TH-D72A/E - N3UJJ

10 MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS10.1 AvMap (Don Arnold, W6GPS)I find that using the Kenwood TH-D72A/E with built-in GPS is very convenient for travel And alsoAPRS operations are simple without the use of an external GPS device. But at times it is importantfor me to have a visual display of APRS activity around me without the use of a computer.TH-D72A/E uses the NMEA 0183 standard at 4800 and 9600 baud rates to communicate with theGPS unit. The transceiver has three formats for interfacing to GPS units: NMEA, Magellan and theKenwood format. A GPS system with a serial interface will connect to the TH-D72A/E but if yourGPS supports bi-directional communication, it is possible to have APRS callsigns and icons appearon the GPS screen. Of all the name brand GPS units, the AvMap G6 smoothly interfaces with theKenwood TH-D72A/E TNC better than any other with less adaptation and more features specific toAPRS and the TH-D72A/E. The AvMap G6 takes advantage of the Kenwood APRS sentence andprovides a Kenwood interface cable for truly Plug and Play operations.Note: The baud rates refer to serial communication between transceiver and GPS and not to the AX.25 Packet communicationbetween transceivers.AvMap G6 has many of the normal Personal Navigator data fields that you would find in most worldbrand GPS units, but AvMap developers have integrated the Kenwood sentence format to provideyou a Tactical Mode. No other standalone GPS system has this exclusive Kenwood/AvMap feature.If you are involved in a search and rescue scenario, you can assign one of your APRS assets(callsigns) the target designation for Tactical Mode. This designated callsign on each position reportis processed by AvMap for easy viewing and tracking.If you are using the TH-D72A/E with the AvMap, in Tactical mode, you will get an additional five datafields that can be displayed on your AvMap:• Target ID - Callsign• Target Lat Long• Target SOG - Speed over Ground• Target COG - Course over Ground• Target Altitude – Mean -sea-levelYou can choose three of these five data fields to display on the AvMap screen. So, when your targetcallsign is moving, you can get real time information and a visual display on the AvMap G6. TheAvMap operating system now uses full APRS icon representation. The decoded APRS packet fromthe Kenwood TM-D710A/E (in Kenwood WAYPOINT format) is processed by the AvMap G6operating system. When a mark is made on the screen, it now can be one of over 200 standardizedAPRS icons along with the callsign. Setup of the Kenwood transceiver with AvMap is very simple.Using the defaults of the Kenwood transceiver, only a few menu configurations are needed to set upthe TH-D72A/E.TH-D72A/E CONTENTS 79From The N3UJJ.COM Document Library