APRS
The Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) lets hams share live position, weather, and status data over radio. Our club supports two flavors of APRS in the Treasure Valley: traditional 2m packet APRS, and an experimental 433.775MHz LoRa APRS network built around low-cost LoRa hardware.
2m APRS in the Treasure Valley
2m (144.390 MHz nationwide APRS frequency) is the traditional home
for APRS in the United States, and coverage across the Treasure
Valley is solid thanks to a network of digipeaters and iGates run by
local hams. Any radio capable of transmitting packet on 2m—paired
with a TNC or a sound-card modem—can participate.
The club maintains a 2m digipeater/iGate at our repeater site on Squaw
Butte in Emmett, providing coverage from Ontario through the Treasure
Valley.
Stations in the valley are digipeated and gated to APRS-IS, so positions
and messages show up on
aprs.fi
alongside the rest of the nationwide network.
- Frequency: 144.390 MHz (national APRS calling frequency)
- Standard AFSK 1200 baud packet
- Digipeater/iGate at Squaw Butte, Emmett—coverage from Ontario through the Treasure Valley
433.775MHz LoRa APRS
In addition to legacy 2m packet, we're building out a LoRa APRS
network on 433.775MHz. LoRa's long range and low power requirements
make it well suited for small, solar- or battery-powered trackers,
iGates, and digipeaters—complementing our 2m coverage with a
lightweight, low-cost alternative.
The club also maintains a LoRa digipeater/iGate at our repeater site
on Squaw Butte in Emmett, alongside the 2m station, giving the same Ontario-through-Treasure-Valley
coverage on LoRa.
LoRa APRS trackers and iGates are inexpensive to build, easy to deploy
in the field, and interoperate with the broader LoRa APRS community using
the same APRS-IS backend as 2m stations.
- Frequency: 433.775 MHz
- Spreading Factor: SF8
- Coding Rate: CR5
- Bandwidth: 62.5 kHz
- Digipeater/iGate at Squaw Butte, Emmett—coverage from Ontario through the Treasure Valley
- Gated to APRS-IS, viewable alongside 2m stations
