I followed this guide at http://qso365.co.uk/2018/04/updated-guide-to-setting-up-an-aprs-rx-only-igate-using-a-raspberry-pi-rtl-sdr-dongle-and-a-pre-built-image/ and it took under an hour to have the iGate up and reporting to APRS.fi site. I made use of my existing VHS antenna.
The Rx iGate receives any APRS messages and locations being broadcast in the surrounding area from vehicles and stations (in Cape Town on 144.800MHz FM) and this iGate then reads them and sends to the APRS site. So this Rx iGate node helps with vehicles and other devices reporting their location data and information via RF radio.
As it is a Rx SDR dongle it won’t transmit any messages back to those stations or radios although this is not often used South Africa. We do have a full Rx/Tx iGate about 45km away which will broadcast any replies. My Rx iGate just helps spread the network reporting traffic and it also helps fill in reception area gaps.
There is a debate about whether these Rx iGates actually break the functionality of APRS but the verdict is not out on that one yet as replies are transmitted from all/any nearby iGate nodes, but yes there may be a chance then that a station does not actually receive it – see this debate at https://www.f4fxl.org/why-are-aprs-rx-only-igates-bad/.
A Raspberry Pi is fun as multiple storage cards means it fulfils a different function everytime you boot from a different storage card.
#raspberrypi #APRS #amateurradio
#^Updated guide to setting up an APRS RX only iGate using a Raspberry Pi, RTL-SDR dongle and a pre-built image
** image has been updated as of 21/04/2018 to resolve the problems some people had booting their Pi ** This post is an updated version of the original article I wrote in February 2017. It’s …