[aprssig] APRS on expedition, but non ham?

[scott at opentrac.org]

I think it's been deemed acceptable to have a third party carry a tracker,
so long as they're able to access it and shut it off if necessary.  Local
laws may vary, but I've seen many events where non-hams are carrying
trackers.

NO-44 is indeed less than dependable these days, and I'm not sure ISS is
usable at high latitudes.  It's got an orbital inclination of about 51
degrees, so anywhere your primary transportation is sleds and skis I
wouldn't count on it.

Have you considered HF?  It's possible to run APRS at 300 baud using a QRP
rig of some sort.  My own OpenTracker kits can be made to transmit PSK-31 as
well - paired with something like the 80-meter Warbler it might do the job,
given an appropriate antenna.

I'd be happy to donate an assembled OpenTracker (regular or surface mount)
for the expedition.  It'll do 1200 baud, 300 baud, or PSK-31, and the
on-board temperature sensor works to about -70 C.  :)

Scott, N1VG
http://n1vg.net/opentracker



-----Original Message-----
From: aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org
[mailto:aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org]On Behalf Of Wolf Hoeller
Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2004 3:03 PM
To: aprssig at lists.tapr.org
Subject: [aprssig] APRS on expedition, but non ham?


Hi All!

I'm trying to find a solution to put APRS on an expedition (around april/may
2005) to Franz-Josefs-Land - but without an hamoperator in the team. Our
goal
is to track them on findu.com or xastir or similar!
The 4 teammembers have limited space because they have sleds and skis only!
My idea is to give them a ham-like tracker with a solarloader outside on
their
way.
The best way could be to get a special call from the russian authorities and
play it via PCSat NO-44. As we know, PCSat-1 is not available on a regular
basis. Is there a replacement to be launched the next months?

At this time I don't know anything about the communication equipment they
will
have. When they use a sat-phone - perhaps a combination with a GPS-rx and
'some intelligence'  will send 2 times a day a report.

Anybody on the list with some ideas?
--
73 de Wolf, OE7FTJ
inet: oe7ftj_(at)_gmx.at
ax25: oe7ftj at oe7xlr.#oe7.aut.eu
ampr: oe7ftj at oe7xlr.ampr.org

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