Kenwood TH-D72A/E GPS Receiver User Manual


 
6 OPERATIONAL EXAMPLES OF APRS
TH-D72A/E CONTENTS 51
Weather observation equipment intended for use at home is becoming more common in the United
States. Using this equipment, you can observe and measure wind direction, wind velocity, air
temperature, humidity, rainfall, atmospheric pressure, etc. This information can be useful to others
when the data is gathered and transmitted in real time via APRS beacon transmissions.
These kinds of weather stations are installed in many parts of the world. Some stations transmit
NWS (National Weather Service) information. The weather information from NWS is dispatched and
converted for beacon use. Local important information, such as locations of nearby tornadoes as
they are forming which have not been registered with central weather bureaus, can be transmitted by
APRS beacon.
The weather stations from Peet Bros. Company and Davis Instruments Corp. Inc. can be connected
in place of a GPS receiver via the GPS connector. The weather observation equipment transfers the
meteorological information with serial data and this data is transmitted via beacon transmissions
using the APRS weather format. Or you can monitor the meteorological data locally on the screen of
the TH-D72A/E. The information on rainfall, air temperature, wind direction, wind velocity,
atmospheric pressure and humidity can be displayed.
Select Menu 331 (APRS – COM Port) and configure the GPS terminal settings.
Baud Rate: 9600 bps (same as weather equipment being used)
Input: Weather (Davis) or Weather (Peet Bros.)
•Output: OFF
Figure 6-10 Menu 602 (GPS)
Equipment that has been verified with our transceiver includes the following models.
The weather station, Vantage Pro2 (http://www.davisnet.com/weather/products/vantage-pro-
professional-weather-stations.asp) can be used with TH-D72A/E.
”WeatherLink for Vantage Pro2, Windows, Serial Port” (Davis Part #.06510SER) or “WeatherLink for
APRS with Streaming Data Logger” (Davis Part #.06540) is required for TH-D72A/E. Install the
adapter that comes with the above accessories to work with TH-D72A/E.
To communicate with Vantage Pro2, configure the communication baud rate of Vantage Pro2 for
9600 bps using the panel keys and then configure the TH-D72A/E communication baud rate (Menu
330) to 9600 bps as well.
Note: 4800 bps (06540/ 06510SER) or 2400 bps (06510SER) may work with TH-D72A/E but we recommend using 9600 bps for
stable operation.
6.2 Base Station (Weather Station)
6.2.1 Using Meteorological Equipment
6.2.1.1 Davis Instruments Corp. Inc.