November 15, 2015

New Symbol Graphics for APRS

November 15, 2015/ Colin Butler

APRS.fi is introducing new symbol graphics and better support for mobile devices

The new symbols are drawn in vector format (as opposed to a raster format at a fixed resolution), allowing them to be rendered at larger and smaller sizes without distortion or blurriness. The new symbols are slightly larger than the old ones, making them easier to recognise on modern displays having smaller pixels than the old ones. They're also available in double resolution so that they're properly sharp on the 4K/retina displays found on many modern tablets, phones and computers!

One downside is that they are just a little bit bigger than the old ones, taking up more space on the screen. On the other hand, the old ones were a bit too small on modern displays, and the very small resolution did make it hard to understand what the symbol tried to mimic.

Read the APRS.fi blog - http://blog.aprs.fi/2015/11/new-symbol-graphics-and-better-support.html

Beta site - http://beta.aprs.fi/

Amateur radio Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) - http://www.aprs.org/

APRS UK Yahoo Group - https://groups.yahoo.com/group/APRSUK

November 15, 2015

North Korea Operation

November 15, 2015/ Colin Butler

Polish Amateur / Ham Radio Operator Dom Grzyb, 3Z9DX, is planning to be active from North Korea (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea) in the early part of 2016 operating using the amateur radio callsign P5/3Z9DX.

Grzyb has received permission and license from North Korean authorities to operate on 3 bands, however Dom intends to concentrate his operation on 20m only SSB using 100 watts into a GP7 vertical antenna, QSL via his home callsign.

Dom just recently came back from the GXP antenna factory, where with the help of Waldek, SP7GXP, final adjustments were made to the GP7 Vertical antenna. This antenna will go with Dom to North Korea during a December trip together with other radio equipment.