Q: What is APRS+SA?
A: The home page for APRS+SA, which includes overview information and screenshots, is available at: http://www.tapr.org/~kh2z/aprsplus.

Q: How do I install APRS+SA?
A: Click here for installation instructions.

Q: How do I set up APRS+SA, once installed?
A: Click here for setup instructions.

Q: How do I operate APRS+SA, once installed and setup?
A: Click here for operating instructions.

Q: What is a patch file, and how do I use it?
A: It is a way to patch the latest gpsXXXX.w3 file, to update it. Click here for instructions.

Q: Why don't all the symbols that show on the Positions page show up on the map?
A: SA4 only has 56 symbols available.  Yes, I do use several of them for display, a digi is a star for example.  But I do not have a way to support all the APRS symbols in SA4.  Most of them will appear in APRS+SA on the Positions page. Actually, I do not find this limitation a major draw back to the use of the program, particularly when used in the tracking mode when you are watching specific stations.  SA5 appears to be able to display user symbols, we will see when it finally comes out.

Q: How do I keep the map scale local only, or centered on me?
A: One way it to use your coordinates for the Map Center (Popup Menu on the Positions page) in the Map Features window (Ctrl-M).  Then adjust the Magnitude (zoom) to "reasonable" values.  You can always have exactly the same view if you like.  Another way to set the Map Center and Zoom is to setup a map in SA4 with the desired center and magnitude (I use mag and zoom interchangeably). Save this to a unique file name.  Then, from APRS+SA, open it as an SA4 Overlay file from the Files menu.  This will set the center and mag to those values.  Click the Fixed Center and Fixed Magnitude and the most maps will cover the area of this predefined map.  Tracking and Locate features still center and zoom appropriately (I think - unless I broke that recently :) ).

Q: How can I save a track to an SA4 file?
A: Two ways:
1) Place only the station you what to produce a track file for in the "Tracking List" on the Track page.  Then click either "3. All Reports" (or Alt-3) or click "Most Recent" (or Alt-4) and the program will produce an SA4 file with the desired track data.  From SA4, you can rename it to what ever name you want for future reference. You can check the "Zoom Tracks" on the Maps page to have the program display the entire track in SA4.
2) Double click on the desired station on the Positions page, or choose "Locate" from the Popup Menu. 

Q: How do I hear a sound when within 2 miles of my home station?
A: You can do several things.  Set your proximity distance to 2 miles.  If you want to only have the program alert when you are in range, create a WAV file with your callsign recorded, and save it as KD4EMI-9.WAV.  Check the Callsign box next to the type of APRS station you want to track. You can record any number of callsign.wav files for the specific stations you want to track.  If you want to be alerted when any transmitting APRS station drives within the proximity, check the box on the left, this is the "generic" proximity alarm, and it will play the wave file name that appears in the edit box, default is Proximity.

APRS+SA recognizes 4 types of stations: 1) Trackers - standalone GPS/TNC and Mic-E.  2) Fixed stations, with or without a computer, 3) Mobile stations with a computer, and 4) Objects.  Each of these can be independently enabled.  Why include fixed stations?  If YOU are mobile and drive such that a fixed station is with the desired proximity, then the program will generate an alert.  Note that each type of station can have their own separate proximity and wave file.
*** APRS+SA will not alarm when you transmit your own position.

Q: What are Callsign and Embedded wav files?
A: Callsign wave files are files you create or your friends record for you announcing their callsign. When this feature is enabled, the program looks for a file with the callsign of the incoming report and if there is a match, it will play it. For example, if you have a wave file by the name of WA2DEU.wav, and you receive a position report from WA2DEU, the WA2DEU.wav file gets played. Note that currently, this feature is SSID dependent. So you would need to have a separate file for WA2DEU-9.

Embedded Wave files are files played when an embedded file is specified in the text of an incoming packet. Embedded wave files are specified by a % symbol. So if you have embedded wave files enabled for Posits, then if files are specified by a %file designation, file.wav get played. Another example, if a posit had %wa2deu %ringin %update in the posit text, the program would look for wa2deu.wav, ringin.wav and update.wav.

Q: While mobile, how do I broadcast my position via APRS+SA to the rest of the world, while also being able to look at my computer screen and see where I am located as would be indicated on Street Atlas . I would like both of these things to happen .
A: There are 2 ways to configure your hardware to communicate with APRS+SA. The most expensive way is to buy and install a second serial port for your laptop and have one serial port for your TNC and one for your GPS receiver. This is done using a PC-Card (PCMCIA) serial card, which can run $150.00. The alternate method is to use an HSP cable (Hardware serial port). One side of the HSP goes to your GPS receiver, the other to your TNC and APRS+SA switches between these. Do to buffering of incoming data and switching of the HSP, some data may be lost at the time the HSP switches. But for the most part, this does work. These can be built for <$10 or purchased for about $30. A third method is to use a dual-port PicoPacket TNC which has a port for your GPS receiver and one for your computer. APRS+SA can then pole the Pico for position data periodically. On the road, APRS+SA can be run in "track me" mode, where your position is redrawn on the map periodically or when ever you press ctrl L.

Q: The POSITIONS list is being updated at such a rate that it's near impossible to scroll down the list to find a station that you may be looking for. Would it be possible to add a menu option to search the list for a station?
A: Try this: Go to the history page and enter the callsign. If you do not know the SSID, place a "*" at the end. In fact, this works for any partial callsign. WARNING: If you enter JUST an *, then you will see EVERY KNOW POSITION report. Not nice on a slow computer. . Another thing to try, is press Ctrl-Shift -Alt-C. This turns off the "clock" for 3 seconds. May not be enough, but might work. To turn back on, enter Ctrl-Shift-C.

Q: In Setup, the Range Filter. I can blank it out, then wait a second and a 3 pops up. If I don't type fast enough a 3 gets in the field somewhere. help?.
A: 3 is 3 miles. It is the shortest radius that can be entered. (for now). If you try to enter anything less than 3, or a value that is unrecognized, the program defaults to 3 as the minimum.

Q: How do I send a message to a TCP/IP station?
A: To send a message to a station via TCP/IP, you must put a /I ( slash eye ) after the callsign or else it will not go out the TCP port. If you are porting the TNC data to the Internet, it may appear that you are able to communicate with the TCP/IP station because the message does go to the Internet. Stations on the RF port will not see the TCP/IP station. So, enter the callsign like this: KH2Z/I to send the message to the Internet. Leave off the /I to send it to the RF port.

Q: Are Messages "ack'd" anyplace other than seeing it "ack xx" on the traffic window?
A: Outgoing messages appear in the Outbox, the top pane of the Messages window. When they are Ack'ed, they are removed from the Outbox, signifying that they have been ack'ed.

Q: Is there anyway to work messages from the "Message" window. That Send Message box is a pain.
A: Right click on any message in the Inbox, the lower pane (pain?) of the Messages window. Choose Send To and the callsign will be loaded into the Send Message window and that window will appear. From the Traffic page, just double click on any callsign, and a message to that station will be started. The double click method is not yet available on the Messages page. Also, you can just press Alt-S-M to Send a Message. Enter the callsign and go.

Q: I started getting a WS FULL Datasave error. Also, the only way I seem to be able to exit the program is with CTL-ALT-Del. I can't close the program otherwise (I suspect it's so busy with processing the TCPIP data it won't turn loose). BTW, I'm running a Pentium-133 with 32 megs.
A: APRS+SA should warn you of the impending WS FULL error and then give you suggestions as to how to resolve it. I added this feature, but do to the dynamic nature of the data, I may not have the set point right. To get rid of the WS FULL error, delete some of the position reports. There are a number of stations that transmit very frequently yet do not move. They are transmitting GPS position data so they produce unique positions. You can "Filter" these positions or delete them. Or only keep the most recent report for these stations, thereby not using up space tracking them Currently, the program tracks every station it hears by default. Here in So.Cal., that means putting only about 5 or 6 stations into the "Keep Most Recent Only" list. You can expand the amount of memory available to APRS+SA, see Operating Instructions.

Q. Need to work on the problem with a recv'd line stopping a person from writing a line. Have to reclick on the line to finish. A: This is a "feature". I will look into preventing the program from changing to focus to the Messages page of the main window.

Q: Any way of selecting the band that a message is sent? This is important to be able to respond to the proper band. Say you're on hf talking to someone. A question comes in on vhf from another. You should be able to answer them without changing the band you're sitting on. Addition of a switch on the line writing window to choose Both, VHF, or HF would be nice.
A: A stream switch character can be used in the TNC window on the TNC page.

Q: When Bulletins are sent, there is a $U7X and the number of msg. No sure if it's included on xmitted lines. The program seemed to miscount the number of lines of BLN I was sending.
A: The line number on Bulletins is ignored by all other versions of APRS. The longer line number on bulletins as transmitted by APRS+SA is the Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minute, and Second that that line was first transmitted encoded into the line number compressed into 5 bytes. APRS+SA does not add this "numbering" to messages because the line number is used by other APRS programs. If at some time in the future, all versions of APRS support some form of extended line numbering, then it will be easier to reconstruct the order that lines of a message belong in. This in APRS+SA for Bulletins experimentally and because it does not cause any incompatibility with APRSdos or Win/MacAPRS.

Q: On most Tab pages, page down doesn't work unless a station line is hilighted first.
A: The page up/down keys are to scroll the particular control. That control must have the "focus" of user input in order for it to receive keyboard input. This usually means that some item on the control will need to be high lighted.

Q: What are the fields at the bottom of the screen?
A: There are 7 panes on the Status bar:

1) TNC Port open "TNC", or closed - blank.
2) GPS Port open "GPS", or closed - blank.
3) Indicates incoming data via the TNC port.
4) Number of known stations. If Time Filter on, TF:number of stations meeting time criteria.
5) Number of unique position reports. If Time Filter on, TF:number of unique reports.
6) Message pane: A number of items get displayed here. Outgoing packet data, undecoded incoming packet data, range data, warning messages such as when no position has been entered for your station and you attempt to send a Position packet.
7) UTC Date and Time.

Q: I see you can read in callsign logs, but how do you save them?
A: You can generate a log file (binary) for a particular station. On the Positions page, right click on a station and choose the Archive to disk menu item. This will take the position data and save it to disk with a file name of callsign.log. SSID included. You can then read these back in at a later time for editing and displaying. If you choose this function again, it will append and new data to the file. Also when reading the data back in, it only keeps one copy of each report, duplicates are removed. This is handy if you want to save a particular track a station took for later review or show and tell.

Q: Why is your number of stations count lower than what winAPRS reports?
A: When I report the number of stations, I report only the number of stations I have Positions for. I might have bulletins, messages, traffic, weather, or other, but I do not count these. Just positions. That may account for the difference._

Q: Is there more info available on APRS+SA?
A: The best way to stay informed is to join the mail reflector set up by Sam Nabkey, K8SN. To subscribe to this Reflector, send a message to majordomo@k8sn.org using NO SUBJECT and just the words "subscribe APRS+SA" as the only line in the message body. ( Throw out the quotes and turn off the Signature file in your mailer for best results )

Q: What is APRS?
A: There are some excellent links for general information about APRS, provided with permission of WB4APR (special thanks for all the html work to K4HG), available here.