APRS Receiver
Amateur radio position packets
What it does
SimpleHam radio hobbyists (people who get a licence to play with radio) like to send out little digital postcards that say 'here's where I am, and here's a short note.' Cars, backpacks, and weather stations all send these. This app catches those postcards and shows who sent them and where they are.
You'll see callsigns (each ham's special name), map positions, and sometimes weather readings or fun messages — all bouncing around the local ham network.
How it works
SimpleThe message is turned into two whistling tones — one for 1, one for 0 — that sound a bit like an old dial-up modem. The app listens to the whistles, turns them back into 1s and 0s, and then reads the callsign and location hidden inside. Special relay stations called 'digipeaters' rebroadcast the postcard so it travels far.
How to use it, step by step
Simple- Open the 'APRS RX' app.
- Tune to the ham APRS channel for your country.
- Wait for a packet — you'll see a callsign and a place.
- Tap it to read the note the sender attached.
Examples
Watch nearby stations and digipeaters relay position beacons across town.
Some APRS stations are weather stations — decode temperature, wind, and rainfall right from the packet.
Catch a car or bike tracker and watch its position update as it drives around.
Tips & things to try
- APRS is busiest near cities where there are many hams and digipeaters.
- The path field (like WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1) shows how many hops the packet was allowed to travel.
- A vertical antenna helps — APRS is vertically polarised FM on 2 m.