Questions about getting into Ham and APRS

[Heartland Overland]

I have been studying for my Ham license and been on the search for what radio to put in my Jeep. I would like to have APRS. I have read that the Kenwood TM-D710G and Yaesu FTM-400XDR are pretty popular. Are there some other recommendations? What would would recommend for an antenna? And would I be able to link up my phone directly to either of the radios or would I need and additional TNC to be able to use a tablet for tracking? I have been using GMRS and CB for a bit but new to the Ham side of things.

 

[Ubiety]

There are not a lot of radios that have APRS out of the box, Yaesu and Kenwood come to mind. I have been running a couple D700 radios for years trouble free - older APRS radios like mine do not have a GPS built and a separate GPS needs to be connected.

Antenna, I like comet antennas and am currentry using one of their SAR antennas with extra spring kit for bendy goodness. Works well for me but your needs may vary. I can look up the model number if you desire.

For connecting to a tablet Bluetooth might be the way to go, make sure your radio supports that (or cable) To connect them. Not sure what software you would run on the tablet currently. Apple devices have the aprs.fi app that will connect to some TNC devices over BT but does not support downloaded maps for offline use. Not sure if xastir is available on droid devices but that may be an option.

Additional TNC? No. The APRS capable radios will have a TNC so you just need to worry about connecting the radio’s TNC to your Tablet/phone device and finding software that will work for you. Let us know if you find good software.

 

[Heartland Overland]

There are not a lot of radios that have APRS out of the box, Yaesu and Kenwood come to mind. I have been running a couple D700 radios for years trouble free - older APRS radios like mine do not have a GPS built and a separate GPS needs to be connected.

Antenna, I like comet antennas and am currentry using one of their SAR antennas with extra spring kit for bendy goodness. Works well for me but your needs may vary. I can look up the model number if you desire.

For connecting to a tablet Bluetooth might be the way to go, make sure your radio supports that (or cable) To connect them. Not sure what software you would run on the tablet currently. Apple devices have the aprs.fi app that will connect to some TNC devices over BT but does not support downloaded maps for offline use. Not sure if xastir is available on droid devices but that may be an option.

Additional TNC? No. The APRS capable radios will have a TNC so you just need to worry about connecting the radio’s TNC to your Tablet/phone device and finding software that will work for you. Let us know if you find good software.

Thanks for the info. Thats what I was thinking for the TNC but wanted to make sure I was on the right track. I run all Android devices so I will do some searching for what all software will work with each.

 

[Kent R]

I have tagged Prerunner and Brien to this thread. Brien is the chair of our communications committee, and Prerunner is an great source for ham info.
@Prerunner1982 and @brien

 

[Ubiety]

Check out APRSDroid for Android, never used it but seems like it is pretty full featured and powerful.

 

[Prerunner1982]

Congrats on wanting to make the move to improve your communication abilities.
Both of the radios you mention do APRS and do it well, however it appears from my understanding that the Kenwood links with a tablet a bit better than the Yaesu does.
Kenwood gives the user more access to the built in TNC configuration allowing you a bit more flexibility.

To go on record, I use neither radio so I am far from an expert on either of them.
I went with a stand alone radio specifically for APRS leaving my dual band radio for voice only. This is not the most conventional route as it involves a 2nd radio and 2nd antenna.
@brien has a Kenwood so hopefully he will have time to grace us with his knowledge, in the mean time here is a video he did on setting up the Kenwood for APRS, . Hopefully he will put together a video soon about connecting a tablet to the Kenwood D710G... would have come in handy right about now.

 

[Ubiety]

Kenwood gives the user more access to the built in TNC configuration allowing you a bit more flexibility.

Which ended up being a major reason I chose not to get the Anytone APRS HT - not being able to poke at the TNC. Good point, did not know Yaesu limited TNC access.
Thanks for video link!

 

[J.W.]

Both the Kenwood and the Yaesu are excellent radios. Tough to go wrong with either which is why they are the most common recommendations.

I know the FTM 400 has a Bluetooth module that has to be purchased separately to allow bluetooth connections. I believe the TM D710 is the same. But with the module, either will allow the connectivity you are looking for.

As for the antenna, there are always compromises that you are going to have to make. If you run a soft top on your Jeep, you probably won’t be able to roof mount one. If you have a rack, you can always mount to that so long as you ground it properly. My advice is get a 1/2 wave but sometimes height is an issue. If that is the case, a 1/4 wave may be your only option which will work but might diminish your range some. You can also use quick disconnect, or fold over connections to bring the antenna down when not in use.

Congrats on expanding your comms and let us know what you end up going with!

 

[KonzaLander]

If you don't want to swallow the price tag of a Kenwood TM D710G, consider the Kenwood TM 71A + Mobilinkd TNC and a phone/tablet running APRS Droid. The 71A is essentially the same radio as the D710G with a different head that does not have a built in TNC. It is very easy to attach a Mobilinkd TNC to the 71A and run APRSDroid from your phone/tablet. I've been running this setup 4 years now and love it.

 

[Prerunner1982]

If you don't want to swallow the price tag of a Kenwood TM D710G, consider the Kenwood TM 71A + Mobilinkd TNC and a phone/tablet running APRS Droid. The 71A is essentially the same radio as the D710G with a different head that does not have a built in TNC. It is very easy to attach a Mobilinkd TNC to the 71A and run APRSDroid from your phone/tablet. I've been running this setup 4 years now and love it.

Can this setup do voice and APRS as the same time without issue?

 

[KonzaLander]

Can this setup do voice and APRS as the same time without issue?

Absolutely. The 71A is a true dual-band radio. I operate APRS via the TNC hooked to the data port and have it programmed for band "B". You can see the D on the right hand side of the radio indicated it is the data band. I use band "A" for all of my voice. Both work simultaneously and I have never had any interference from one band or the other during use.


EDIT: I utilize Backcounty Navigator's APRSDroid integration when out. It works like the native APRSDroid map, but is integrated with my preferred navigation app that I already have offline maps for. This is a screenshot of BCN running APRSDroid on my way back to work:

 

[Prerunner1982]

Absolutely. The 71A is a true dual-band radio. I operate APRS via the TNC hooked to the data port and have it programmed for band "B". You can see the D on the right hand side of the radio indicated it is the data band. I use band "A" for all of my voice. Both work simultaneously and I have never had any interference from one band or the other during use.

Excellent! Thank you for the info.

 

[mtn]

Just for kicks, I installed APRSdroid on my Android head unit and connected the programming cable between one of the USB ports on the head unit and the serial connector on the back of the TM-D710GA head. No bluetooth, no extra parts needed. Here's how I set it up: ge0rg/aprsdroid

As with much of my experiments I only did this once or twice, not sure if I would run this way unless I'm near buddies who also run APRS.

 

[Heartland Overland]

Just for kicks, I installed APRSdroid on my Android head unit and connected the programming cable between one of the USB ports on the head unit and the serial connector on the back of the TM-D710GA head. No bluetooth, no extra parts needed. Here's how I set it up: ge0rg/aprsdroid

As with much of my experiments I only did this once or twice, not sure if I would run this way unless I'm near buddies who also run APRS.

View attachment 153405

I have been looking at upgrading the head unit in the Jeep and I like the setup you have here. I will definitely look into going this route when I get it all set up. Thanks for the info.

 

[M Rose]

The Yaemu FT-400XDR is an excellent choice. Most of the people I run around with have that radio. I however do not at this exact moment in time, and I probably will not, have the 400. But here is why... I got my tech license earlier this year. On a shoe string budget I bought a Yaesu FT-2900 (it’s the predecessor to the FT-2980R) to handle my 2m voice, thinking it would move into the shack when I got the FT-400XDR. Then I got involved with ARES and needed a mobile digital radio, so I bought an Icom 7100 So I could cover the whole UHF/VHF bands and al the HF bands when I upgrade my license. After playing around with both radios, and the MobileLinked TNC3, I quickly realized I was limiting myself by using a dedicated Mobile rig for data since I’m not just using APRS, but I also need email capabilities as well as JS8 and now looks like VARA as well. So a DMR capable HT with built in GPS is next on my radar for mobile data operations. Since I need to be able to do both APRS and send SATReps at the same time in my vehicle, on foot, and in my shack, using my IC-7100 for voice and a dedicated true dual band HT makes sense for me.

Now why the 400 is an excellent choice. Why do you need to worry about getting into the TNC when it pairs to your device? Just like the Kenwood, you can get a connector to plug the radio into a laptop to really dig into packet radio. But for APRS out of the box all that is needed is the radio its self. If you want to see an actual map, APRSdroid, or aprs.fi are great with a BT connection to your device. If you want even better navigation, the 400 can also pair with some dedicated navigation systems. And lastly, in the not so distant future, there will be an app or two that will support real back country navigation and have APRS overlays (Not GAIA).

 

[LEXIRNR]

I started dabbling with APRS and just use a cheap Baofeng UV-5R with an audio cable to an old Android phone with APRSdroid and it works just fine. It is a cheap way to get started as the radio is like $25, the cable is $25, and the old Samsung Note 4 was free (collecting dust in a drawer).

 

[Oranger]

I have been happy with my FTM-400XDR with the APRS I have done while literally grocery shopping. Sending/receiving messages through smsgate has worked pretty well in my area, they did have an system outage while I was first experimenting with it and setting up some things. As far as my tracking results, they have been a mixed bag. I have taken the same route to and from a place and there are markers that never made it into the system despite the same repeaters being nearby.

 

[LEXIRNR]

I have been happy with my FTM-400XDR with the APRS I have done while literally grocery shopping. Sending/receiving messages through smsgate has worked pretty well in my area, they did have an system outage while I was first experimenting with it and setting up some things. As far as my tracking results, they have been a mixed bag. I have taken the same route to and from a place and there are markers that never made it into the system despite the same repeaters being nearby.

I had similar issues when I first started using APRS. I had to change my path to get it into an igate. Not sure in your area but in SoCal WIDE1-1,WIDE2-2 seems to work best. We use simplex when we are out on a trail and that works great for tracking the various rigs in the convoy. We even switch to a different frequency sometimes to filter out the random traffic

 

[Oranger]

The paths on aprs.fi seem to be all good paths, so its probably a setting on the "smart" beaconing of the radio itself and not path related. That is my going theory at least.

 

[Sky6actual]

I have been studying for my Ham license and been on the search for what radio to put in my Jeep. I would like to have APRS. I have read that the Kenwood TM-D710G and Yaesu FTM-400XDR are pretty popular. Are there some other recommendations? What would would recommend for an antenna? And would I be able to link up my phone directly to either of the radios or would I need and additional TNC to be able to use a tablet for tracking? I have been using GMRS and CB for a bit but new to the Ham side of things.

I would start with the question of do you want permanent mount, or an HT (handheld)? Both Kenwood and Yaesu have either mounted or HT. You can also use APRS directly from your smart phone. There are so many potential solutions. I would start basic, do I want mounted or handheld? What am I going to use APRS for, and what manufacture do i think I want to use (both vendors have digital capabilities, mounted, HT, portable, etc).
I run a mounted Yaesu 8900 in my Jeep, and i bring with me a Kenwood TH-D74A giving me both types of digital supported by the vendor and APRS. With the HT I ran a wire to larger Antenna so that in the Jeep I am not just relying on the HT rubber duck. So many options as I mentioned.
Hope that helped?