Miscellaneous Topics; Avmap (Don Arnold, W6Gps) - Kenwood TH-D72A/E User Manual

10 MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

10.1 AvMap (Don Arnold, W6GPS)

I find that using the Kenwood TH-D72A/E with built-in GPS is very convenient for travel And also
APRS operations are simple without the use of an external GPS device. But at times it is important
for me to have a visual display of APRS activity around me without the use of a computer.
TH-D72A/E uses the NMEA 0183 standard at 4800 and 9600 baud rates to communicate with the
GPS unit. The transceiver has three formats for interfacing to GPS units: NMEA, Magellan and the
Kenwood format. A GPS system with a serial interface will connect to the TH-D72A/E but if your
GPS supports bi-directional communication, it is possible to have APRS callsigns and icons appear
on the GPS screen. Of all the name brand GPS units, the AvMap G6 smoothly interfaces with the
Kenwood TH-D72A/E TNC better than any other with less adaptation and more features specific to
APRS and the TH-D72A/E. The AvMap G6 takes advantage of the Kenwood APRS sentence and
provides a Kenwood interface cable for truly Plug and Play operations.
Note: The baud rates refer to serial communication between transceiver and GPS and not to the AX.25 Packet communication
between transceivers.
AvMap G6 has many of the normal Personal Navigator data fields that you would find in most world
brand GPS units, but AvMap developers have integrated the Kenwood sentence format to provide
you a Tactical Mode. No other standalone GPS system has this exclusive Kenwood/AvMap feature.
If you are involved in a search and rescue scenario, you can assign one of your APRS assets
(callsigns) the target designation for Tactical Mode. This designated callsign on each position report
is processed by AvMap for easy viewing and tracking.
If you are using the TH-D72A/E with the AvMap, in Tactical mode, you will get an additional five data
fields that can be displayed on your AvMap:
• Target ID - Callsign
• Target Lat Long
• Target SOG - Speed over Ground
• Target COG - Course over Ground
• Target Altitude – Mean -sea-level
You can choose three of these five data fields to display on the AvMap screen. So, when your target
callsign is moving, you can get real time information and a visual display on the AvMap G6. The
AvMap operating system now uses full APRS icon representation. The decoded APRS packet from
the Kenwood TM-D710A/E (in Kenwood WAYPOINT format) is processed by the AvMap G6
operating system. When a mark is made on the screen, it now can be one of over 200 standardized
APRS icons along with the callsign. Setup of the Kenwood transceiver with AvMap is very simple.
Using the defaults of the Kenwood transceiver, only a few menu configurations are needed to set up
the TH-D72A/E.
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