Radio Operator Street Sign Radios
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As a trained severe storm spotter (not chaser) I need to make precise position reports when I make severe storm reports destined for the National Weather Service and the region Emergency Manager (usually at the 9-1-1 call center). By training we report the distance and direction from the nearest major intersection. This is where difficulties may enter the equation. These reports are by way of a ham radio network. The assumption is that we without doubt or question pronounce the names of the roads we are near for example. And that we know the divergence amid being on a street, road, avenue, etc.. That, of course, is as long as we may see the road signs in the pouring rain, darkness and winds that we drive through. Next considerateness is the guess at the distance and direction from the nearest intersection. How exact is that in a rain storm? Then comes the issue of map location. Does the map that the person you are reporting your emplacement to have the level of map elaborate necessitated to locate the roads you are reporting? More importantly, does every one in the communications network have the same level of map details? Introducing a nice solution – APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) Connected to a GPS sensor on one side and a ham radio on the other side a TNC (terminal node controller) transmits any ham radio operator’s EXACT coordinates (within in regards to 50 feet) to (effectively) a Google map on the internet. Anyone anyplace that has an internet connection (and some with just a ham radio station without an internet connection) may display the precise location, altitude and direction of travel (at least) almost instantly. Since Google maps are zoomable to respective levels the desired level of detail is but a click or two away. Travel path is likewise be mechanically plotted. A nice bright blue line connects the red dots that represent the points of transmission of the APRS device. A rather nice feature of an APRS Google map (see an example at http://APRS.FI) happens when your mouse pointer hovers over one of the red transmission points. A discerned red line pops up that suggests what ham radio station heard the transmission. With that info you may trace the route of the data from the GPS device into the internet. Another nice feature of reporting info thru digital info transmissions to the National Weather Service is that a great deal of humans that have access to the internet Google map may view the info at one time. As a side note, Facebook – the social network – now has an APRS application that makes these APRS maps of all of your friends available at the click of one button from your Facebook page! One possible application is to have the National Weather Service become friends for all severe storm spotters. Then they would have this info available at the click of one button! |
