If you are portable on ECLIPSE day, keep your APRS object updated.

If you are in the Totality band , please use the SUNNY (\U) symbol to make it easy to identify special Eclipse stations, and update your STATUS text frequently as to your CLOUD cover. NWS says some 65% ? of us will be blocked by clouds and so a last minute race to a clear area might be important. (if you can move at all).

A Status like “Clouds 25% at 1015.” fits nicely on the 10x10 line popup display on APRS HT’s.

There may be lots of APRS Balloons that day too on 144.39 or 144.34. After the eclipse, use your HT and go chase one down (and meet others)!

The QIKCOM1 APRS module deployment from ISS is delayed (unknown) but other events are listed on the HamSCI web page, below.

Bob, WB4APR

*From:* Robert Bruninga [mailto:bruninga@usna.edu] *Sent:* Monday, July 10, 2017 9:15 AM *Subject:* APRS, AM and the solar Eclipse

There will be several Ham Radio experiments during the eclipse. Please see: http://HamSCI.org

Anyone can do the AM radio experiment by listening for the 13 clear channel AM radio stations that are along the path of totality. As the D layer is darkened these stations should come up out of the noise. Check the web page for times and frequencies. The eclipse traverses the USA over about an hour with any one observer seeing totality for about 2 minutes.

Also, APRS will be used during the day of the eclipse (21 Aug) for locating those hams involved in eclipse observations to be able to see where other nearby ham observers are located. Imagine the APRS map that day showing a clustering of mobile and portable positions all along the totality line. Please use the station symbol SUNNY (\U) for this event so these stations will stand out among all others on the national tracking page http://aprs.fi and report Cloud cover %.

In addition to position reporting, APRS real-time messaging can be used for direct station-to-station texting plus the announcement server will give national connectivity for announcements. To use it, just send an APRS message to ANSRVR and begin the message with CQ ECLIPSE… Such a message will be sent to every other station in the event that has also sent a similar message. Due to the load, limit transmissions to no more often than once every half hour.

Bob Bruninga, WB4APR@amsat.org