APRS.FI report showing a recent firmware update test drive
Its been a while since we have posted any news, but we’re happy to announce we are well on our way to releasing a new Tracksoar firmware. The new firmware cleans up a lot of old and unused code in the existing firmware, and adds some new often requested features.
The new features are:
- Maximum altitude reporting
- Updating the APRS pathing based on altitude
- Change the transmit rate based on altitude.
Maximum altitude reporting allows for much more accurate burst altitude detection than the existing code. The maximum altitude reached is transmitted with each APRS packet and updated with each GPS update (default once every second). The next two new features are altitude dependent and are focused on respecting the APRS network and other hams. By updating APRS pathing based on altitude we can use WIDE 2-1 pathing below a few thousand feet to improve our chances of hitting an IGATE while on / near the ground, while doing our part to not overload the APRS network using no pathing when we are able to hit every IGATE in a couple hundred mile radius while at altitude. Lastly we have added the ability to vary the transmit rate based on altitude. This will help with battery life by reducing the transmit rate at low altitudes (ie during setup and after landing) when we need only a handful of position reports, and increasing the transmit rate above a few thousand feet where things get interesting. We are working with a small team of beta testers, and have a test flight scheduled to verify the new firmware is production ready.
On the hardware side of things we have increased our monthly order size to meet the increasing demand. We have doubled our production rate to keep boards in stock and that should be reflected in the store in 2-3 weeks when the next batches are scheduled to arrive.
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