Locating and displaying maps on iAPRS.

The APRS map page with the 'locate' button, shown to the left, is the primary page you will use in operating iAPRS.

As iAPRS loads you will see a loading placeholder page initially, and when the graphic changes from 'Loading...' to 'Ready...' the application is ready for you to use.

By default, iAPRS starts with the 'SETUP' view.

The SETUP view exists to allow you to set your preferences for the map display.

The seperate 'CONFIGURE' page is where you set your user information that gets sent to APRS and also the OpenAPRS login information.

You do not always need to view the setup page on startup, but you will find that the best viewing settings change in different areas.

The SETUP page is accessible from the main APRS map page via a small button in the upper right. You must have iAPRS in the 'APRSmap' mode for either the map or setup page to display.

At the top of the page are two fields where you can manually enter in a latitude and longitude for iAPRS to use if you are in the MANUAL LOCATION MODE.

Manual location does NOT use the GPS in the iPhone and allows you to view APRS ham activity in distant areas. The latitude and longitude used in manual mode is also sent to the APRS network as your position if you are not in monitor only mode.

When you are not in manual location mode the entry of latitude and longitude is disabled and the GPS in the iPhone (or wifi-location in the iPod Touch) are used.

For those with iPhone version one, without the GPS, you should get reasonably good results in metropolitan and dense-suburban areas via the cellphone triangulation methods. Your location would not be quite as accurate as with a GPS, but for most uses it should be fine.

MONITOR ONLY mode allows you to download the map of APRS activity in an area without posting your position to the APRS network.

This is the only mode allowed for those without amateur radio licenses. If you wish to post your position to the APRS network you need to have Monitor Only mode turned off and have a validated OpenAPRS account.

Displayed Range tells iAPRS the extents of the APRS data you wish to download.

You can select to download a maximum of 50 stations at distances from 2 miles to 100 miles from your location. Please note that this is separate from map zoom level and you may need to scroll the map to see all the stations.

Max Last Heard allows for the download of APRS data from stations that have been heard in just the last 30 minutes up to the last 27 hours. APRS stations that have not transmitted their position within the max-last-heard time will not be displayed.

Initial Map Zoom determines the initial resolution of the Google Map display.

Once the map has displayed, you can zoom in or out from the initial zoom level as desired by using the normal iPhone 'pinch' technique. You can also pan the map by swiping.

Please be patient while the map changes its zoom level or pans as zooming and panning are especially processor intensive and if you are impatient with the device it will not respond desireably. The more APRS stations overlaid on the map, the slower a zoom change will be. If such changes are intolerably slow you should either reduce the displayed range or max last yeard settings.

Show Setup On Start allows you to view the primary map/locate page when iAPRS starts up so that you are not annoyed by having to hit the 'Show Map' button in order to get to the map page. Set this value to OFF once you have your normal preferences setup.

Show Map will take you to the main APRS map page where you can view the maps and send and receive your APRS location.

To get the APRS map you just need to hit the LOCATE button and the iAPRS program will contact the OpenAPRS server to transfer the APRS information and then contact Google to download the appropriate map for display on the iPhone screen.

In the upper left corner of the map page is a status window to give you an indication of the progress through the various steps in exchanging the necessary data. In the photo above this is shown displaying that the OpenAPRS server has been found. The color of the status indicator will change as it sequences through its steps.

During the communications with the OpenAPRS and Google Maps servers there will be a 'spinner' indicating that something is going on inside the iPhone, and the former 'LOCATE' button will display the words 'Working' instead.

Please be patient while the system communicates with the servers. Usually the communications are quick, but occasionally they may take time, depending on internet traffic and the method the iPhone is using to access the internet.

In the lower left is your latitude and longitude display.

In the lower right of the screen is the status of the iPhone location accuracy. Depending on the degree of accuracy the background color of the display will change from red, through yellow, to white. White being the most accurate.

You may wish to give the iPhone a few moments to find it's best accuracy (as displayed in the lower right corner) before you hit the LOCATE button to transfer your information with APRS.

If you are in the MANUAL LOCATION MODE the bottom of the map display will indicate that, and the coordinates shown to the left are those which were set on the SETUP page. The iPhone saves the settings you enter, but by default the manual latitude and logitude will place the device near Traverse City Michigan, a really swell place.