Chapter 5
Settings Reference
Every setting, what it does and its default.
- STATION
- AUTOMATION
- SERVER
- FILTER
- DISPLAY
- BEACONING
- RX iGATE
- RF INTERFACES
- TX iGATE
- DIGIPEATER, BEACON CHECK and ISS PASS REMINDER
- AUTO-REPLY, SPOKEN ALERTS, PROXIMITY ALERT and PHONE BAROMETER
- BULLETIN ALERTS
- QUIET HOURS
- MESSAGE AUDIO ALERT and AUTO-BEACON ON MESSAGE
- MAP TILE CACHE
- AX.25 PACKET
- ADVANCED
- POSITION PRIVACY
- BATTERY SAVER
- Export, Import and Share
All settings are on the Settings tab. A row of tabs under the Export / Import / Share buttons splits them into five pages; the app remembers the one you last used.
| Tab | Sections |
|---|---|
| Station | STATION, SERVER, FILTER, AUTOMATION |
| Beacon | BEACONING, AUTO-BEACON ON MESSAGE, ADVANCED, PHONE BAROMETER |
| Display | DISPLAY, MAP TILE CACHE |
| Alerts | AUTO-REPLY, SPOKEN ALERTS, PROXIMITY ALERT, ISS PASS REMINDER, BULLETIN ALERTS, MESSAGE AUDIO ALERT |
| RF | RF INTERFACES, RX iGATE, TX iGATE, DIGIPEATER, BEACON CHECK, AX.25 PACKET |
The sections are described below. Changes take effect when you tap SAVE SETTINGS at the bottom of any page — it saves the changes on every tab at once; leaving the Settings screen without saving discards them. Settings are stored with Android DataStore, and a copy of the key fields is kept separately so they survive a corrupted store.
#STATION
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Callsign | Your callsign without SSID. Upper case, up to 6 characters. Default MYCALL — the app will not do anything useful until this is changed. |
| SSID | 0–15. 0 means no SSID; any other value is added as -N. Used for APRS-IS login, beacons and messages. (The packet terminal always uses the plain callsign.) |
| Passcode | Your APRS-IS passcode. Leave blank (or enter -1) and the app calculates the correct passcode from the callsign automatically. Enter a number only if you need to override it. |
| HamQTH lookup login | The HamQTH.com user name used for callsign lookups in Station Detail. Change enters a new user name and password; Remove deletes them from the phone. Takes effect at once. The login is kept separately from the other settings and is never included in settings exports, shared settings files or station profiles. |
#AUTOMATION
Allow automation apps (default off) lets Tasker, MacroDroid, Automate and similar apps send beacons, messages and status reports through this app, and tells them when a message arrives or a station comes near. Leave it off unless you use one: while it is on, any app on the phone could transmit under your callsign. The commands and events are listed in chapter 22.
#SERVER
Server and Port select the APRS-IS server. The default is euro.aprs2.net port 14580, the user-defined-filter port of the Tier 2 network. Preset chips fill both fields:
| Preset | Server | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| euro | euro.aprs2.net:14580 | Europe rotate (default) |
| rotate | rotate.aprs2.net:14580 | Worldwide rotate |
| noam | noam.aprs2.net:14580 | North America |
| soam | soam.aprs2.net:14580 | South America |
| asia | asia.aprs2.net:14580 | Asia |
| aunz | aunz.aprs2.net:14580 | Australia and New Zealand |
| uk | uk.aprs2.net:14580 | UK servers |
| euro:10152 | euro.aprs2.net:10152 | Full feed — every packet worldwide. Very high data use; filters are ignored on this port. |
#FILTER
These settings build the server-side filter sent when logging in to APRS-IS. The server then sends only matching traffic, which keeps data use and battery drain down.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Filter preset | Quick choices: All local 100 (range 100 km), Messages only (turns on the messages-only filter below), Weather only (t/w), Mobiles only, Friend tracking (b/CALL), Wide area 500, No filter 999. |
| Auto-clear | Off, 1, 2, 4 or 8 hours. Stations not heard for that long are removed from the map automatically. The packet list and station log are not affected. |
| Range (km) | Radius of the range filter r/lat/lon/range. Quick buttons: Local 50, County 100, Region 200, Wide 500. Default 200. |
| Centre latitude / longitude | Your QTH in decimal degrees. Get QTH from GPS fills them from the current GPS fix. |
See the filter syntax appendix for the clauses you can add yourself.
#DISPLAY
| Field | Choices |
|---|---|
| Distance units | km or miles. Used for all distances, speeds (km/h or mph) and altitudes (m or ft). |
| Temperature | °C or °F. |
| Symbols | Emoji (the app's own colourful set) or Official (the standard APRS symbol sprites). |
| Theme | Light (default on a new install), Dark or Red — red on black for use at night, so the screen doesn't spoil your night vision (portable, SOTA, astronomy). In Red the map uses dark tiles turned red as well. |
| Landscape / tablet layout | Off (default): one screen fills the display in any orientation. On: on a wide screen the map sits beside the other screens. |
| Keep screen on | Off (default). On: the phone's screen doesn't go off while the app is open — for a phone on a dashboard mount. Uses more battery; leaving the app lets the screen sleep as usual. |
#BEACONING
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Record APRS stream | Writes every raw line to a daily log file (see Stream Logs). |
| WX alert: wind (mph) | Notify when a weather station reports wind at or above this speed. 0 = off. |
| WX alert: temp low (°F) | Notify when a weather station reports a temperature at or below this. Blank = off. |
| Messages-only filter | Instead of every packet within range, receive only messages addressed to you (g/CALL) and message traffic within range of your last beaconed position (t/m/CALL/km). Prefix, buddy and extra clauses still apply. |
| Extra filter clauses | Any further APRS-IS filter clauses, appended to the login filter exactly as typed, e.g. b/G4XYZ* p/GB7. |
| Beacon on connect | Sends one position beacon as soon as the APRS-IS login is accepted. |
| Auto-connect | Connect to APRS-IS when the app starts, and reconnect after a reboot if you were connected. |
| Interval (seconds) | Time between automatic beacons in Fixed mode. 0 turns automatic beaconing off. Typical values: 600 (10 min) mobile, 1800 (30 min) fixed. |
| Smart / Fixed | Fixed beacons every interval. Smart uses SmartBeaconing (chapter 10). |
| Comment | Text sent after the position. Battery and altitude extras, if enabled, are added to it and the whole comment is limited to 43 characters. |
| Status text | Sent as a status packet (>text) on APRS-IS when you save settings and each time APRS-IS logs in. |
| Position source | GPS — beacon the current GPS fix (falls back to the QTH if there is no recent fix). QTH — always beacon the fixed position from FILTER. |
| Filter position source | QTH — the APRS-IS range filter is centred on your QTH. GPS — centred on your GPS position. |
| RF path | Digipeater path for RF transmissions: WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 (default, recommended), WIDE2-2, WIDE1-1, WIDE1-1,NOGATE (digipeat but ask iGates not to gate), NOGATE. |
| Symbol | Twelve common beacon symbols (car, house, person, phone, bike, van, truck and so on). The car symbol is automatically sent as a house when you are stationary. |
| GPS follow | Auto — the map follows your GPS position. Manual — the map stays where you put it. |
#RX iGATE
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable RX iGate | Forward packets heard on any RF interface to APRS-IS (chapter 11). |
| iGate callsign | Callsign placed after qAR in gated packets. Blank = your own callsign-SSID. |
| iGate message | Identifies your iGate on APRS-IS every 30 minutes while the RX iGate is on. With a separate iGate callsign it is sent as a position at your QTH with the iGate symbol; with your own callsign it is sent as a status packet (skipped if you have set a status text). |
#RF INTERFACES
Reconnect to the last Bluetooth radio automatically (off by default): when the app starts, and every 45 seconds after that, it connects the Bluetooth or BLE radio/TNC you last used if it isn't connected — so the radio comes back by itself after being switched off or going out of range. Disconnecting it yourself stops the retries until you next connect it.
One packet only switch for each RF interface (KISS TNC, Bluetooth TNC, BLE TNC, AGW, USB serial TNC, Audio DSP TNC). All are off by default, so every interface is used for APRS.
Turn it on for an interface used on a packet radio (non-APRS) frequency. It is then used only for AX.25 connections — the packet terminal and its Monitor (chapter 13). Nothing heard on it reaches the map, station list, messages, alerts or the iGate, and no APRS is sent on it: no beacons, messages, acks, objects, weather reports, iGate or digipeater traffic. If no other interface is connected, the app behaves as if there were no RF at all and uses APRS-IS.
Example: a TCP KISS TNC on 144.800 MHz for APRS, and AGW (Direwolf or soundmodem) on a packet frequency set to packet only, for BBS and node connections.
#TX iGATE
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable TX iGate | Forward suitable APRS-IS traffic to RF (chapter 11). Default off. |
| Heard window (min) | A station must have been heard on RF within this many minutes to be served. Default 30. |
| Gate messages | Gate messages addressed to locally heard stations. Default on. |
| Gate positions | Gate position packets of watch-listed stations. Default off. |
#DIGIPEATER, BEACON CHECK and ISS PASS REMINDER
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Digipeat WIDE1-1 and my callsign | Fill-in digipeater on KISS-mode interfaces (chapter 11). Default off. |
| Check my RF beacons reach APRS-IS | Send beacons by RF only and report how each reached APRS-IS (chapter 11). Default off. |
| ISS pass reminder | Off, 20°, 30°, 45° or 60° — notify 10 minutes before passes at least this high (chapter 15). Default off. |
#AUTO-REPLY, SPOKEN ALERTS, PROXIMITY ALERT and PHONE BAROMETER
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Auto-reply | Off, Always or In Android Auto — answer messages automatically with the text below, once an hour per station (chapter 9). Default off. |
| Auto-reply text | Up to 63 characters; it is sent after AA: . Default Driving at the moment - will reply later. 73. |
| Speak alerts | Read out new messages, watch-list, geo-fence and proximity alerts with the phone's text-to-speech voice (chapter 17). Default off. |
| Proximity alert | Off, 1, 2, 5, 10 or 25 (km or miles, as set under Units) — notify when a station comes this close to your GPS position (chapter 17). Default off. |
| Watch-list stations only | Limit proximity alerts to stations on the watch list. Default off. |
| Barometer report | Off, 10, 30 or 60 min — send the phone's air pressure as an APRS weather report (chapter 15). Shown only on phones with a pressure sensor. Default off. |
| Height (m) | Height of the phone above sea level, used to correct the pressure to sea level. Blank uses the GPS altitude. |
#BULLETIN ALERTS
A comma-separated list of keywords. Any bulletin whose text or subject contains one of them raises a high-priority APRS ALERT notification. Default: SEVERE,TORNADO,FLOOD,HURRICANE,TSUNAMI,EARTHQUAKE,FIRE,EMERGENCY.
#QUIET HOURS
Between the chosen times (from 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 or 00:00 until 06:00, 07:00, 08:00 or 09:00; default off, 23:00–07:00), alerts arrive without a sound: no notification sound, spoken alert or tone. Notifications still appear. Emergency alerts always sound. Also pause automatic beacons stops automatic beacons during those hours too — Beacon Now still works.
#MESSAGE AUDIO ALERT and AUTO-BEACON ON MESSAGE
Message audio alert plays a short beep when a message addressed to you arrives, in addition to the notification. Auto-beacon on message sends a QTH position beacon one second after acknowledging a message addressed to you — useful for letting the sender see where you are.
#MAP TILE CACHE
Shows how much of the 200 MB map tile cache is in use, with a button to clear it.
#AX.25 PACKET
Parameters for the connected-mode packet terminal (chapter 13). They do not affect APRS.
| Field | Choices | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | 5 / 10 / 15 / 30 s | 10 s | Wait for an acknowledgement before polling or retransmitting, for a direct link. Through digipeaters it is stretched automatically to T1 × (1 + 2 × digipeaters). |
| Retries (N2) | 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 | 10 | T1 expiries in a row before the link is declared failed. |
| Window | 1 / 3 / 4 / 7 | 4 | Maximum unacknowledged I-frames outstanding (modulo 8). |
| I-frame length | 128 / 256 / 512 / 1024 | 128 | Maximum bytes of text per I-frame. |
| Response time | 0 / 0.2 / 0.4 / 1 s | 0.4 s | Delay before acknowledging received I-frames, so a half-duplex TNC can finish receiving a burst. |
#ADVANCED
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Battery in beacon | Adds Bat:NN% to the beacon comment. |
| Altitude in beacon | Adds /A=NNNNNN (feet, from GPS) to the beacon comment. |
| Compressed position beacons | Sends your position in the APRS compressed format: a shorter packet (less airtime on a busy RF channel), the position to about 30 cm instead of about 18 m, and your course and speed while moving at 2 knots or more. All current APRS software and aprs.fi read it. Not used while position privacy applies, because the compressed format cannot blur a position. Default off. |
| Symbol from SSID | If your symbol is still the default car, choose the symbol conventionally associated with your SSID instead (see the SSID appendix). |
| Auto-reconnect | Reconnect APRS-IS automatically when the phone changes network (Wi-Fi to mobile data and back). Default on. |
#POSITION PRIVACY
Near home you may not want your exact address on aprs.fi. With Position privacy on, beacons sent within the chosen distance of your QTH carry a deliberately rough position, using the standard APRS position ambiguity: the last digits of the latitude and longitude are left blank, and other stations and aprs.fi show you in the middle of a box of the chosen size. Altitude is left out while it applies. Away from home your position is exact; emergency beacons are always exact.
| Field | Choices | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Applies within | Off · 1 km · 2 km · 5 km of the QTH · Always | Off |
| How rough | ≈ 200 m · ≈ 2 km · ≈ 20 km | ≈ 2 km |
#BATTERY SAVER
When the battery is below the chosen level (Off · 15% · 20% · 30%; default Off) and the phone isn't charging, automatic beacons — fixed interval and SmartBeaconing — go a third as often. Beacon Now, messages and everything else work as normal.
#Export, Import and Share
Three chips at the bottom of the page work on the settings only (not messages or logs):
- Export writes a readable JSON file
aprs_settings_yyyy-MM-dd_HHmm.jsonto the Downloads folder. - Import reads such a file back and fills in the Settings page — tap SAVE SETTINGS to apply it.
- Share sends the JSON through the Android share sheet.
For everything else (messages, logs, profiles, geo-fences) use Menu → Backup, described in chapter 19.