Avman Review.indd
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1. Kenwood House Dwight Road Watford Hertfordshire WD18 9EB Tel 01923 816444 Fax 01923 212477 and to Martin Lynch amp Sons Outline House 73 Guildford Street Chertsey Surrey KT16 9AS Tel 01932 567333 E mail sales hamradio co uk website www hamradio co uk As you can hopefully see from the photos took the map display can be zoomed in and out the detail is excellent and it was great fun seeing the stations appear can only imagine how useful this would be on a Raynet exercise to be able to see where the mobiles were on a map in the car with the minimum or effort Setting all this up is just so simple David Wilkins G5HY of Kenwood UK comments Thanks for courtesy copy of Richard s review lII pass on to AVMap Richard s comment about old icons remaining on screen until deleted Perhaps they can build a software timer in to delete them after a fixed time or similar But of course can t speak for them in this David On The Road used the set up all over Christmas and the New Year when travelling around near home in Dorset and on my journey from Dorset to Somerset really enjoyed using the rig and the AvMap together and it was so easy to take out of the car could use it even on the shortest of journeys without it being a bind would also love to try this out while camping or caravanning As two separate bits of kit both the Kenwood TM D710E and the AvMap are impressive but putting them together was2. E SEER ELEEE EEE EEE The only additional thing that had to get was a microphone extension lead so that could use the microphone and actually speak to people as well as watching stations appear on the map My thanks to David Wilkins G5HY from Kenwood who sent it by courier just after Christmas had the whole thing done in a jiffy within an hour was sitting in the car watching station after station appear on the AvMap screen The really impressive thing is that it displays the APRS icons cars weather stations and houses even the Kenwood sign they were all there in full colour for all to see on the map Obviously you cannot interact with the icons on the AvMap like you can on U View or similar software package The information stored on each station is very brief basically the callsign the icon and the location is about it information wise That said using the map in conjunction with the Kenwood TM D710E and the firmware is great had the visual interest of seeing the station on the map and using the rig could send and receive messages The AvMap GeoSat5 Blu e doesn t just display the stations on the map it also saves them in a contacts folder which could access by using the Where to Go short cut key could then choose between Address Home Point of Interest or Contact If then pressed the contact on screen button could then see a folder called APRS Pressing on this identified all the stations that t
3. a i O at U a e ANAY i H 4 i j n N e E he editor of PW has done it again and he s i made me an offer just couldn t refuse Over the past years I ve had great fun reviewing all sorts of equipment for PW but have to say that one thing in particular has captured my imagination and continues to be of interest to me the Automatic Packet or position Reporting System APRS This is where a station s position is sent using packet radio and is then translated by receiving software and displayed as a position on a map reviewed the first fully functional APRS rig on the market The Kenwood TM D700E and more recently that rig s successor the TM D710E Both these radios have APRS firmware and a built in terminal node with a small grey scale screen This was the best could controller TNC so all they need is the addition of afford at the time and was probably one of the best a Global Positioning Satellite GPS unit and once solutions available equipped the operator has the ability to report their position send and receive messages and even show The TM D700E TNC direction and speed The TNC in the Kenwood TM D700E could output I ve also written articles about APRS itself and on received station and location information in a number of the use of software packages like U View As a mainly formats one was the NMEA format the Garmin could a mobile operator wanted to be able to see stati
4. acquired sufficient satellites with the internal antenna even when indoors near to a window In the car there was never any problem at all The unit offers other external connections these include a USB port for software updates a 3 5mm jack for speakers or head phones It also has an Audio Video input again 3 5mm jack but the unit is supplied with an adaptor that takes the 3 5 mm jack to two in line phono sockets so that the unit can accept audio and video AV signals and act as an external display for a DVD player camera or anything that has a PAL or NTSC output The unit also has a Traffic Message Channel TMC input This can be used with an optional extra TMC receiver to display traffic messages through the RDS radio channel This socket a 2 5 mm jack socket is the one that the TM D710E uses to communicate with the AvMap POPPER SLOSS EEEEE EEE LESOTHO EEEHOEEOEE HE EEEEHEEEEEEEEOEEEE TEESE TEESE ESEEEE EH EEOE HE EEOEH OE EEEEHESEEE EET OEEEHOEEHE ETE EOEEHELEEEEEOOEEEHTEEOE EE EOOEE EE EEEEEESOEHE HOECHST HTEEEEEEEEEEEETTEEH ET OEEEE HD EEEH EEL EEEHEREEEEE REELS EHLELEEE EE EEEEE ERE EEE ERE EEEE EEE O EES Beginning the navigation from Minehead back home via a friend s place Calling up the APRS folder within the in built address book allows you to choose locations via the touch screen Tapping on Terry 2E1EJC s entry in the address book selects his location as the end point A simple tap o
5. each other just followed the instructions and within minutes the two were chatting to each other with no problem at all The TM D710E was receiving location information from the AvMap and likewise the AvMap was receiving details of received stations from the 710e and displaying them on the map Fantastic All had to do now was figure out how to get it in the car Antenna Problems The first problem was finding a suitable antenna have always used a boot or hatch mounted antenna however now have a glass hatch So the quick fix was a magnetic mount and so that was it a 54 8 whip on a large magnetic mount on the roof of my car However the review nearly came to an abrupt and messy end when forgot the antenna and happily drove into the local Tesco s underground car park Luckily the horrendous grinding noise was much less fatal than it sounded and a quick exit was enough to save the day boot mounted the TM D710E as there was a convenient 12V d c 15A socket in the boot The remote head lead stretched to the front console where mounted the head on a fold down cover for one of those almost useless little nooks and crannies you get in modern cars The lead from the GPS unit goes to the head of the TM D710E so this made connection to the AvMap a cinch Practical Wireless March 2009 POCO R LEE HEE OEEE EHO LEEES ETOH ET EEEEEEOEEEE EO EOEE OE ETEEHEROEEEEHEESEH EL ESEEE EL EEEHELSELEEHELEEEEELEEEE EL SEH EER E
6. es along with the all important pictures The rig and AvMap were also accompanied by a brief but informative set of instructions on how to get the two units talking to each other with details of the menu settings for both units The instructions were simple to follow and the review unit worked first time The AvMap GeoSat5 Blu e is larger than the normal Tom Tom or Garmin GPS units measuring 139 7x100x36mm and weighing 390g However as you can see from the pictures of it in action it doesn t look out of place on the dashboard The screen resolution is 320x240 pixels which found to be pleasing to the eye and the APRS icons were easy to see and identify The display brightness can be set manually or to automatically change brightness depending on conditions Practical Wireless March 2009 POPPE S OLEH L EEE EEEHEEHEEEE ET EEEE SE EEEEEEETEHH ER OEE HTEHEE EE EEEET EL EEHH EE SESEE HE LEEE EE LEEESEREEEE EE DESEEHELEEE EE EOEEEE LEE EEE In the boot of Richard s car there s a convenient power socket so the TM D710E s body was mounted nearby The control head for the TM D710E was mounted on one of the small spare shelves to be found on the dashboard The AvMap GeoSat5 Blu e has a Sirf Ill GPS receiver with 20 channels built in with an internal antenna but there s also a connection for an external antenna which appeared to be a 2 5mm jack socket However didn t need to use this because the unit
7. he AvMap has received from the Kenwood TM D710E listed in alphabetical order could then choose to delete them view them on the map or even edit the contact information thus making this a kind of mobile APRS log book of sorts The operators can also choose the navigate to option and away they go took a series of pictures to illustrate this choosing to navigate to Terry Bain 2E1EJC s OTH in Blandford Forum did this as I left Minehead having visited my Mum It s not really something that you have a contact with this set up is more for the operator than anyone else but did put on my beacon comment that was reviewing the rig and the AvMap and invited messages Dave Houlden G1OCN who runs an APRS Weather station near Weymouth sent me a good few messages alas it was during my turn to drive so was unable to reply to him However it was great to know that was getting out and appearing on the network though One thing to bear in mind is that the rig will send the location of a station to the AvMap that station will then appear and will remain on there until it is heard again If it s not heard again it will be there until you delete the contact from the AvMap s database only mention this to explain why you may notice a mobile station on the same road as you and wonder why you do not pass them It s possible that this station was received days before and then didn t beacon again On a Ul View map normal
8. ly your station will drop off if the system does not hear an update from you after one hour This means dormant stations will not appear Not so with the AvMap it isn t intelligent it just plots what it hears and there it will stay until it hears the same callsign again with a different position in which case the station will disappear from the old position and be re plotted at the new position Practical Wireless March 2009 PRPS E TEE E EEE EEE HETERO EEE HE EEOEESEEOEE HE TEEEHE ROLES ET ELOEE TE EHEEHEDEEEE ET OLEEHOLESEH DE LEEEREREEEE EEE LEEE EELS EHDEEOE Products The Kenwood TM D710E and the AvMap GeoSat 5 Blu e Companies Kenwood UK amp Martin Lynch amp Sons Pros The Kenwood TM D710E and the AvMap are impressive but putting them together was pure genius The AvMap GeoSat 5 Blu e can also be used with the Kenwood TM D700E and the TH D7 hand held This combination is a real hit in my book Cons AvMap it isn t intelligent it just plots what it hears and there it will stay until it hears the same callsign again with a different position in which case the station will disappear from the old position and be re plotted at the new position Price The AvMap GeoSat 5 Blu e is available from Martin Lynch amp Sons and costs 359 95 plus 10 carriage and the Kenwood TM D 710E is available from Amateur Radio dealers My thanks for the loan of the review units go to Kenwood UK Communications
9. n Go to start the calculation of the best route there A few seconds later and it s almost finished Then up pops the whole route to Terry s place all plotted out from the present location And off we go l a z i mi Vee Over half way there and route details and nearby APRS stations can be seen along with travelling information The AvMap GeoSat5 Blu e is easy to use as a SatNav you can search for a location by address or postcode and everything is done by touch screen menus These menus are sensibly laid out and well labelled The unit also has easy short cut keys down the right hand side These display the main menu set the unit to navigate to home access the contacts menu bring up the route functions and turn the power on and off the On Off button also controls the brightness of the display thought would test the AvMap out as a SatNav when travelling to a friend s wedding in the back of beyond near Bath The AvMap found the location a mill in the middle of nowhere by correctly pin pointing the postcode It successfully navigated us to the location and in fact it was so good we arrived an hour early The verbal commands could clearly be heard through the efficient internal speaker have to say that being familiar with the TM D710E and interfacing it with GPS receivers may have helped but was really impressed on how easy it was to get these two bits of kit talking to
10. ons accept this format and would display the information it around me so some years ago started to experiment received on its rather simple map as a waypoint This d with my TM D700E and a Garmin Ill plus GPS receiver had certain draw backs the Garmin could not keep Richard Newton GORSN tries an add on unit that makes the Kenwood IM D710E even more attractive 44 Practical Wireless March 2009 POPPER LEHR LEER O LEE EE EEE EESEEHEEOEEEE SOLE EEEOEH HE EOEEHETEEEEE HOTELL ESEH HE LSEEHEDEEEEEDELEEEEEESEH EE LOEEDEDEEEE EDEL EE much in memory and if anything a little out of the ordinary was received would get a message invalid Waypoint received and would have to re set the unit completely The Garmin III plus would also give every waypoint received from the rig the same generic icon so although you saw the callsign it was never clear what type of station it was whether mobile home digi weather station etc Because of the limitations gave this up and just kept the GPS hidden underneath the car seat and set it to just output location information to the rig So imagine my reaction when PW asked me to look at the new combination of the TM D710E and a satellite navigation system called AvMap the mobile APRS solution that gives you a full colour APRS map in your car Yes of course jumped at the chance but there one problem had just changed my car and was still trying to work out how to get a radio into it This
11. pure genius According to AvMap The AvMap GeoSat 5 Blu e can also be used with the Kenwood TM D700E and the TH D7 hand held This combination is a real hit in my book thanks to Kenwood for the loan of the 710E and thanks to Martin Lynch for the loan of the AvMap GeoSat 5 Blu e oO
12. was just the motivation needed don t really intend to go into great detail about the Kenwood TM D710E reviewed this rig for PW on not that long ago back in January 2008 but just to give you a taster here s a reminder The Kenwood TM D710E is a full dual band rig for 144 and 430MHz with an impressive extended receive capability It has built in APRS and Echolink functions The built in APRS function comes with either a semi or fully automated APRS facility using an impressive firmware pre installed on the rig If you prefer the rig offers the ability to use the built in TNC for APRS or any other packet function with the external connection of a personal computer Italian Company So what of the other bit of kit the AvMap Well in fact AvMap are an Italian company who make all sorts of satellite navigation systems and the AvMap GeoSat5 Blu e is the one loaned for the review This has an impressive 127mm 5in full colour display has full satellite navigation functions and is Bluetooth equipped for hands free operation What s in the box The AvMap GeoSat5 Blu e it is supplied with pre installed Tele Atlas map of Europe on an SD card and a versatile suction mount that allows it to be attached to the windscreen It also comes with a power lead terminated in the normal cigar lighter plug USB cable and an audio video adaptor The unit is supplied with a comprehensive user manual that offers good explanations and exampl
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