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GPS AND APRS A SENSITIVE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM GPS RECEIVER
IS STANDARD IN THE FTM 300DR.  THANKS TO THE FTM 300DRS CRISP DISPLAY, YOU
CAN USE THE GPS RECEIVER DIRECTLY FOR REAL TIME NAVIGATING.  IT EVEN
INCLUDES A BACKTRACK FEATURE TO HELP YOU RETRACE YOUR ROUTE BACK TO A GIVEN
LOCATION.  THE GPS RECEIVER IS QUITE SENSITIVE.  FROM WITHIN MY CAR, IT HAD
NO TROUBLE LOCKING ONTO SEVERAL SATELLITES AND DETERMINING A POSITION FIX
WITHIN SECONDS AFTER I POWERED UP THE RADIO.  EVEN WHEN I OPERATED THE
TRANSCEIVER INDOORS INSIDE MY ALUMINUM SIDED HOME THE RECEIVER STILL
MANAGED TO ACQUIRE THE NEEDED SATELLITES.  OF COURSE, GPS AND THE AUTOMATIC
PACKET REPORTING SYSTEM APRS GO HAND IN HAND, WHICH IS WHY THE FTM 300DR
ALSO INCLUDES A 1,200/9,600 BAUD PACKET MODEM AS STANDARD EQUIPMENT.  WHEN
OPERATING APRS, THE FTM 300DR WILL USE ITS OWN SCREEN TO DISPLAY
INFORMATION, BUT IT ALSO MAKES THE AXR25 PACKET DATA AVAILABLE AT THE REAR
PANEL DATA PORT.  THIS MEANS YOU CAN ATTACH A COMPUTER AND USE YOUR OWN
APRS SOFTWARE OR GRAB THE MODEM DATA FOR OTHER APPLICATIONS.  TO ACTIVATE
THE APRS FUNCTION, YOU MUST FIRST GO INTO THE MENU SYSTEM AND TURN ON THE
MODEM.  YOU ALSO MUST INPUT YOUR APRS CALL SIGN, BEACON MESSAGE, AND OTHER 
PARAMETERS.  FORTUNATELY, THE FTM 300DRS MENU SYSTEM IS WELL DESIGNED, AND
I FOUND IT EASY TO NAVIGATE FROM THE FRONT PANEL SCREEN.  UNLIKE SOME
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