the conditions at any time. In addition to the brief
weather report, the station's Beacon Text is also available for broadcasting
additional amplifying information. Any station running APRS simply calls up
the LATEST display and sees the current conditions from all stations on one
screen. Similarly, he calls up the map display and sees the location of all
stations and all specially reported conditions. Any authorized station can
insert the location of any special object on the map. The location of that
reported object or condition is displayed on all screens in the network. We
use APRS every weekend for reporting the Chesepeake Weather and Traffic net.
Load the SKYWARN.BK file to see the APRS network during one of these nets.
REMOTE SENSORS: Another advantage of the APRS system is the ability to
display information from remote environmental sensors. We are currently
working on simple weather sensors to be interfaced to a TNC which will
automatically report their position and weather conditions once every 10
minutes. These stations will appear on the map and their reports be visible
using the LATEST display just like the home stations. It is planned to place
a weather node at the location of every wide area digipeater used in the APRS
system. Currently weather nodes are under construction in Maryland at Point
Lookout in the south, Patuxent Naval Air Station, Chesapeake Beach division
of NRL, Annapolis, Baltimore, and NorthEast. These sites will not only
provide automatic weather reporting capabilities all along the Chesapeake Bay
area, but will also form the backbone network for reporting the movement of
radio amateur's boats with GPS and LORAN-C. Load the WXSTNS.BK file.