packetraven 1.2.3

Balloon payload telemetry over APRS

PacketRaven

PacketRaven is a front-end data aggregator / dashboard, designed to track the progress of high-altitude balloon payload flights via location telemetry.

pip install packetraven

Examples:

listen to a TNC sending raw APRS strings over USB port COM4:

packetraven --tnc COM4

listen to APRS.fi, watching specific callsigns:

you need an API key to connect to APRS.fi; you can get one from https://aprs.fi/page/api

packetraven --apikey <api_key> --callsigns W3EAX-8,W3EAX-14

listen to a PostGIS database table:

packetraven --database <username>@<hostname>:5432/<database_name>/<table_name>

watch a text file for new lines containing raw APRS strings:

packetraven --tnc ~\Desktop\aprs_packets.txt

listen to a TNC on COM3, watching specific callsigns, and synchronize new packets with a database table, using an SSH tunnel to connect:

packetraven --tnc COM3 --callsigns W3EAX-8,W3EAX-14 --database <username>@<hostname>:5432/<database_name>/<table_name> --tunnel <ssh_username>@<hostname>:22

Usage:

usage: packetraven [-h] [-c CALLSIGNS] [-k APIKEY] [-p TNC] [-d DATABASE] [-t TUNNEL] [-s START] [-e END] [-l LOG] [-o OUTPUT] [-i INTERVAL] [-g]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -c CALLSIGNS, --callsigns CALLSIGNS
                        comma-separated list of callsigns to track
  -k APIKEY, --apikey APIKEY
                        API key from https://aprs.fi/page/api
  -p TNC, --tnc TNC     serial port or text file of TNC parsing APRS packets from analog audio to ASCII (set to `auto` to use the first open serial port)
  -d DATABASE, --database DATABASE
                        PostGres database table `user@hostname:port/database/table`
  -t TUNNEL, --tunnel TUNNEL
                        SSH tunnel `user@hostname:port`
  -s START, --start START
                        start date / time, in any common date format
  -e END, --end END     end date / time, in any common date format
  -l LOG, --log LOG     path to log file to save log messages
  -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                        path to output file to save packets
  -i INTERVAL, --interval INTERVAL
                        seconds between each main loop (default: 10)
  -g, --gui             start the graphical interface

Python API:

to retrieve packets directly from https://aprs.fi:

from packetraven import APRSfiConnection

callsigns = ['W3EAX-8', 'W3EAX-12', 'KC3FXX', 'KC3ZRB']
api_key = '<api_key>' # enter your APRS.fi API key here - you can get one from https://aprs.fi/page/api

aprs_fi = APRSfiConnection(callsigns, api_key)
aprs_fi_packets = aprs_fi.packets

print(aprs_fi_packets)

or parse packets from a TNC sending parsed APRS over a USB connection:

from packetraven import SerialTNC

serial_port = 'COM5' # set to `'auto'` to connect to the first open serial port  

tnc = SerialTNC(serial_port)
tnc_packets = tnc.packets

print(tnc_packets)

or connect to a PostGreSQL database running PostGIS:

from packetraven import APRSPacketDatabaseTable

callsigns = ['W3EAX-8', 'W3EAX-12', 'KC3FXX', 'KC3ZRB']

hostname = '<hostname>:5432'
database = '<database_name>'
table = 'packets'

username = '<username>'
password = '<password>'

# parameters for an SSH tunnel
ssh_hostname = None
ssh_username = None
ssh_password = None

table = APRSPacketDatabaseTable(hostname, database, table, callsigns, 
                                username=username, password=password, 
                                ssh_hostname=ssh_hostname, ssh_username=ssh_hostname, ssh_password=ssh_password)
table_packets = table.packets

print(table_packets)