A Raspberry Pi and RTL-SDR based APRS iGate

APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) is an amateur radio based system for real time communications. These can include GPS location, short messages, weather reports and other telemetry such as the location of an amateur radio repeater.

APRS messages are often sent from low powered devices with limited range, so the protocol includes the use of digipeters - a device that receives an APRS message and then retransmits it, and iGates, devices that receive APRS and then send it to centralised systems over the internet.

One of these systems is aprs.fi, a site that stores and displays APRS data-

A few members of my local club (London Hackspace Radio Club) have been experimenting with APRS and found signal coverage is a little patchy in London, so I've decided to setup my own iGate. I'm hoping I will be able to pick up signals from the near by M25.

For more information, click 'read more'

Push notifications from Tasker to Telegram

My father recently went on holiday and complained that because I didn't have WhatsApp he couldn't send me photos whilst he was away. I don't use WhatsApp for various reasons, primarily because it's tied to a mobile number, so I explored the alternatives.

I've dabbled with Telegram in the past and heard good things, so I thought I'd give it another go. The API is a lot more open than the previous instant messenger I was using (Google Hangouts) so I wondered to how 'hackable' it was. After some research I stumbled upon the ability to send notifications from Tasker (A 'scripting' type app for Android) to Telegram

Click 'read more' to see how to get Tasker to send notifications to Telegram