Where are we right now?

"No matter where you go ... there you are." (Buckaroo Bonsai)  

Position Report

Where are we right now? 3 ways to find out...

Automatic Position Reporting System - TIOGA will be indicated by Chris' ham radio call sign, which is VE6RXM.

* Bookmark the page in your browser for direct access next time.

ShipTrak martime mobile tracking system. 

YOTREPS offshore boat tracking reports.

If you want to know how it works, read on...

As a licensed amateur radio station, we can access the rapid position reporting features of Winlink 2000 from anywhere in the World. This facility is interconnected with the APRS (Automated Position Reporting System) and YotReps networks.

Here's how it works. When we send E-mail via our on-board ham two-way radio to a Winlink 2000 station we also send a position report which is an encoded message giving our latitude, longitude, the boat's speed, the compass course, the time and a short note about weather conditions or where we are anchored.

Sending a position report involves first determining our latitude and longitude, usually with our onboard Global Positioning System (GPS). This information is then fed or entered into our laptop computer's e-mail client ( Airmail ) as a special message and, along with regular e-mails, it travels through our radio modem to our ham radio, and is then transmitted as a digital message through our antenna (the backstay, which is one of the wires that holds our mast up) as radio waves.

The radio waves reach a land-based automated ham radio station somewhere ashore where the signal goes back into a similar radio and modem hooked to a computer with an Internet connection. The data is uploaded to an Internet site that combines it with a map and displays it for you to see. Voila - simple as that!

If you don't have access to a browser, you can also request position reports via email, as follows:

To: qth@winlink.org

Subject: position request

Message: VE6RXM

Do not put any other message in the box. In a few hours you should receive an email with our latest position. To try it click here.

Back to top