A Design and Implementation of an Emergency Message Beacon System Using APRS Protocol

Abstract

A design and implementation of an Emergency Message Beacon System (EMBS) using the Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) protocol is presented in this paper. The EMBS benefits from widely distributed radio network where modern wireless network infrastructure is unavailable such as on open seas or in the middle of jungle. The main concept of the design is that the system an immediate beacon containing current location is transmitted when activates the unit and automatically sends interval beacons to report location, system status, and an instant message. The unit works with either an existing or impromptu APRS ad-hoc networks. The system is designed to transmit low RF power and expected a minimum coverage of at least two kilometers in radius, which is the worst situation case of Line of Sight (LOS) communication. The experimental result shows that the unit can establish radio connection to another station at a range of 2.1 kms. Link budget analysis is theoretically validated the communication.