New Mexico Search and Rescue Support Team

The software packages below are provided with no warranty whatsoever. These two packages are used by the team to allow APRS+SA to work with iGage All Topo Maps in a manner that is easy to start up during the chaotic early stage of a search and rescue incident.

The software here is all intended for use on Microsoft Windows. Users of other systems are better off using APRS packages that have native topo map support.

• Executables

  • APRS2ATM v. 1.01

    APRS2ATM v. 1.00 is a small shim program written by Steve Coffin, KB7QKC. It parses APRS data from an incoming network or TNC port and passes it to iGate All Topo Maps for display over topographic maps.

    Tom Russo, KM5VY, of NM SAR Support has modified this software with Steve's permission, and provides it here as APRS2ATM v. 1.01.

    Version 1.01 expands the capabilities of APRS2ATM to add parsing of APRS Objects and Base-91 compressed position reports.

    Instructions for installing and using APRS2ATM are in the readme.txt file included in the zip file.

  • qProStart

    qProStart is a small program by Tom Russo, KM5VY, that allows the user to start APRS2ATM and All Topo Maps in one operation. It is patterned after a similarly-featured program called ProStart by Jim Baremore, K5QQ that has been in use for many years by the NM SAR Support Team. It is designed to make start-up of the APRS system easier and less error-prone than starting up several programs in sequence.

    qProStart allows the user to specify a search and rescue mission number and Incident Base location, then starts All Topo Maps centered on that base. When All Topo Maps is started and ready to communicate with other programs, qProStart then starts APRS2ATM.

    Unlike ProStart, most parameters of qProStart are user-configurable in a menu entry. These include the locations of the All Topo Maps and APRS2ATM programs, the names of the stations and locations files it uses, the internet server and port to which it will attach, and so forth.

    Also unlike ProStart, qProStart defaults to starting APRS2ATM in a mode that accepts all incoming APRS traffic within a specified radius of Incident Base (default 25 miles) rather than only accepting data from enumerated stations. This is also configurable in a menu entry.

    One feature of qProStart that has not yet been made configurable is the pattern it requires for the mission number. At this time, the mission number is required to fit the pattern used by New Mexico State Police mission numbers: XX-XX-XX with X being a digit. In a future update of qProStart, I'll allow the user to modify the regular expression used to validate the field, so that this software can be used outside of New Mexico. The only option at this time for users outside New Mexico would be to edit the source code where it sets "regExpMissNo" and recompile.

    Like ProStart, qProStart allows you to have a file of pre-defined base locations in a rigid format. Here is an example Locations.dat file. By default, qProStart looks for this file in C:\ATM7Pro\APRS2ATM, but you can change that default in the APRS Mission Parameters dialog.

    As an option, qProStart can start APRS2ATM in a mode where only station positions and objects from explicitly enumerated stations are displayed. This is not the default behavior, but it can be selected in the Advanced Options dialog. Here is an example stations.dat file.

    There is no installer for this software at the moment. Simply unzip the zip file into a new folder, and run it from there. The qProStart.exe file and the DLLs must be in the same folder, so don't move qProStart.exe to your desktop. If you want a desktop icon for it, simply make a shortcut. I hope to create a proper installer for this package at some point, but right now it's not a priority.

• Source Code

  • APRS2ATM

    Steve Coffin, the author of APRS2ATM version 1.00, has graciously provided the source code for APRS2ATM on his web site , without which the additional features of version 1.01 would have been impossible. The source for APRS2ATM version 1.01 are available for download.

    Compiling APRS2ATM requires one of the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ packages and the associated Platform SDK package. KM5VY uses Visual Studio C++ 2005 Express Edition.

  • qProStart

    qProStart is written using the Qt Cross-Platform Application and UI Framework. Under the terms of the license for Qt, qProStart is also open-sourced under a GNU Public License. Here's the source for qProStart.

    Compiling qProStart requires a Visual Studio C++ package, the Platform SDK, and the Qt SDK. KM5VY uses Qt built from source code available at the Qt download site.. This version of qProStart was built against the Version 4.5.1 open source edition of Qt.