APRS-XO
APRS-XO is a tiny APRS implementation for the XO computer written by Jack Zielke KG4GJY. This activity was designed
to meet the OLPC XO portion of the APRS Messaging/Contact Initiative. APRS-XO lets you
report your position within the global APRS network, receive any incoming APRS messages and send any
APRS messages or email. At the same time you can use the XO's browser to link to any on-line APRS
system and see the local or global APRS tactical picture.
About 
This activity provides position and messaging capabilities to amateur radio operators. For this activity to be useful, you
will need an XO laptop and a ham license. To send messages or position reports you will need a
password. Starting with APRS-XO Version 11 the password is automatically generated for you. If
you already have a passcode for the APRS network, that is what you use here. If you are using an
older version of APRS-XO and do not have a password click here, type in your
callsign and hit enter. Contact
me with any questions.
Installation
APRSXO-14.xo <-- Click on the link to the left to download APRS-XO to
your laptop.
Detailed directions (with photos) can be found here.
Click on the link.
Click Continue, or let the countdown finish.
Go to the Journal and click on the APRS-XO download.
The activity is now installed.
How to use
When you run APRS-XO directly (as opposed to resuming from the Journal) some very basic help appears
in the two text areas on the right.
If you click on one of the buttons to select an APRS site the URI will be copied to the Journal.
After that happens click on the globe icon to open the link in Browse.
The links currently are:
FindU --> http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/symbol.cgi?icon=XA&limit=200
APRSworld --> http://aprsworld.net/
APRS --> http://aprs.org/
About --> http://zielkeassociates.com/~jack/aprs-xo/
Identifiers
Fill in your callsign in the Callsign field. You can use an SSID after your callsign. ex:
KG4GJY-3
If you do not have a password leave the Password field blank. Starting with version
11 if you leave the Password field blank the password will be filled in for you.
Station Comment
Your station comment will be added to the end of your position packet every time it is sent. If you
edit this field you will automatically stop sending your position packets. Recheck the Beacon every
10 minutes checkbox to resume sending. Please read about the 'Beacon every 10 minutes' checkbox
below.
Position Data
If you know your coordinates, enter them here in Degrees, Minutes and decimal minutes. Use the
dropdown boxes to to signify N S E W. If you do not know your position enter a zip code. When you
click connect the activity will try to look up the location for you. This uses yahoo.com and may or may not
work.
Connect
APRS-XO randomly selects a server from 'rotate.aprs2.net' on tcp port 14580 each time the Connect
button is pressed. Once connected the button will change into a Disconnect button.
Clear
Press to clear old messages from the message window. Messages currently being sent or in queue will
remain in the window.
Cancel
When you send a message or bulletin it will keep sending until it is acknowledged (for a message) or
times out (for messages and bulletins). If you press Cancel a window will pop up listing all messages
currently being sent and all messages in the queue. Clicking on a message will cancel it. The Cancel
All button will cancel all messages/bulletins.
CQ
If this box is checked CQ CQ CQ From <Station Comment> will be sent to CQSRVR every 32 minutes. If the box is unchecked (or
disconnect is pressed) an unregister message will be sent to CQSRVR.
Beacon every 10 minutes
Every 10 minutes from the time you connect APRS-XO attempts to send your position data and station
comment. If beacon is checked the activity will send the information to the APRS network.
Please note that if you edit your information on the left side of the screen (Callsign, Station
Comment, Position Data or Zip Code) the beacon will automatically uncheck itself. This will prevent
a badly timed packet from being sent while you are editing. When you are finished editing recheck
Beacon. If you entered a new zip code reactivating the Beacon checkbox will cause APRS-XO to attempt
to change the zip code into position information. This will not change your callsign even if it was
previously generated from a zip code.
Message Window
The text area below the Beacon checkbox is the Message Window. All messages and bulletins will
appear here.
Below the message window are the widgets that you use to send messages and bulletins. The first
textbox is for the callsign you want to send a message to. When you type in a callsign
auto-complete will display all matches from the list of callsigns. You can select a callsign in the
list or type a new one. You can queue 2 messages to the same person. If you get to the end of the
line (67 characters) hit enter and keep going. Please note that some displays can only show the
beginning of the message. To send press enter or the Send button on the right.
Status Window
Below the Messaging area is the Status window. All communication with the APRS server will appear
here. Once you connect to the server the filter is set to m/300. This allows you to see all APRS
packets within a 300 mile radius of your position.
The textbox below the Staus Window will send raw text to the APRS server. You can hand craft a valid
APRS packet to send from here. I suggest using it to change the filter if you prefer something other
than the preselected m/300.
Examples:
# filter m/0 should hide all packets except for those that you send or are sent directly to
you.
# filter s//A/X should only show you other XO's.
Hint
Change the title of the Activity to your callsign and location. This will make it easier to choose
which activity to resume from the Journal.
Misc
Wonder what the source code looks like? Click here and find out!
The license? I have that (GPLv2) as well!
Older versions can be found in the archive.
This program is designed for OLPC software 8.2.0. It should run fine with older versions. After the
8.2.0 upgrade I had to make the font size slightly smaller and some of the text fields slightly
shorter. Everything should fit on the screen of an older build but things might not line up quite so
well.
Originally this program was designed to help XO users locate each other to make use of the mesh
abilities. Much has changed since then. For one thing you will have a problem transmitting your
location without a callsign and matching password. If you leave both the callsign and the password
blank and put in a zip code instead of lat and long then press Connect the activity will automatically
assign you a random callsign based on your zip code. Neat, but not useful for today's APRS
network.
For Xastir on the XO take a look at http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Kronenpj.
APRS-XO by Jack Zielke KG4GJY
APRS Copyright © Bob Bruninga WB4APR
OLPC XO photo credit Mike McGregor mikemcgregor.com