Springtime car/radio project

So with the repeater project stalled while trying to find more hardware ( duplexers and good radios are in short supply right now, and I still need a location as well) I decided that I would switch and do something on a smaller scale that was fun.

I had purchased a Honda Element a year or so ago, and had installed my 2M radio in it. With little options I just Velcroed it to the dashboard. It was ok, but I didnt like the mic hanging down, and it sitting in the sun all the time, so I eventually removed it and started to think. There was alot of room between the center console and the actual front of the dash....got me to thinking, what if I installed it down there, out of the sun ( and sight) and uncluttered the dash....so the planning began.

What actually just started out as a radio install, actually ballooned in to a much bigger project. I have biking season starting in a few weeks, and I have my usual BIG bike tour across the state of Kansas ( about 550 miles, over 9 days). This year my girlfriend is going to go with my son and I. She will be driving my car, and supporting us. With her separated from us most of the day, wouldn't it be cool if she could know where I am on my bike ride, and better I know where she is as well....enter APRS.

APRS in the amateur radio world is Automatic Position Reporting System. Using the amateur frequency of 144.390Mhz, licensed hams can report their positions in pretty much real time. If you want to look, hit the web at www.aprs.fi. There youll find exactly what I am talking about. SO, the project ( like so many I do) blossomed into something more.

I decided that I am going to outfit not only the car, but my bike with APRS. Its really isnt that hard to do. APRS encoders have made leaps and bound using either PICs or arduino. There are many commercially available encoders ( that send data from a GPS to the radio) on the market. There are even radios that have these features built in. My first decision was to use an older radio and encode the data for broadcasting my position. This way I could use another radio to talk to folks and use the dedicated radio to report my position....I had the gear, so the planning began.

Below is the version I settled on. I also added a TFT 3.5inch screen so I can monitor the data being transmitted by the radio. As youll see, I also parsed out more information from the GPS data stream so I can read speed Im traveling, altitude of the car, and the current time.

The GPS provides once its locked on, data to the arduino and to the Byonics encoder. I have to mention I used the encoder because its simple, came in a kit form I could build, and was reasonably priced. I have no stake in Byonics LLC, its owned by a fellow ham in Arizona. Their web site is www.byonics.com if you wanna check them out. I also wanted to use my own GPS, and not some pre packaged GPS. I wanted it interface-able with the arduino on the lowest level. I wanted to control what I parsed, and how I parsed the information...hence the reason I just didnt buy an encoder/GPS all-in-one and plug and play...after all I wanted a system I designed, and built....I need parts not total assemblies.

In the next part youll see what I got and how its put together..........

Happy coding!