WA8LMF Mirror of WB4APR Website - 21 July 2008 APRN Annapolis

98 US Naval Academy Football Run

Bob Bruninga, WB4APR

Over 100 midshipmen from the 13th Company ran the Army/Navy game football from a noon day Pep Rally on Friday 4 Dec 98 to arrive at the stadium in Philadelphia for kickoff. The Satellite Lab maintained amateur radio communications with the runners and used APRS software to track the GPS position. The maps below showed the current position of the ball. Followed by live KEN-CAM photos from along the route.

The above maps only showed the Football position. The following map was running javAPRS live and showed all amateur radio APRS stations participating. Now it is replaying the track-history from the event...


javAPRS Commands (Case Insensitive)
U or D
 zooms up/down (you may also use PGup/dn)
L, S, or M
 List stations, Show Status or Messages to Java console
CTRL or ALT-click
 Centers or Zooms map on clicked location
Arrow keys
 scrolls map

Remote Amateur Radio Ken-Cam LIVE Images:

The following section was updated in real time* via amateur radio link whenever new images were received from the lead vehicle. Most images were taken by the handheld Ken-Cam during changes in runners at each of the legs below:

  • Helmet mounted GPS unit (not used this year)
  • Leg__ Time Runners
  • 0____ 0700 13th Company
  • 1____ 0710 Bancroft Hall
  • 1____ 0715 Tucumseh Court
  • 1____ 0720 Gate-8
  • 1____ 0730 Severn River Bridge
  • 1____ 0740 Hoffman/Barrantes/Waterston/Armstrong Dant-&-Supt
  • *____ 0800 Four Hour Hold for Classes. Resumed at 1245 (WEBcntr=351)
  • *____ 1245 HAM Radio Communications team
  • 2____ 1300 1/C Hill 1/C King
  • 3____ 1310 Stearns Bombach and (Cuba)
  • 4&5__ 1355 Burr Ofner & McDermott
  • 6&7__ 1425 Burns Leanos Lilyquist McQuinn
  • 8&9__ 1510 2/C Hill Vanyo 3/C Clark Keapproth Riley
  • 10&11 1600 Sarlese Menesese Crouch Colson Davis Baerg
  • Now 45 min behind and CAMERA batteries died... Now replaced.
  • One of the firstie POV's has a dead bat and shot ALT... (Prob solved)
  • 12&13 1750 Knaus Chadwick Irving
  • It got dark here, so we are only doing occasional groups shots... (WEBcntr=582)
  • 16&17 1830 S.Clark K.Clark Hayes
  • 14&15 1930 Bailey Almeida Watson Schmaeling
  • 27&28 2130 Unknown runners
  • Ball has crossed the Susquehanna.
  • 29&30 2130 Unknown runners
  • 33&34 2230 Unknown runners
  • Ball has crossed into PENNSYLVANIA
  • 35&36 2300 VAN driver McAbrew
  • 37&38 2330 Here comes the Ball (at Oxford)
  • 39&40 2330 HAMs @ Oxford: N3OBQ,Bob,N3ZLL,Will,N3XJT,Ted
  • End of SSTV Live feeds. But MAPS continue to track GPS to Philly! (WEBcntr=752)
  • ?????? ???? Unknown runners
  • ?????? ???? Arriving in Philly
  • ?????? ???? Christmas Lights
  • ?????? ???? Survivors
  • Final WEBcntr=1142 on Monday Morning

    These images were transmitted back live via Amateur radio using what is called SSTV, Slow Scan TV. HAMS have been doing this for over 30 years, but now with WEB technology, we could instantly post these live images to our WEB page too...

    APRN BACKGROUND: APRN (Automatic Picture Relay Network) is a live amateur radio channel for the transmission of remote KEN-CAM images. We can even automatically place the station on the map if he uses an attached GPS unit. Thus this APRN web page is automatic and catalogs, indexes and makes available images instantly. There is no better mechanism than APRN for diseminating real-time, in-the-field images from amateur radio operators in support of emergencies or public service events. APRN augments the worldwide APRS amateur radio position reporting and mesaging system by giving vision to remote and mobile operations.

    APRN is a concept presented by Bob Bruninga, WB4APR at the Digital Communication Conference in Chicago, 25 September 1998 and his robotic VISION system presented at the DCC in Baltimore, Sept 1997.

    Here is also a replay of the 1993 Army-Navy game football run to NJ Meadowlands(picture)

    • Return links:
    APRN Annapolis

    APRS

    You are visitor: Since 2 Dec 98 when it was started .

    The Naval Academy is a registered user of APRS and WinAPRS. The purpose of this web page is to show several applications currently in use at this site and should not be considered as an advertisement or an endorsement of any commercial product.

    WA8LMF Mirror of WB4APR Website - 21 July 2008