HamTraqr
Live tracking for public-service events.
Coordination of races, parades and emergency exercises is typically run by volunteers with radios. HamTraqr is a suite of apps that track ham radio operators with APRS*-equipped radios or anyone with a mobile device such as an iPhone or Android phone. There are three compnents of the application suite. Two are server based and can be downloaded and installed from GitHub at https://github.com/dkaye/HamTraqr. The third piece is the mobile app.
1. The Server
Runs on a Raspberry Pi · open source
The map everything else feeds into. It follows radio trackers and phones live, draws courses and aid stations, carries messaging between net control and the field, and appends messages to the event log.
2. The Transcriber
Optional · same Pi or its own · open source
Listens to one radio channel and writes what it hears into the event log, with the audio alongside it. Speech recognition runs on the Pi itself — nothing is sent to a transcription service.
3. The apps
iPhone and Android, with Apple Watch and Wear OS companions · free from the App Store and for sideloading from our website.
A volunteer with a phone becomes a tracker on the map — no radio hardware needed — and can message net control directly. Maps are cached for use without a signal, and location sharing keeps reporting with the screen off, with a notification showing whenever it does.
The watch app is for when the phone is in a pocket and your hands are on your steering wheel or handlebars: incoming messages on the wrist, and a reply by voice.
Detailed instructions for downloading and install all moblie apps can be found at https://hamtraqr.com/mobile.
Every club runs its own
There is no central HamTraqr service. Each club installs the Server and Transcriber on its own hardware, and the apps connect to whichever server you point them at — normally your own club's. Positions, messages and recordings live on that machine, held by the people running the event, not by us.
The Server and the Transcriber are open source and free to install. The apps are free downloads. Nothing here collects analytics, and there is no account to create.
*APRS is the Automatic Packet Reporting System.