Cellular Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS)

****** PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT *****

With the newly developed Cellular APRS Transmitter (CAT), any vehicle or individual with a cellular phone and a GPS can report his position to home base natiowide wherever cellular service is available. At the home base, the position report is automatically displayed on a map display on the dispatcher's computer or networked to other PC's throughout the company. In addition to the position, a status message selected from litterally dozens of pre-arranged messages can be sent. The cost of each position/status report is the same as the minimum 1 minute rate with your cellular carrier. Today this is typically less than 50 cents.

The CAT is about the size of a large flat cigarette pack and interfaces your GPS to *ANY* cellular phone. It does not require the expensive data interface that is available for only the top-end phones. To avoid unnecessary phone charges, and report the most meaningful positions, a position report is only sent when the driver/operator presses a button. The CAT has a number of status switches which can be set to indicate any number of pre-arranged messages. The messages are field programmable. Optionally, several channels of telemetry from the vehicle can also be included in the messsage.

The Dispatcher Interface (DI) is a box that connects the APRS display computer to the phone line to receive the incoming mobile reports. Using the DI, APRS can maintain a track on up to 80 or more mobiles depending on their reporting rate. Maps anywhere in the country are available at various levels of detail. Since the primary application is the interstate traveler, the basic system comes with maps of the entire USA with all major roads and interstates.

The cost of the CAT's are expected to be around $150 each and the Dispatcher Interface around $220. Product availability this spring.

For more information, contact

Bob Bruninga WB4APR
115 Old Farm Ct
Glen Burnie, MD 21060
wb4apr@amsat.org

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Mail comments/corrections on content to Bob Bruninga and on HTML formatting to Steve Dimse