2. Device features
2.1. Built-in 38.5 dbm / 7 watt transceiver
APRS Voyager incorporates a built-in 38.5dbm / 7 watt transceiver capable of
transmitting and receiving APRS packets. The only thing you need to do is to connect a
proper antenna to SMA connector. Output power is programable between 5 watt and 7
watt.
2.2. Mic-E/Base-91/Plain text position reporting
The main feature for an APRS tracker is position reporting. APRS Voyager allows
you to select between three most common position reporting formats:
•
Mic-E – uses both AX.25 destination address and information field for position
report and is the most compact reporting method, giving the shortest packet
length,
•
Base-91 – second compressed method oriented to short report packet length,
•
Plain text – in this method station position report is sent in human-readable plain
text format,
You can also select between fixed time interval reporting which means that packets are
sent every X number of seconds, and SmartBeaconing. SmartBeaconing is an algorithm
which sends position reports with intervals dependent on speed and course, allowing for
more accurate reporting especially in urban area. SmartBeaconing algorithm was first
developed by Tony Arnerich KD7TA and Steve Bragg KA9MVA and now it is widely used by
most APRS tracker devices.
2.3. Built-in Bluetooth interface
APRS Voyager integrates a built-in Bluetooth interface which can work in one of
selectable modes:
•
Serial console – similar to RS-232 serial console known from PLXTracker or
PLXDigi, it outputs debuging information for device operation.
•
KISS – allows to exchange packets with your laptop, tablet or smartphone with
APRS software installed. This feature works great with APRSDroid available for
Android phones and allows to plot received stations on a map. APRSDroid allows
also to send and receive messages, beacons and SmartBeaconing position via APRS
Voyager.
•
GPS passthrough – if you have a GPS receiver connected to APRS Voyager RS-232
serial port, then you can forward NMEA stream to any other device using
Bluetooth interface.
2.4. Simple alias-based APRS packet digipeater
With APRS Voyager you can do a simple alias-based APRS packet digipeating.
Generally APRS tracker units should not be used as a full-featured digipeaters but with
alias-based digipeater feature you can digipeat WIDE1-1 packets sent by other mobiles
increasing their chance of reaching an I-Gate.
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