Automatic Packet Reporting System

Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) is an amateur radio based system for real time tactical digital communications of information of immediate value in the local area. In addition, all such data is ingested into the APRS Internet system (APRS-IS) and distributed globally for instant access. In addition to messages, alerts, announcements and bulletins, the most visible aspect of APRS is its map display. Anyone may place any object or information on their map and it is distributed to all maps of all users in the local RF network or monitoring the area via the internet. Any station, radio or object that has an attached GPS is automatically tracked. Other prominent map features are weather stations, alerts and objects and other map related amateur radio volunteer activities including Search and Rescue and signal direction finding.

APRS has been developed since the late 80's by Bob Bruninga, callsign WB4APR, currently a senior research engineer at the United States Naval Academy. The acronym "APRS" was derived from his callsign. In the 1990s as GPS excitement dominated many new applications, the "P" was often referred to as "Position" instead of the original "Packet". This skewed the perception of APRS as only a vehicle tracking system. Recently, the community has emphasized the term "packet" in the name, as the system's use and capabilities are far more robust.