APRS and the Total Solar Eclipse

By Bob Bruninga, WB4APR

The real time packet communications system APRS will be used during the day of the eclipse as a national communications network for those involved in ham radio and eclipse observations to be able to track each other and see where other nearby ham observers are located.  Imagine the APRS map that day showing a clustering of mobile and portable positions all along the totality line.  Please use the station symbol SUNNY for this event so these stations will stand out among all others on the national tracking page http://aprs.fi.

In addition to this position reporting, APRS also supports real-time messaging.  Not only will this be used by individuals for station-to-station texting, there will also be an announcement server that will give everyone national connectivity for announcements. To use it, all one has to do is send an APRS message to ANSRVR and beginning the message with CQ ECLIPSE… Such a message will be sent to every station in the country that has also sent a similar message.

Bob Bruninga, WB4APR@amsat.org