I recently discovered that Facebook, the social networking site, has a powerful APRS application. What this does for me is put an APRS icon on the left margin of my Facebook page. One click on the icon and it brings up a Google map with the last reported position and tracks superimposed on a Google street map – for myself (or any call sign I choose to track) as well as all of my “friends” on Facebook. The questions for this storm spotting ham radio operator is – is this good or bad?
In this ham radio operator’s opinion, this handy resource is a good thing, although it is a bit limiting. I stress limiting because, during a Skywarn storm spotting net I may want to know the exact positions of ALL ham radio operators running APRS – not just my Facebook friends. While I can get there from inside the APRS application on Facebook, I can get there a couple of clicks faster outside of Facebook – as long as I have my home PC. On my home PC, I have a web browser button linked to this link: http://aprs.fi/?lat=44.2764&lng=-88.4280&mt=roadmap&z=11&timerange=3600 – that link shows me ALL APRS activity in the last hour in a good chunk of the Appleton, Wisconsin area. My APRS track is AB9NN-9 if you are interested.
The Facebook APRS application does have some fun uses. It’s nice to know that it IS limited to a certain set of people that run APRS that are also friends. For severe strom spotting though I really prefer the http://aprs.fi/?lat=44.2764&lng=-88.4280&mt=roadmap&z=11&timerange=3600 link since it shows me all reporting stations.
So – how does a ham radio operator – or anyone else for that matter – install the FREE APRS application on Facebook? Follow these steps with the caveat that the application has changed once on me in the past two weeks – so no guarantee how long these SPECIFIC instructions will work.
- Sign-in to your Facebook page.
- Go to your WALL page and find the white SEARCH box. You can input names to find friends that are on Facebook. You can also find Facebook applications with it.
- Type in “APRS” without the quotes and you should see a menu item with a red car icon that says APRS App. If you don’t see it on the first page of menu items, click “See more results for APRS…” – It likely is on another page.
- “Like” the page, then review each of the page’s tabs to find the button to install the application.
- Once installed you should see a list of your Facebook friends with APRS (or AIS – for ships I believe). Click on anyone to zoom in on their location.
- If YOU have an APRS station, then click on the APRS red car icon on your Facebook page after it has been installed. Click on MY tab and ADD a new station.
- When the data entry box appears, enter your ham radio callsign WITH the SSID and press ADD.
- You should now be able to see your and your Facebook friend’s information and locations and tracks if you click on the red car to bring up the map.
NOW – to go FROM the Facebook APRS map to the http://APRS.FI map, do the following steps:
- Click the red car on your Facebook page to bring up the Facebook APRS map.
- Use the ZOOM control on the left side of the page to zoom in until you can click on any red car or truck on the map. Doing this should bring up a white box that shows the target’s ham radio callsign, etc..
- Clicking on the callsign should bring up a new window. This window should load the http://APRS.FI APRS map with that callsign displayed as a target. While this map very much looks like the Facebook version, you now should be able to see ALL targets once you clear out the callsign from the “Track Callsign” search box on the right side of the map and click SEARCH.
I hope that this short blog post has provided some insights and thoughts about some of the various APRS maps out there. I am sure we will see more in the future. I know, for example, that my wife Jane, KD8KRS has an APRS application for her iPhone. I also know that there are similar applications for other smart phones.
Stay radio active!
Jon Kreski, AB9NN – Appleton / Green Bay, Wisconsin area
http://www.HamRadioResources.com
