Hi all

I never thought I'd get to post the one post to both the Amateur and Rail
forums but its funny how things converge.

First for the non-Amateur readers here a brief explanation about APRS. APRS
is a system using a GPS receiver, a two way radio and some other bits of
electrical equipment. You put this combination somewhere and it transmits
its location on earth by radio to other radios and eventually into the
Internet. You can then log in on the Internet and look at where the setup is
located.

Here is an example of an actual amateur radio that has been tracked in a
mobile setup.

http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=VK3TI-9

The maps on this site are not crash hot but better maps are indeed possible.

Anyway rail readers will have recently noted the opening of the Ghan railway
to Darwin. My idea is thus. Wouldn't it be a great idea if the Amateur radio
community could get together with the various train operators and put in
Amateur GPS tracking setups on all Australia's major interstate passenger
trains? Both Amateur Operators and rail enthusiasts could then log into the
internet and look at where each interstate train is located. There are gaps
in the the system ie there are not that many receiving stations in the
outback but it would be useful along the east coast. Maybe later a more
advanced system could transmit screenshots from a digital camera mounted on
the front of the train.

I believe this kind of setup has been done on at least one US train. Maybe
it could work here? It would help publicise our rail network here and
overseas.

cheers Peter