Last week bought a new addition to the shack in the form of a Foxdelta Foxview 3 APRS viewer so we can monitor local APRS traffic without the need of using a computer, after Dad purchased the kit we also needed to order a MX614 which I could only find available in the USA from Argent Data but impressively it all arrived in days of each other (IC being first!)
Getting it all connected up was easy enough to start with I used it on my Yaesu VX-150 handheld as the connection was the same as the Foxtrak but later on we wired up FT-7800E and have since been using that with great success.
Features
- APRS viewer on a 4×20 LCD
- APRS Position encoder (Fixed or GPS (not easy to setup)
- Digipeater
- APRS TNC
Its rather nice being able just to glance at the LCD to see what the last packet was and any supporting message, but you can also plug it into the PC the inner workings of the TNC seem to be based on the wb8wga tnc which I’ve been using with UI-View you can get the files needed to make that work from the Crosscountry wireless website as they use the same TNC!
Most of the gotchas have been with the actual display LCD system, and the help manual isn’t very good which doesn’t help, Gavin (M1BXF) and myself have still yet to get the “My POS” to work correctly if anyone has get in touch and also getting it to work with a GPS isn’t as simple as you might have expected but that also does work.
- wb8wga tnc – http://www.enide.net/webcms/index.php?page=wb8wga-tnc
- Crosscountry Files for UI-View – http://www.crosscountrywireless.net/ui-view_setup.zip
Update 20/03/2015:- After using this unit for a few years I’ve come to the conclusion its utter crap and wouldn’t recommend it, the decoding ability is poor and the firmware is an utter shambles. avoid.
Hi,
I am visiting Oxford in a couple of weeks for work so was cecking out APRS activity oin the area – I see it is quite low.
If you are interested in pplaying with an embedded APRS I-gate drop me a line. i am happy to hep out where I can. 73 Steve
Hi Steve,
Yes APRS activity is very low in Oxford, although I wish it wasn’t; trying to encourage more people to give it a go locally.
The idea of an embedded APRS I-gate sounds fun! will drop you an email.
Pete
Did you ever get anywhere with configuring the display?
I just got my Foxview3 running, and had no problem getting the TNC working or making it work as a tracker. Getting the display to work as I was led to believe it should has been more elusive.
73 de W4SKI
After playing around with the FoxView3 for about 3 days I have to admit it in need of a rework…In many places. I tried many variations of the PIC16F88 firmware and looked through the code and see many problems. However i didn’t just give up. There is a firmware on the WB8WGA website v2.31 that is the only stable code I can find. To decode other peoples data and get a fix on your QTH (GPS co-ordinates) you need to go into the menu via a PC and use the term GPS then GPRMC. This has the most variables and gives GPS location, speed and altimeter. Another quirk of the code is temperature if you have the /t switch set in your BTEXT and DS1302 or equivalent temp sensor. So the FoxView3 has no provisions for temp but the firmware does. I am actually using the output from a Jupiter 12 GPS module which is in fact a GPS disciplined 10 mhz source (see http://www.george-smart.co.uk/wiki/GPS_Frequency_Standard) and it serves me well while bench testing the FoxView3. I found the beacon timer useless if it is just timed however I fear its linked to position and only beacons if your position has moved significantly…I may be wrong but I set it to beacon every 2 minutes and it tries to beacon ever 15 or so….strange. I shall experiment with GPGLL the long ,lat and see if this mode is why no >POS< is displayed on the start screen. Mine rather wipes that screen to give 4 lines of location and additional info……its early days as it took me 3 days just to get this thing working!!.
This is an example of GPRMC
$GPRMC,081836,A,3751.65,S,14507.36,E,000.0,360.0,130998,011.3,E*62
And this GPGLL
$GPGLL,3751.65,S,14507.36,E*77
and lastly GPGGA
$–GGA,hhmmss.ss,llll.ll,a,yyyyy.yy,a,x,xx,x.x,x.x,M,x.x,M,x.x,xxxx
So you can see how slimmed down GPGLL is.
One thing I noticed is no provision for DCD or off hook. This may pose a problem if driving around clashing your transmission with other people. My current APRS tracker has the radios in built DCD and also a provision on the APRS tracker itself. No chance of me doubling with other hams. I have yet to see if the data in is managed in a way that if its decoding then it wont transmit….but doubt it very much …especially if its half way though decoding something. Anyway you can read more here http://aprs.gids.nl/nmea/ on GPS protocols….or sentences.
So up to now its a fancy decoder only with many problems needing a stream press rather than a iron out. It still struggles to decode as well as my Arduino APRS decoder that has Bluetooth tied in and can be viewed on APRSDroid and using a Bluetooth TNC and that's near a 5v ADC so biased heavily not my Kantronics KAM and not even as good as AFSK1200 for the PC (or Linux under wine naturally). Failing that Xastir for Linux. I am also surprised how many packets are missed…ignored…errr failed to recognise is more like it. Mine cost the price of the PCB and postage and the MX614P ($6) and if I had the foil I would have made the board myself. The rest of the components I had laying around…apart from some Tantalum bead caps but electrolytic's would have done. In summary….I will stick to my hombrew APRS…..its good but its 3 or 4 peoples design with language barriers of Italian, American, Indian and the Netherlands all checked into the concept. Its poor user manual and build notes and took a French ham to make it function at all.
If you like a challenge….go for it…..want to plug and play…not for you.