aprs.fi 4+

APRS app that keeps getting better

All apps have issues and bugs. This one seems to keep improving without causing big changes that would make users hate the change. Excellent program. I hope they continue on the same path of improvement and integration with new things like the new external bluetooth APRS devices on the market. -KX4MQ

Beacon Settings Needs to Be Better

Update:

Not much change. I really want to like this app and give it 5 stars but I can’t. I use it but only with reservations and some disappointment over its operation on beacon timing and lack of a working filter.

Original Comment
At first glance, the app looks pretty good. Really liked it. After time and considerable usage, not so good. I started using app because radio beacons are unreliable in my area. I needed a more consistent result. This app is not it. The controls for beaconing is fixed set to a min beacon of every 5 minutes as the fasted rate you can get. Any faster is up to the app with no insight to how it chooses to beacon. It could be 30 seconds or it could be 5 minutes. I found it taking 4 to 5 minutes between beacons. At 40 MPH, this means the beacons are as far as 2 to 3 miles off. Not useful for me. I need last known position to be accurate to hundreds of feet while traveling. Not miles. I went back to radio where I control the beacon rate which makes sense for speed and accuracy.

Unable to get filtering to work. I want to filter on a single station. Entering the call sign doesn’t do it. Enter call sign with wildcard asterisk doesn’t work either. No guide on how to use filtering.

Developer Response ,

Hi!

The beacon interval is dynamic, and depends on the speehttps://groups.google.com/g/aprsfid of travel. It'll also detect turns of more than 35 degrees and transmit at those.

Unfortunately, at 40 MPH, sending new positions every 300 feet (for example) would mean transmitting a new packet every 5 seconds, and this is more than what the APRS infrastructure can support. Some other tracking method might meet your needs better.

At 40 MPH (straight line, without turns) the app will currently send a packet once per 600-700 yards.

On the filtering: If you wish to track a single station, it's easiest to use the Search feature to find the station, and to press the Track button. You can also Track multiple stations at the same time. To stop tracking, press the "Stop tracking" button in the station information view, or drag & drop the callsign label in the map view to the side a bit.

Filtering can also be used, but it's better for filtering in or out a set of stations, like radios of a specific model, or weather stations, or stations at a high altitude. It'll only show stations which have been seen within the selected time range, and won't go back in the historical database.

Further support questions can be sent to the support group: https://groups.google.com/g/aprsfi

Great, but I have one big issue

I love how easy this app is to use, but my big gripe is that I can’t use this app with vox on my radio. As soon as I launch the app, the radio just starts transmitting, and doesn’t stop. I have tried the PulseModem app, and it works great with vox, I don’t know what the difference is in how the apps handle the audio, but it would be great if something could be changed to make this work, because the layout of this app is easier to use in my opinion.