If you follow these steps outlined from a new (or reset) TH-D72 radio you will be able to send out APRS beacons in only a few minutes.
Each section step assumes the radio is powered On and on the main screen and not in a menu.
Set Date
- Press
Menu 1 9 4
- You should read Auxiliary > Date with blinking cursor on the month
- Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top and scroll Month
- Press
Right
on (up/down/left/right) navigation pad - Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top and scroll Date
- Press
Right
on (up/down/left/right) navigation pad - Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top and scroll Year
- Press
Right
on (up/down/left/right) navigation pad - You should read Auxiliary > Date
- Press
Menu
to exit
Set Time
- Press
Menu 1 9 5
- You should read Auxiliary > Date with blinking cursor on the hour
- Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top and scroll Hour (24hr Format)
- Press
Right
on navigation pad - Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top and scroll Minute
- Press
Right
on navigation pad - You should read Auxiliary > Time
- Press
Menu
to exit
Set Time Zone/UTC Offset
- Press
Menu 1 9 6
- You should read Auxiliary > Time Zone with blinking cursor on the offset
- Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top and scroll offset
- Press
Right
on navigation pad - You should read Auxiliary > Time Zone
- Press
Menu
to exit
Toggle GPS On/Off
- Press
F (Function) Mark
- GPS will show up in the upper right of screen when On
View GPS Position
- Turn GPS On (if off)
- Press
POS
- Press
Right
andLeft
on navigation pad to scroll through information screens - Press
POS
to exit
Save current GPS position into Memory
- Turn GPS On (If Off)
- Press
POS
- Press
Menu
- You should read COPYtoPOS1
- Press
Right
on navigation pad to select OK
Set Call Sign for APRS
- Press
Menu 3 0 0
- You should read Basic Set > My Callsign with blinking cursor on the callsign
- Press
Left
andRight
on navigation pad to move cursor - Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top and scroll letters
- Add a - and a Number for your SSID (ie: KC9BUD-7)
- Press
Menu
twice to exit
Set Station Icon
- Press
Menu 3 C 0
- You should read Icon > <icon names>
- Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top to scroll icons
- Press
Menu
twice to exit
Setting Beacon Information
- Press
Menu 3 7 0
- You should read BeaconInfo > Speed
- Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top to turn On/Off speed info in your APRS beacon
- Press
Right
on navigation pad for OK - Turn Tuning knob to Altitude and press
Right
to select - Turn Tuning knob to turn On/Off altitude info in your APRS beacon
- Press
Right
on navigation pad for OK - Turn Tuning knob to Position Ambiguity and press Right to select
- Turn Tuning knob to turn limit position info in your APRS beacon (ie: Off will give full Position 33°50.43, 2-Digit will give broader detail 33°50)
- Press
Menu
twice to exit
Setting a Position Comment
- Press
Menu 3 8 0
- You should read Comment > Position Comment
- Turn the Tuning control encoder knob on top to scroll through available messages
- Press
Right
on navigation pad to select - Press
Menu
to exit - *Note do not use EMERGENCY! during normal operation
Tune to the APRS Frequency
- Here in USA APRS frequency is 144.390 MHz
- Press
A/B
to toggle between VFOs, the active VFO will have an arrow next to it - Turn Tuning knob encoder knob on top until 144.390 is shown
Turn on the Internal TNC for APRS
- Press
TNC
- You should read Opening TNC and then APRS12 near the top
- You will also notice a D icon next to the frequency
- To turn off the TNC press
TNC
(it will goto Packet Mode) and pressTNC
again to turn off
Send an APRS Beacon Manually
- Confirm you have the TNC turned On in APRS mode
- Confirm you are tuned to the correct frequency (144.390 in US)
- Press
BCON
- If you have your call sign set and followed the steps above it should transmit (red LED should light for a moment)
That's it! If an iGate/Digipeater heard your transmission and everything is correct per these instructions you may receive a response on your radio showing you that your message made it to the APRS network. You should then goto http://aprs.fi and search for your callsign to see if you can map out your position (remember to use wildcards or correct SSID suffix when searching). You can also try searching around on http://www.findu.com/ as well.