So I got super curious about this APRS thing after watching a hiking buddy post his location on Facebook while trekking in dead zones. How’s that even work without cell towers? Total mystery. Grabbed my old Yaesu handheld radio from the closet thinking “bet this relic might help”. Spoiler: it did.
Gear Gathering & First Fails
First step was connecting the radio to something digital. Found this raspberry pi in my junk drawer – last used as a retro game emulator – perfect. Hooked it up to the radio’s headphone jack with a $3 USB sound card. Installed Dire Wolf software following some random forum tutorial. Tried sending a test signal… crickets. Just angry modem screeching noises.
- Mistake #1: Totally forgot to enable VOX on the radio. Radio wasn’t transmitting unless I yelled into it like a caveman.
- Mistake #2: Sound levels were garbage. Had to tweak audio cables for hours like some analog DJ.
Finally got the pi decoding beeps into text files. Felt like magic when my callsign popped up on screen! Opened * website to see… nothing. Apparently you need actual internet gateways.
Gateway Hunting Blues
Turns out APRS relies on volunteers running igates – basically radio-to-internet bridges. My neighborhood had zero coverage. Drove around town with laptop on the passenger seat like some radio stalker:
- Library parking lot got one bar
- Burger King roof had killer signal
- My actual house? Radio Siberia
Bribed my brother with pizza to host my igate at his apartment downtown. Set him up with an old phone charger + pi + $20 Baofeng radio combo. Finally saw my test coordinates on *! We were live mapping.
Field Test Drama
Took the whole setup hiking. Strapped radio to backpack, android phone running APRSdroid app + OTG cable to pi. Looked ridiculous but worked… kinda:
- Every rock outcrop blocked signals like Kryptonite
- Phone battery died in 90 minutes flat
- Wind noise sounded like demons on the audio lines
But when it worked… wow! Watched my dot crawl along trail maps while friends tracked me online. Better part? Found three other hikers nearby with APRS pins – turns out we all went to same high school. Small world through radio waves.
Why This Rocks (Besides Creeping)
Learned APRS isn’t just radio GPS. Saw a guy transmit “TIRE BLOWOUT NEED WRENCH” near highway exit. Dude had mechanics at his spot in 20 mins. Another sent weather station data during tornado warnings. Felt like digital neighborhood watch with superpowers.
Total investment? Maybe $50 plus leftover tech. Still use it for boat trips now – sends location every 10 minutes automatically. Scratches that offgrid data itch without cell companies grabbing your wallet.
Pro tip: Buy better cables than I did. Still hear those static screams in my nightmares.