Overland TCP/IP via radio?

cshontz

cshontz

Supporting Sponsor
I'm researching the possibility of establishing a TCP/IP connection from my vehicle, in relatively remote locations. If I understand correctly, this may be feasible via radio?

Range?

Limitations?

Equipment?

License requirements?

Costs?

Compared to cellular and satellite alternatives?
 
mr r2fj

mr r2fj

Adventurer
I'm also very interested in this. Unfortunately I'm not going to be much of a help. I know that the range would be limited to the packet radio supported repeaters where ever you were traveling. I unfortunately do not know how prevalent those are. Hopefully someone else will post up.
 
cshontz

cshontz

Supporting Sponsor
Okay, now that I've looked over a couple of wiki articles - what is the feasibility of using APRS to send lat/lon to a web server in addition to a small (640x480) jpg, from fairly remote locations?

What equipment would be required? Presumably a GPS w/ NMEA out, a laptop, a 2M antenna, and a radio such as this?

Thanks for the info, guys! :)
 
mr r2fj

mr r2fj

Adventurer
cshontz said:
Okay, now that I've looked over a couple of wiki articles - what is the feasibility of using APRS to send lat/lon to a web server in addition to a small (640x480) jpg, from fairly remote locations?

What equipment would be required? Presumably a GPS w/ NMEA out, a laptop, a 2M antenna, and a radio such as this?

Thanks for the info, guys! :)
Click to expand...

It's very easy to do APRS with the kenwood. All you need is the GPS receiver more or less. You can do really cool things with a laptop or supported gps device though. Like see other APRS stations on your map. I still may do APRS someday, but the equipment cost is high. Again it's going to be limited by supporting repeaters in your area of travel. As for the jpg image, I have no idea. That's another packet question. We have to have some packet expert on here.
 
RobinP

RobinP

Observer
I don't have any web links for this and I know little about it. However, check out the yachting forums. I've a few friends who sail the pacific and have the ability to receive and send emails (plain text, no attachments) through a ham supported system. It's very slow of course (like 300 baud) but at least it works.
 
C

chrismc

Adventurer
Many of the yachters use Winlink 2000. It is used almost exclusively on the HF bands, which would require an upgrade to a General Class license as well as some new gear. HF has a much farther range than 2M, which is how it makes it across the ocean. It would certainly work overland as well, and would negate the need to find a repeater that supports data modes.
 
C

chrismc

Adventurer
After reading more about Winlink, I stand corrected. It looks like they do have many packet radio stations on the network in the 2m band. Definitely check into it.
 
G

gary in ohio

Explorer
cshontz said:
I'm researching the possibility of establishing a TCP/IP connection from my vehicle, in relatively remote locations. If I understand correctly, this may be feasible via radio?

Compared to cellular and satellite alternatives?
Click to expand...


How much data do you need to transmit or receive. What kind of budget do you have? While its easy to send data over VHF/UHF(50 miles or so) or HF(world wide), all a very slow methods 9600 typical, on the commerical bands a maybe 14.4kb baud on VHF/UHF and 1200baud on HF. Hardly good for surfing the web.

Satellite will get you the speed, anywhere remote access.
 
cshontz

cshontz

Supporting Sponsor
Budget? Erm... um... I don't know. :eek:

I wouldn't need to surf the web, or receive any data. I'm only interested in publishing coordinates and a single JPG to the web at regular intervals. I would estimate the JPG size to be around 100k.
 
G

gary in ohio

Explorer
cshontz said:
Budget? Erm... um... I don't know. :eek:

I wouldn't need to surf the web, or receive any data. I'm only interested in publishing coordinates and a single JPG to the web at regular intervals. I would estimate the JPG size to be around 100k.
Click to expand...

If your looking for lat/long then take a look at APRS, http://www.aprs.net/
aprs allows you to send location information. Sending an image is another issue.
There are a number of sites that allow you to track APRS stations on the web, many with map interfaces. Here is a sample, Track this station, THis is john, he is always running around somewhere http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=K8PJ-8

How impartant is the jpg image? apr can indirectly handle that data.
 
cshontz

cshontz

Supporting Sponsor
gary in ohio said:
How impartant is the jpg image?
Click to expand...

I'm working on a web project that documents my explorations in a visual, photography-rich, Google Maps-based format. These trips are recorded via camera and GPS, and then the data is post-processed and published to the web.

I'm considering the possibility of a "live view", which would display my vehicle's position, and also show the view in front of (or around) my vehicle via a web cam. Its a challenge, but I think its attainable. The biggest technical hurdle is transmitting the image from a remote location.

I found this web cam mounted on a hurricane-tracking Tahoe. This is obviously cellular, but its similar to what I'm shooting for.

http://www.hurricanetrack.com/webcam/

Some folks in Pennsylvania strapped a cell phone and a GPS to a deer, and are watching its movements via the web. Again, cellular, but a brilliant hack.

http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2008/03/deer_blogs_his_own_gps_position_in.html
 
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