Automatic Packet Reporting System - Queensland, Australia

Please join the Yahoo discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vk4aprs

The Queensland APRS digi-peater network is expanding every month, as a result it is vital that new stations follow the guidelines as suggested.  Please use the contact details if you are planning to implement a digipeater or IGate.
Recommended Unproto Address or Path on VHF and UHF for mobiles is WIDE1-1,WIDE2-2. For home stations WIDE2-2 please.

RELAY,WIDE,WIDE should not be used, this path is now superceeded, using this path will cause unnecessary traffic on the digipeater system reducing the bandwidth for all users.

This link explains why it is important to use the correct settings http://wa8lmf.net/DigiPaths/ .

http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/APRS-docs/paths.txt and http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/APRS-docs/DIGIS.TXT are more comprehensive text explanations written by Bob Bruninga, the inventor of APRS.

The rate at which an APRS station transmits beacons is also an important consideration. The faster you beacon, the fewer users can use the system.  Your beacon rate should take into consideration what you are intending to accomplish & how fast you expect to be moving.

If your mobile tracker supports SmartBeaconing, please enable it.  If not, please follow the recommendations that follow.

Recommended Beacon Rates for Mobiles is once every 3 Minutes.

Stations that expect to be moving very slowly over a large area should beacon occasionally, once every 5-10 Minutes.  Stations that are moving rapidly over a small area should beacon more often. If you are being tracked on a high-resolution map & the person tracking you needs to know exactly where you are, beacon faster.

Beacon Rates for Stationary Mobiles should be once every 20-30 Minutes

Stationary stations Homes & digi-peaters, etc should only beacon once every 20-30 minutes.

Stationary Telemetry stations should only beacon once every 45-60 minutes.