NAPRS APRS Radio comparison chart

APRS Radio comparison chart

Radios

Comparison

TH-D7

This is a comparison chart of what APRS functions each radio has.

	TM-D700	TM-D710	FTM-350	TH-D7	TH-D72	VX-8	VX-8D	VX-8G
Smart Beaconing	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Voice Alert	As tone	Yes	Yes	As tone	Yes	No	No	No
Display interrupt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Tune Function	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
QSY frequency	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
QSY Tone	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
QSY Offset	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
AvMap compatible	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
APRS output	NMEA	NMEA & Kenwood	NMEA	NMEA	NMEA & Kenwood	No	No	NMEA
Auto message reply	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Digipeater	Limited	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Range Alert	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Station list	40	100	100	40	100	50	50	50
Message list	16	100	100	16	100	20	30	30
Packet with PC	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
WX interface	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
User upgradable	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No

Smart Beaconing
Can vary the time your beacon is transmitted, based on speed and change of bearing.

Voice Alert
Has the ability to set a CTSS tone on the APRS band packets. Handy to know if another station is within voice range (This will not stop other packets being decoded).

Display Interrupt
When an APRS beacon is received the display is interrupted and a summary of the information is displayed for a few seconds (this is optional).

QSY Frequency
Can transmit the frequency the other half of the radio is tuned to.

QSY Tone
Can transmit tone information the other half of the radio is tuned to.

QSY Offset
Can transmit split channel information the other half of the radio is tuned to.

Tune function
Can change channel at the press of a button to QSY information.

AvMap compatible
Has an output that can be feed into a AvMap. Please see below about the differences between NMEA and Kenwood format.

APRS Output
Outputs serial information that can be fed to a GPS unit to be displayed on it's screen. Currently their are two formats, NMEA and Kenwood. Several GPS units support NMEA and the AvMap supports Kenwood as well. The advantage with the Kenwood format (if the receiving unit is compatible) is the station will come up on the display as an icon (i.e. Car, Walker, Boat etc.). The NMEA format will just show as a dot.

Auto message reply
When you receive a message it can be programmed to automatically reply (i.e. Sorry I'm not at the radio right now, or I'm currently driving I will get back to you as soon as possible).

Digipeater
The APRS network is built up of digipeaters and igates relaying tactical information.
If the radio has this function it can be used as a digipeater, but please use this function sensibly. If you already have good coverage, turning this function on will just degrade the network.
N.B. In some countries turning this on could break the terms of your licence.

Range Alert
Alerts you when a station beacons within a pre-set distance from you.

Station list
How many APRS stations the radio will store. As new ones come in the old ones will be deleted automatically.

Message list
How many APRS messages the radio will store.

Packet with PC
Can be connected to a PC for APRS or Packet use (i.e. using Ui-View).

WX interface
The ability to connect a weather station to the radio to transmit weather data over APRS.

User upgradable
The ability for the user to be able to upgrade the firmware when it becomes available. A special lead might be needed.