There's still lots of places where there is no cell coverage.

There are plenty of places where you are roaming and your carrier doesn't have a data agreement.

The cellular companies are moving to fiber-based backhaul from the tower to the central office. If the fiber is cut you will loose that tower, no matter how much fuel is in the generator tank.

The recent fires in Colorado showed us (and first responders) the value of using APRS along with other communications methods. There were hams with manpack video systems who were able to show the command center parts of the fires that weren't reachable via aircraft. Instead of having to relay coordinates, they could just send video and their position was known from the map.

This weekend I went to a hamfest in Colorado Springs. I had excellent APRS coverage along the entire route, while my cell phone experienced both the roaming issue and dead spots. AND it didn't use any of my "unlimited" 5GB of data either.

I really don't understand why I'm even bothering to reply to your post, though. If you don't want to use the amateur radio service, just let your license lapse and use Google Latitude. It does the same basic thing, and you don't need to buy any extra hardware.

You have to configure the <WX> macro under the MISC tab:

http://www.w1hkj.com/FldigiHelp-3.22/ConfigMisc.html

Also, note the METAR station macro requires a colon ( between WX and the station callsign: <WX:KASE>

Just a guess, but have you tried to reload/update the firmware? It doesn't sound like you have a software problem, but I'd give that a try before sending it in for repair.

http://www.kenwood.com/i/products/info/amateur/th_d72/thd72_main_update_e.html

I was ready to send mine in because the PTT button didn't seem to make contact. It turned out to be a software problem that was fixed with the update to 1.05.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/how-software-defined-radio-could-revolutionize-wireless/

Interesting read. Looks to me like the developers aren't too interested in type acceptance or licensing though.

Thanks for the link (I always forget about Yahoo group...). Unfortunately no luck. I have voltage at the port (besides my interface only uses TXD and RXD on the radio side). At this point, I could continue just using the mic port for 90% of what I need the CAT port for. The only thing that will be inconvenient will be logging voice contacts, but I could make up a breakout box anyway.

The big problem will be when I go to sell it, which I might be doing in the next few months. I'm sure I'll take a beating on price if I don't fix it, but since I can get by with the workaround I don't have much incentive to fix it either. Of course the repair cost is going to be the determining factor. From what I read on the reviews page it looks like Yaesu won't quote until they have it on site. And if I go to the trouble of sending it in I might as well have them fix it too.

It looks like I have a bad CAT port on my FT-897d. It was working fine on Tuesday night, but Wednesday afternoon I started getting "Rig not responding" errors from FLDIGI. After double checking all settings I did a factory reset and still nothing. This afternoon I made a cable for the microphone jack and it seems to be working just fine, but I did have to change the CAT port to "tuner" in the menus, even after setting the mic jack to CAT.

Is there any other testing that I should try before calling Yeasu repair? I have an LDG AT-897 tuner, but it is the old one that needs an extra module to communicate with the radio for auto tune, and I don't have a linear amp to test either.

I haven't ever done any surface mount soldering and I really don't think I should start with my kilo-buck radio.

Nice job. I like that it continues the lesson in the background. That way if I'm out and about I can use the Memo app for typing letters when practicing.

Also was able to use Wolphi's Morse decoder app to decode the lessons, just for fun.

You can message with the keypad on the D72, but you'll need to switch the TNC from Packet mode to APRS mode. After you send the message, switch back to packet mode. Depending on the hardware you're using, you might want to just keep the D72 in APRS mode, letting it beacon and all the other stuff, and just use your GPS as a display unit.

There is a program that started out on Linux called Xastir. It isn't the most friendly software in the world, but there is a Mac OS-x build that is well maintained. There is documentation available for getting it to work on mac with a D72.

Unless you're out in the wilds of Northern Montana, you should be just fine with 5 watts and a decent antenna. When I lived in an area without local digipeaters I used a 1/2 wave antenna on the back of my bicycle and it worked just great. Besides, 50W on a motorcycle might cause RF exposure problems. Even on I-70 in southern Utah ("next service area 150 miles") I get into digipeaters on 10 watts (TM-d700 on L power setting). Hwy 50 through Nevada was a different story however...

What about announcing your grid square like sat operators?

CQ CQ CQ de K0JEG DM69nf

Just looking at that radio's spec sheet I have to think the cost is much more than the casual portable/QRP operator is willing to spend. Plus I see what looks like some very expensive connectors that won't be available at the local Radio Shack in a pinch.

Here's a site selling one for $9,800! http://tinyurl.com/6n63b7m Granted, it's "fully loaded" but still...

Of course, if you're out there every weekend you might be able to justify the cost. I'll keep saving my pennies for a KX3 though.

Second question first: No, position reports sent directly to the APRS-IS servers over the Internet don't get sent over the air.

First question is a little more difficult: I think if a gateway has heard from an RF station, and the gateway is configured to allow it, you can pass text messages from the Internet to RF. I've done it with Xastir in the past. If I remember correctly, you may have to manually route it to the gateway you want, although the article below says otherwise...

http://aprsisce.wikidot.com/deleted:aprs-messenging-explained

One way to look at it is the loss of the high tactile experience of paper. Another way to look at it is you can have your library with you all the time. The tablet I'm posting this on, from a hotel room has 50 books, several magazines and countless pdf files, not to mention the entire world wide web. Yes, I'm not reading all 50 at this time, but it is nice to have them available for reference (btw they are all searchable and indexed). Over time I hope to have any manuals I might need for work, radio and or my cars on here too.

If you're handy with a soldering iron a K2 might be close to what you want:

http://www.elecraft.com/k2_page.htm

The standard K2 is a very small radio. There are people who will build one for a fee if you don't want to DIY.

I was fairly sure I was going to start building one and then they introduced the KX3.  Now I'm not sure what I want to do. If the the KX3 were a little cheaper (and they were caught up on orders) it would be less of a decision.

I have an 897d now. I used it a few times on hikes and have to say it's not ideal for anything other than a day trip. The heavy duty AL chassis becomes just plain heavy after a few miles, the internal batteries are disappointing (why has no one come up with a LiON or liPO battery pack yet?), and trying to use it while perched on a rock is difficult. That said, it is a nice entry-level base station, and works just fine on a picnic table with a nice sized gel cell.

One other very minor thing: the CAT interface isn't quite as robust as some other manufactures. I don't find anything I use missing, but if rig control via PC is important you may want to make sure it will do what you want it to. For example, reading and writing to memories is only possible using Yaesu's software.

Thanks, all.

A few hints: It's on a golf course. It has a partner a few feet away that is a vertical (possibly a collinear) with a white radome. Both antennas (assuming this is an antenna) are connected black box with RG8 or similar coax.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8dALljET_kMdWIzczJaOVluRmc

My guess is that it's a differential GPS receiver/transmitter, but I've never seen one that looks like that.

Edit: corrected permissions on the link. Should work now.