WiMo PicoAPRS V4 User manual
Tab e of contents
1. PicoAPRS V4....................................................................................................................4
1.1 Optional equipment....................................................................................................5
1.2 Recommended plug-on antennas................................................................................5
1.3 Safety instructions......................................................................................................6
2. Operation..........................................................................................................................7
2.1 Installing and removing t e battery............................................................................7
2.2 Device overview.........................................................................................................8
2.3 General information...................................................................................................8
Turn ON......................................................................................................................8
Software updates.........................................................................................................8
2.4 Mainscreen.................................................................................................................9
5-Way button.............................................................................................................11
On-screen keyboard..................................................................................................11
Mainscreen in APRS modes.....................................................................................12
Mainscreen in FM modes.........................................................................................12
Automatic display of received APRS packets in APRS modes................................13
OPEN........................................................................................................................13
- „FOLLOW“............................................................................................................14
- „WHO IS“..............................................................................................................14
- „S ow QR code“....................................................................................................14
- „Send message“......................................................................................................14
- Received status message........................................................................................15
- Received textmessage („SMS“).............................................................................15
- Received weat er packet........................................................................................16
3 Menu.................................................................................................................................17
3.1 Power OFF...............................................................................................................18
3.2 SOS...........................................................................................................................18
3.2 Settings.....................................................................................................................19
Device mode.............................................................................................................19
Brig tness.................................................................................................................20
GPS Powersave.........................................................................................................20
Beep..........................................................................................................................21
Units..........................................................................................................................21
3.3 Exit...........................................................................................................................21
3.4 GPS...........................................................................................................................22
GPS data...................................................................................................................22
GPS Satellites...........................................................................................................22
Speedometer.............................................................................................................23
Compass....................................................................................................................23
My Home..................................................................................................................23
My Car......................................................................................................................24
My Location..............................................................................................................24
GPS Deviation..........................................................................................................24
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3.5 Last Heard................................................................................................................25
3.6 Bluetoot ..................................................................................................................26
3.7 WIFI®......................................................................................................................26
WIFI setup................................................................................................................26
WIFI status................................................................................................................27
RX WIFI APRS........................................................................................................28
Webconfig.................................................................................................................28
WIFI Reconnect........................................................................................................29
3.8 Last Weat er.............................................................................................................29
3.9 Radio Settings...........................................................................................................29
3.10 Messages................................................................................................................30
Received Messages...................................................................................................30
Sent Messages...........................................................................................................31
New Message............................................................................................................31
New Message Destination→...................................................................................31
New Message Destination SSID→..........................................................................32
New Message Text→...............................................................................................32
New Message Confirm→........................................................................................33
3.11 APRS Settings........................................................................................................33
APRS Symbol...........................................................................................................33
TX Interval................................................................................................................34
MyCall......................................................................................................................34
MySSID....................................................................................................................35
APRS Frequency......................................................................................................36
My Comment............................................................................................................37
3.12 FM Voice Settings..................................................................................................37
3.13 Device Info.............................................................................................................38
4. Technical specifications..................................................................................................38
5. Trou leshooting..............................................................................................................38
6. Manufacturer information............................................................................................39
7. EU CE Declaration of Conformity...............................................................................40
8. Disclaimer.......................................................................................................................41
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1. PicoAPRS V4
PicoAPRS V4 is one of he smalles , if no he smalles radio in he world wi h his range of func ions!
As he "V4" in he name already sugges s, his is already he four h genera ion of he " iny one".
In his version, PicoAPRS has been comple ely revised and, despi e i s iny dimensions, has received
many new func ions.
Below:
- Co orscreen wi h 240x240 pixel.
- B uetooth® (Classic) for use as TNC.
- WiFi® for use as iGa e, for configura ion & sof wareupda es wi hou using a PC
- Speaker, Michrophone and PTT for FM voice communica ion
- 5 way button for easy usage
- On screen keyboard easy ex inpu
- USB-C connec or for charging and communica ion
In addi ion, PicoAPRS V4 is curren ly available in hree differen varian s.
1. VHF variant. This module offers he larges range of func ions. I enables he use of APRS in he 2m
band as well as opera ion as an iGa e wi hou a PC (via WiFi®), Blue oo h TNC and voice radio on he
2m ama eur radio band. The ransmission power is a maximum of 1 wa .
2. LoRa variant. The LoRa module enables he use of LoRA-APRS in he 70cm band (433 MHz) and
he iGa e func ion wi hou a PC.
The buil -in speaker and microphone are no used.
3. Shortwave receiver variant. Wi h his i is possible o receive SSB (USB/LSB) on ama eur radio
bands (80m o 10m) and FM radio (88 MHz - 108 MHz). APRS can only be used via WiFi connec ion.
Measuring only approx. 35mm x 66mm x 25mm, he PicoAPRS resembles a
ma chbox. The VHF varian (wi hou an enna) weighs jus 60 grams.
Ideal for always having he device wi h you, e.g. when hiking, cycling, mo orcycling,
skiing, on a boa or in he air.
APRS® & Mic-Encoder® are registered trademarks of Bob Bruninga, WB4APR
www.wimo.com - 4- ©Taner Schenker, 13. December 2022
1.1 Optional equipment
PicoAPRS comes wi hou an enna and charger.
Order. Nr.
35055 Secondary ba ery 3,6V/850mAh
35061 USB-charger
42854.02 Adap er SMA-(male)/BNC(female), ul ra shor , black
1.2 Recommended plug-on antennas
Manufacturer DIAMOND DIAMOND DIAMOND
Type SRH-805 SRH-815S SRH-36
Frequency range 144-148 MHz 144-148 MHz 144-148 MHz
Connector SMA SMA SMA
Gain 0dBi 2dBi 3dBi
Length 4.5cm 13cm 36cm
Order nr. 17023 17021 17022
Recommended Magnetfic mount antennas
Order. Nr.
20117.SMA DIAMOND MR-77S Magne ic moun an enna, 4m cable, foo 65mm diame er
20119.SMA DIAMOND MR-75S Magne ic moun an enna, 3m cable, foo 30mm diame er
20111.SMA No-Name Magne ic moun an enna, 3m cable
www.wimo.com - 5- ©Taner Schenker, 13. December 2022
1.3 Safety instructions
Please keep your PicoAPRS away from children!
Warning: Small par s ha can be swallowed!
- The device is no wa erproof and is no pro ec ed agains he ingress of splashing wa er.
Please only use i in dry environmen !
- Do no expose he device o excessive hea (e.g. parked vehicle in s rong sunligh ).
- Do no use damaged componen s.
The ba ery used s ores energy wi h a high densi y. Improper handling of he ba ery can
lead o dangerous si ua ions. Please no e he following informa ion on safe y when handling
he ba ery.
- Do no open he ba ery or ry o repair i
- Do no shor -circui he connec ions
- Do no expose he ba ery o high empera ures or burn i
- Do no bring he ba ery in o con ac wi h liquids or immerse i
- Do no charge he ba ery when he ba ery is warm or near hea sources.
- S op using a defec ive or damaged ba ery
- Do no charge he ba ery wi h hird-par y chargers
- Do no place he device on a flammable surface
- Remove he ba ery from your PicoAPRS if you will no be using he device for a long ime
- Tape off he ba ery con ac s when s oring hem ou side of he device o avoid acciden al
shor circui s.
Battery Disposa Instructions
In connec ion wi h he sale of ba eries or he delivery of devices con aining ba eries, he
provider is obliged o inform he cus omer of he following:
As he end user, he cus omer is legally obliged o re urn used ba eries. He can re urn old
ba eries, which he Provider has or has had in i s range as new ba eries, free of charge o
he Provider's shipping warehouse (shipping address). Ba eries and rechargeable ba eries
mus no be disposed of wi h household was e.
The symbol according o §17 paragraph 1 Ba G and he charac ers according o §17
paragraph 3 Ba G
have he following meaning:
Pb = ba ery con ains more han 0.004% lead by mass
Cd = ba ery con ains more han 0.002 percen by mass of cadmium
Hg = ba ery con ains more han 0.0005 percen by mass of mercury
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2. Operation
2.1 Installing and removing the battery
1. Unlock t e battery cover by pulling t e tab on t e cover down wit your
fingernail.
2. Remove t e battery cover.
3. Remove t e battery from t e device at t e rear end of t e battery (recessed
grip).
Insert in reverse order, please note the alignment of the baery contacts to the
contacts in the PicoAPRS.
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2.2 evice overview
2.3 General information
- PicoAPRS V4 can only be operated wit an inserted battery.
- A c arging process is only displayed w en t e device is switc ed on. However, t e battery is also
c arged w en t e device is switc ed off.
Turn ON
- To urn on, p ease press the PTT for at east 3 seconds un il you hear a one.
Software updates
Since the PicoAPRS software is constantly eing developed and improved, we
recommend checking for updates regularly!
To do this, the WLAN connection must e configured once. Availa le software
updates can then e regularly checked and updated directly in the device
menu. No computer is required for this!
www.wimo.com - 8- ©Taner Schenker, 13. December 2022
Speaker
Display
5-way button
Microp one
PTT-button
2.4 Mainscreen
T e content of t e main screen c anges depending on t e set operating mode.
T e screen as no touc function. T e "soft buttons" s own (in lig t blue, ere "MENU" and SET")
indicate t e situation-dependent function of t e left and rig t button of t e 5-way button.
If t ere are small triangles (see image below) pointing up and down between t e “soft keys”, it
means t at t e up and down keys ave a function at t at moment.
The following information is displayed on the main screen:
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Battery state
Betriebsmodus
Number of used
GPS satellites
GPS-state
Bluetoot ®-state
WIFI®-state
Button Function
RIGHT
Button function
LEFT
„RX“/„TX“ Indicator
Info area
UP/DOWN buttons
are assigned
functions
Explanations of the exemplary main screen display in 2m APRS operation:
- he buil -in li hium ion ba ery is fully charged. The ba ery icon is comple ely filled in green.
A red riangle appears when charging
- To he righ of he ba ery, “TX” appears in red when ransmi ing, while “RX” is green
when receiving, or here is no indica or when nei her ransmi ing nor he squelch is open.
- Curren ly 10 sa elli es are used for posi ion de ermina ion, GPS and Blue oo h are ac ive.
- Your own call sign wi h SSID and he APRS symbol used
- Time (UTC) 15:16:40 (hours:minu es:seconds)
- The speed is 1kp/h
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The GPS icon flashes during GPS search.
If he GPS receiver has been emporarily deac iva ed o save energy (see "GPS
Powersave"), no GPS symbol will appear a his poin .
A small "D" o he righ of he number means ha "Differen ial GPS" (WAAS/EGNOS) is
used via SBAS signal and he precision of he GPS posi ion is more accura e.
5-Way button
Left utton
You can access he menu by pressing he naviga ion bu on o he lef (labeled “Menu” on
he display) while PicoAPRS is displaying he main screen.
Right utton
The righ bu on on he main screen is assigned he mos impor an func ions depending on
he si ua ion. So you don' have o search in submenus.
OK utton (mid)
Differen func ions depending on he si ua ion.
Up / Down uttons
Differen func ions depending on he si ua ion.
On-screen keyboard
PicoAPRS has an on-screen keyboard for easier informa ion en ry.
The keyboard will appear au oma ically as soon as charac er inpu is required (e.g. when
en ering ex messages, call sign, WIFI password..)
Examp e images of the on-screen keyboard.
Depending on he si ua ion, you can
wi h he key "abc - ABC - !?/"
(bo om lef in he image), swi ch be ween upper
case le ers, lower case le ers and special
charac ers.
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Mainscreen in APRS modes
*T e left button takes you to t e main menu.
* Rig t button takes you to APRS settings (c apter 3.11).
* T e OK button sends a current position beacon even if you ave not c anged
your location and t e set interval time as not elapsed.
Mainscreen in FM modes
* Left button takes you to t e main menu.
* Wit t e rig t button you get to t e FM settings (c apter 3.12).
* T e OK button emits a 1750Hz tone for 3 seconds.
* Use t e Up/Down buttons to c ange t e volume.
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Automatic disp ay of received APRS packets in APRS modes
When an APRS packe is received, he packe will au oma ically be displayed unless you
are wi hin he menu or a message is displayed.
- Received position report
*Dis ance and direc ion o he displayed s a ion in degrees.
Dis ance depending on he se uni ei her in km or miles.
The values appear in green if hey are curren ly receiving a curren GPS posi ion.
If no valid GPS posi ion is known (e.g. inside buildings, unnels or if GPS is deac iva ed due
o energy saving func ions), a "~" appears in fron of he dis ance informa ion and he da a
is displayed in orange. Dis ance is hen calcula ed using your las known GPS posi ion.
OPEN
"OPEN" opens a page wi h hree op ions
- „Fo ow“
- „WHO IS “
- „Show QR Code“
- „Send Message “
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Callsign & SSID
Distance and direction*
Comment text
(if exists)
APRS Symbol
Open
Close t is
message
- „FOLLOW“
shows you he dis ance and direc ion o ha s a ion.
The same applies here: Green wri ing means ha your GPS posi ion is up- o-da e and he
dis ance was calcula ed using his da a. Orange wri ing means ha your GPS da a is no
up- o-da e and is calcula ed from your las known posi ion.
If you are moving a more han 5 km/h, you will be shown he direc ion IN RELATION o
your own driving direc ion.
You can recognize his by a green arrowhead.
This means if you are moving direc ly owards he racked s a ion, he arrow will poin
s raigh up.
If you are no moving, you will be shown he absolu e direc ion in degrees.
For example, up means he s a ion is nor h of you.
You can recognize his by a red arrowhead as in he image on he lef .
Should new posi ion da a be received for he s a ion being racked, his display will be
upda ed au oma ically.
"OPEN" akes you back o he selec ion menu.
- „WHO IS“
Sends a ex message o he "Who is" service reques ing he displayed callsign.
The "Who is" service hen sends you informa ion such as he name and address of he user
of he call sign. However, you can only receive he answer as a ex message if you send
he reques via an iGa e which can also send ou APRS packe s (TX iGa e) or is in WIFI-
APRS mode.
- „Show QR code“
Shows you a QR code wi h a link o h p://aprs.fi for he selec ed call sign, which you can
open wi h a smar phone, for example.
- „Send message“
Wi h he selec ion "Send Message" you go direc ly o he menu for sending a message and
only have o en er he message ex . The des ina ion call sign and SSID are aken from he
displayed s a ion. For more see "New Message".
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- Received weather packet
Not every weat er station sends all values.
It is possible t at only individual values are displayed and a "0" appears for t e
ot er values.
*T ere are weat er reports wit or wit out position data. If weat er data wit out
position data is received, no distance is displayed.
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Callsign and SSID
of received
wea her sa ion
Dis ance*
Rainfall
Humidi y
Tempera ue
Windspeed and
direc ion
See OPEN
3 Menu
•Power OFF
•SOS
•Se ings
◦Device Mode
◦Brigh ness
◦Sof wareupda e
◦GPS Powersave
◦Beep
◦Uni s
◦Device Info
•Exi
•GPS
◦GPS Sa elli es
◦GPS da a
◦GPS Compass
◦My Home
◦My Car
◦My Loca ion
◦GPS Devia ion
◦Speedome er
•Las Heard
•Blue oo h
•WIFI
◦WIFI Se up
◦WIFI S a us
◦RX WIFI APRS
◦Webconfig
◦WIFI reconnec
•Las Wea her da a
•Radio Se ings
•Messages
◦Received messages
◦Sen messages
◦New Messages
◦Se Bulle in
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3.1 Power OFF
Press he middle bu on o urn off he PicoAPRS.
3.2 SOS
To send an “APRS EMERGENCY” (emergency)
message, press and hold he cen er bu on for abou
5 seconds.
Your PicoAPRS hen au oma ically swi ches o
APRS mode if his is no curren ly ac iva ed, se s
he ransmission power o 1 wa and ransmi s an
EMERGENCY message wi h your posi ion via he
APRS ne work every full minu e.
If you use he VHF varian of he PicoAPRS, he
loudspeaker and he microphone are also ac iva ed.
In his case, you can hen speak, lis en and send
APRS emergency messages on he APRS
frequency a he same ime.
To disable Emergency Mode, you mus urn off your PicoAPRS.As long as his mode is
ac ive and he ba ery is sufficien ly charged, an emergency message wi h he la es GPS
posi ion is sen every full minu e.
WARNING! An "EMERGENCY CALL" generates an a arm tone on most APRS
receivers. On y use this function in emergencies!
WARNING: There is no guarantee that your emergency ca wi be received or
heeded! On y use this emergency ca message if you have no way of making the
emergency ca via estab ished channe s (e.g. te ephone)!
www.wimo.com - 18- ©Taner Schenker, 13. December 2022
3.2 Settings
- Device Mode
- Brigh ness
- Sof wareupda e
- GPS Powersave
- Beep
- Uni s
- Device Info
Device mode
- APRS
- RX iGa e
- GPS
- FM-Voice
- FM + WIFI APRS
- Fill in Digi
- TNC
*USB-C
*TCP
*Blue oo h
Avai ab e devicemodes
- APRS: Pure APRS transmission and reception via VHF resp. LoRA®
- RX iGate: Forwards received APRS packets to t e APRS IS network. T is
requires an internet connection via WIFI.
- GPS: Forwards t e data from t e GPS receiver via USB or Bluetoot .
- FM-Voice: Pure FM radiotelep one operation via VHF.
- FM + WIFI APRS: FM radiotelep one operation via VHF and APRS usage via
t e WIFI internet connection.
- Fill in Digi: PicoAPRS retransmits APRS packets received over VHF if t ey
were received wit t e pat "WIDE1-1, ...."
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- TNC: In TNC mode you ave t ree options.
1. Via USB-C Virtual Com Port
2.TCP. PicoAPRS supports DNS-SD Discovery
3.Bluetoot (Classic)
In all t ree variants, your PicoAPRS works as a "KISS" TNC.
Brightness
Brightness con rols he display brigh ness.
The gray bar shows he se brigh ness.
Brigh ness is adjus ed wi h he up and down
bu ons.
GPS Powersave
„GPS Powersave“ defines whe her he GPS
receiver should be swi ched off au oma ically when
GPS is no needed.
"OFF" urns off he power saving func ion and
"ON" enables his func ion.
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If he ex ernal power supply is connec ed via
USB, GPS is ac iva ed regardless of his se ing!
If he GPS receiver is deac iva ed cyclically, his saves energy and ex ends he ba ery
life. On he o her hand, he GPS speed may no be displayed correc ly on he main
screen. In addi ion, he dis ance o o her s a ions is hen only calcula ed and displayed
using he las known GPS posi ion.
A low brigh ness lowers he power consump ion and
hereby ex ends he ba ery life sligh ly.
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