APRS SYMBOLS (Icons) 07 Oct 2013
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WB4APR
This original APRS symbol specification is updated periodically with
new symbols as they are defined. This is THE master list for APRS. But
almost all new symbols will be formed as Overlays to the basic set. So
be sure to check the symbols-new.txt file noted below!
NEW OVERLAYS ON ALL ALTERNATE SYMBOLS: As of 1 October 2007, the use of
overlay characters on all alternate symbols was allowed as needed in
order to further expand the APRS symbol set. These overlay expansions
of up to 36 different usages for each of the 94 alternate symbols adds
hundreds of potential new symbols. Since this overlay info will no
longer fit in this original document it is found in a new document:
http://aprs.org/symbols/symbols-new.txt
If an alternate symbol from the table below, contains significant
definitions of its overlay characters, then the entry will have an "O"
added to indicate that additonal definitions exist in the above
document. The # symbol indicates the original Overlay subset.
For details on Upgrading your symbol set, please see the background
information on Symbols prepared by Stephen Smith, WA8LMF:
http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/aprs/symbols-background.txt
UPDATE CHRONOLOGY:
07 Oct 13: Added JetSki [Js] & Ham Club [C-] ovrlys to symbols-new.txt
19 Sep 11: Added T & 2 overlay for 1 & 2 hop Message TX Igates
Updated overlay "portable" (;) overlays for events
20 Oct 09: Added WIRES to overlayed circles
05 Dec 08: Clarified symbols classified as MOBILE.
Added Primary: 123456789\ and ALT: Y[\
04 Nov 08: Added notes to match file with New Overlays noted above
Added list of "just-mobile-symbols"
25 Mar 08: Added \% Power plants with Overlays. Changed
\i from "BOXn digi" to generic "BOX with overlay".
An indoor BOXn digi can use an overlay on existing digi.
13 Feb 08: Added overlay "S" on \a and \c for SATERN
10 Jan 08: Added Overlay "X" on BOX for the XO OLPC laptop
01 Oct 07: Added the above paragraphs about Overlay byte extensions
of the APRS symbol set and defined two new symbols.
Added "S[" Skier and "O-" for House with Operator Present.
03 Jul 07: Began defining some overlay common usages.
09 Apr 07: First proposed expanding the alternate symbols overlays.
And added to the APRS1.2 addendum:
http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/aprs/symbols-overlays.txt
02 Feb 07: Cleaned up some names for consistency with Icon tables
18 Oct 06: Suggest \x for car wreck or road obstruction. Looks
like a big X like this: ->X<- sort-of...
16 Jun 06: Suggest I for 2-way IGate and R overlay for RX only.
28 Sep 05: Added /F for Farm vehicle (looks like a tractor)
18 Jan 05: Added C overlay for CERTS to "\c" symbol
3 Jan 05: Added W overlay to "\a" symbol to indicate WinLINK.
7 Dec 04: the /] PBBS symbol (typically a blue Mail Box) is renamed
as "MAIL/P.O.". PBBS users should use the BBS symbol.
8 Sep 04: Added Military Affiliate MARS symbol as \M with overlays
SYMBOLS for APRS 1.1 ADDENDUM are as below. As of 26 July 04, the
symbols below were approved and became part of the APRS1.1 addendum.
JunJul 04 to add a Rocket "\O" and an SUV as "\k"
06 May 04 to move Shelter(overlay) from PRI to ALT table
5 Jan 04 to add Destination Waypoint "\/")
29 Oct 03 to add 802.11, firenet, IncidentCommandPost & Shelter
04 Feb 04: Unassigned symbols should display the international symbol
of a circle with a slash through it. Meaning "not"...
29 Jan 04: Reviewed ALL symbols in the spec. Here are all additions:
\& = is not just HF, but ANY GATEWAY with overlay character
/) = Wheelchair (Handicapped) useful in Marathons (blue and white)
\) = Firenet MEO symbol (MODIS Earth observation)
\/ = Waypoint (destination) a RED dot showing intended destination.
Uses special processing to draw a line from a mobile to his
destination. This was proposed 5 Jan 2004
/L = Logged-ON user. (A PC symbol showing someone on APRS-IS)
/l = Laptop (lower case L) (looks like a laptop)
/c = Incident Command Post
\y = Skywarn (black tornado, orange background with white surround)
\z = Shelter (with overlay) (A red house with peaked roof)
JUST-MOBILE-SYMBOLS: The following two lists of symbols were defined
as "mobile" symbols for the purposess of filtering etc. This list
has been published in APRS1.1 for over a decade. As of Nov08, this
list was reviewd and updated:
WAS:
Pri: '<=>()*0COPRSUXY[^abefgjkpsuv
Alt: /0>AKOS[^knsuv
IS NOW:
Pri: !'<=>()*0123456789CFOPRSUXY[\^abefgjkpsuv <== [added !F\ ]
Alt: >KOSY[^ksuv\ <==[removed /0An]
SYMBOLS.TXT APRS DISPLAY SYMBOLS APRSdos ORIGINAL
======================================================================
Document dated: 28 Apr 99 FInal APRSdos symbol spec (still updated!)
Author(s): Bob Bruninga, WB4APR <bruninga@usna.edu>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The character after the latitude "N/S" in an APRS position report is a
TABLE character and the character following the longitude "E/W" is the
APRS symbol character. The TABLE character selects one of two symbol
tables or may be used as an alphanumeric overlay over some symbols:
TABLE RESULT
& RESERVED for possible AUXILLIARY tables (Aug 09)
/ Primary symbol Table (Mostly stations)
\ Alternate symbol table (Mostly Objects)
0-9 Alternate OVERLAY symbol with 0-9 overlayed
A-Z Alternate OVERLAY symbol with A-Z overlayed
For ease of reference we refer to these as the SYMBOL CHARACTERS and
often abbreviate them as "/$" which refers to the Table character "/"
and symbol character "$".
Press F1-S in APRSdos to see these symbols. Some symbols may have a
numeric overlay character 0-9 or A-Z. These are shown on the F1-S
display with the numeral "3" overlayed. The original overlayable
symbols through Oct 2007 were:
CIRCLE, SQUARE, CAR, TRUCK, VAN, DIGIS, GATES
Civil-Defense(RACES), NWS sites, WX stations, Triangle
After that, provisions should be made in all software to allow for
overlays on any alternate symbol as they may be used in the future.
SYMBOLS WITH STAND-ALONE GPS TRACKERS: Stand-alone devices that
transmit raw GPS have no method to convey their symbol. For this
unique application, the symbol can be designated in the UNPROTO
TOADDRESS of the form GPSxyz. The X points to a subgroup table and
the Y is the actual symbol. Z is an overlay character if used.
Actually there are four TOCALLS that will provide the same symbol.
GPSxyz is for stand alone trackers
SPCxyz is for stand alone trackers at SPECIAL events in SPCL mode
SYMxyz is for other TNC-only stations such as WX stations
Notice that both the /$ method and GPSxyz method have a one-for-one
corrspondence for all numeric and alphabetic symbols of both upper
and lower case which should make them easy to remember. For the
GPSxyz method, we have broken the PRIMARY and ALTERNATE tables into
sub tables with different names to make them easier to remember. For
example, "/C" is a CANOE in the PRIMARY table which can be referred to
as PC in the XYZ format and the "\C" ALTERNATE table symbol is for
Coast Guard which could also be referred to in the GPSxyz format as
AC. Simillarly, you can think of the lower case symbols /c or \c as
being LC for lower case C and SC for "secondary" table "c".
The Following Symbol table shows the two types of identifiers for all
APRS ICONS. The primary symbols are on the left and the alternate
table is on the right. The first column of each is labeled /$ and \$
for the primary and alternate tables. These are the chacacters you
will see in an APRS formatted position report. The XYZ columns are
for the stand-alone trackers described above.
/$ XYZ BASIC SYMBOL TABLE \$ XYZ OTHER SYMBOL TABLE (\)
-- --- ------------------------ -- --- ----------------------
/! BB Police, Sheriff \! OB EMERGENCY (!)
/" BC reserved (was rain) \" OC reserved
/# BD DIGI (white center) \# OD# OVERLAY DIGI (green star)
/$ BE PHONE \$ OEO Bank or ATM (green box)
/% BF DX CLUSTER \% OFO Power Plant with overlay
/& BG HF GATEway \& OG# I=Igte R=RX T=1hopTX 2=2hopTX
/' BH Small AIRCRAFT (SSID = 7) \' OHO Crash (& now Incident sites)
/( BI Mobile Satellite Station \( OI CLOUDY (other clouds w ovrly)
/) BJ Wheelchair (handicapped) \) OJO Firenet MEO, MODIS Earth Obs.
/* BK SnowMobile \* OK SNOW (& future ovrly codes)
/+ BL Red Cross \+ OL Church
/, BM Boy Scouts \, OM Girl Scouts
/- BN House QTH (VHF) \- ONO House (H=HF) (O = Op Present)
/. BO X \. OO Ambiguous (Big Question mark)
// BP Red Dot \/ OP Waypoint Destination
See APRSdos MOBILE.txt
/$ XYZ PRIMARY SYMBOL TABLE \$ XYZ ALTERNATE SYMBOL TABLE (\)
-- --- ------------------------ -- --- --------------------------
/0 P0 # circle (obsolete) \0 A0# CIRCLE (E/I/W=IRLP/Echolink/WIRES)
/1 P1 TBD (these were numbered) \1 A1
/2 P2 TBD (circles like pool) \2 A2
/3 P3 TBD (balls. But with) \3 A3
/4 P4 TBD (overlays, we can) \4 A4
/5 P5 TBD (put all #'s on one) \5 A5
/6 P6 TBD (So 1-9 are available)\6 A6
/7 P7 TBD (for new uses?) \7 A7
/8 P8 TBD (They are often used) \8 A8O 802.11 or other network node
/9 P9 TBD (as mobiles at events)\9 A9 Gas Station (blue pump)
/: MR FIRE \: NR Hail (& future ovrly codes)
/; MS Campground (Portable ops) \; NSO Park/Picnic + overlay events
/< MT Motorcycle (SSID =10) \< NTO ADVISORY (one WX flag)
/= MU RAILROAD ENGINE \= NUO APRStt Touchtone (DTMF users)
/> MV CAR (SSID = 9) \> NV# OVERLAYED CAR
/? MW SERVER for Files \? NW INFO Kiosk (Blue box with ?)
/@ MX HC FUTURE predict (dot) \@ NX HURICANE/Trop-Storm
/A PA Aid Station \A AA# overlayBOX DTMF & RFID & XO
/B PB BBS or PBBS \B AB Blwng Snow (& future codes)
/C PC Canoe \C AC Coast Guard
/D PD \D AD Drizzle (proposed APRStt)
/E PE EYEBALL (Eye catcher!) \E AE Smoke (& other vis codes)
/F PF Farm Vehicle (tractor) \F AF Freezng rain (&future codes)
/G PG Grid Square (6 digit) \G AG Snow Shwr (& future ovrlys)
/H PH HOTEL (blue bed symbol) \H AHO \Haze (& Overlay Hazards)
/I PI TcpIp on air network stn \I AI Rain Shower
/J PJ \J AJ Lightening (& future ovrlys)
/K PK School \K AK Kenwood HT (W)
/L PL PC user (Jan 03) \L AL Lighthouse
/M PM MacAPRS \M AMO MARS (A=Army,N=Navy,F=AF)
/N PN NTS Station \N AN Navigation Buoy
/O PO BALLOON (SSID =11) \O AO Rocket (new June 2004)
/P PP Police \P AP Parking
/Q PQ TBD \Q AQ QUAKE
/R PR REC. VEHICLE (SSID =13) \R ARO Restaurant
/S PS SHUTTLE \S AS Satellite/Pacsat
/T PT SSTV \T AT Thunderstorm
/U PU BUS (SSID = 2) \U AU SUNNY
/V PV ATV \V AV VORTAC Nav Aid
/W PW National WX Service Site \W AW# # NWS site (NWS options)
/X PX HELO (SSID = 6) \X AX Pharmacy Rx (Apothicary)
/Y PY YACHT (sail) (SSID = 5) \Y AYO Radios and devices
/Z PZ WinAPRS \Z AZ
/[ HS Human/Person (HT) \[ DSO W.Cloud (& humans w Ovrly)
/\ HT TRIANGLE(DF station) \\ DTO New overlayable GPS symbol
/] HU MAIL/PostOffice(was PBBS) \] DU
/^ HV LARGE AIRCRAFT \^ DV# # Aircraft (shows heading)
/_ HW WEATHER Station (blue) \_ DW# # WX site (green digi)
/` HX Dish Antenna \` DX Rain (all types w ovrly)
/$ XYZ LOWER CASE SYMBOL TABLE \$ XYZ SECONDARY SYMBOL TABLE (\)
-- --- ------------------------ -- --- --------------------------
/a LA AMBULANCE (SSID = 1) \a SA#O ARRL, ARES, WinLINK
/b LB BIKE (SSID = 4) \b SB Blwng Dst/Snd (& others)
/c LC Incident Command Post \c SC#O CD triangle RACES/SATERN/etc
/d LD Fire dept \d SD DX spot by callsign
/e LE HORSE (equestrian) \e SE Sleet (& future ovrly codes)
/f LF FIRE TRUCK (SSID = 3) \f SF Funnel Cloud
/g LG Glider \g SG Gale Flags
/h LH HOSPITAL \h SHO Store. or HAMFST Hh=HAM store
/i LI IOTA (islands on the air) \i SI# BOX or points of Interest
/j LJ JEEP (SSID-12) \j SJ WorkZone (Steam Shovel)
/k LK TRUCK (SSID = 14) \k SKO Special Vehicle SUV,ATV,4x4
/l LL Laptop (Jan 03) (Feb 07) \l SL Areas (box,circles,etc)
/m LM Mic-E Repeater \m SM Value Sign (3 digit display)
/n LN Node (black bulls-eye) \n SN# OVERLAY TRIANGLE
/o LO EOC \o SO small circle
/p LP ROVER (puppy, or dog) \p SP Prtly Cldy (& future ovrlys)
/q LQ GRID SQ shown above 128 m \q SQ
/r LR Repeater (Feb 07) \r SR Restrooms
/s LS SHIP (pwr boat) (SSID-8) \s SS# OVERLAY SHIP/boat (top view)
/t LT TRUCK STOP \t ST Tornado
/u LU TRUCK (18 wheeler) \u SU# OVERLAYED TRUCK
/v LV VAN (SSID = 15) \v SV# OVERLAYED Van
/w LW WATER station \w SW Flooding
/x LX xAPRS (Unix) \x SX Wreck or Obstruction ->X<-
/y LY YAGI @ QTH \y SY Skywarn
/z LZ TBD \z SZ# OVERLAYED Shelter
/{ J1 \{ Q1 Fog (& future ovrly codes)
/| J2 TNC Stream Switch \| Q2 TNC Stream Switch
/} J3 \} Q3
/~ J4 TNC Stream Switch \~ Q4 TNC Stream Switch
HEADING SYMBOLS: Although all symbols are supposed to have a heading
line showing the direction of movement with a length proportional to
the log of speed, some symbols were desiged as top-down views so that
they could be displayed actually always POINTING in the direction of
movement. These special symbols are:
\> OVERLAYED CAR
\s Overlayed Ship
\^ Overlayed Aircraft
/^ Aircraft
/g Glider
\n Overlayed Triangle
AREA SYMBOLS! You can define BOX/CIRCLE/LINE or TRIANGLE areas in all
colors, either open or filled in, any size from 60 feet to 100 miles.
Simply move the cursor to the location, press HOME, move the cursor to
the lower right corner of the AREA and hit INPUT-ADD-OBJECTS-AREA.
Enter the type of area, and color. NOTE that AREA shapes can only be
defined by selecting the upper left corner first, then the lower right
second. The line is an exception. It is still top to bottom, but the
lower point can be to the left of the beginning point. Further, in
the line option you may specify a "width" either side of the central
line.
These AREAS are useful for real-time events such as for a search-and-
rescue, or adding a special ROAD or ROUTE for a special event. Be
cautious in using the color fill option, since all other objects in
that area that occur earlier in your PLIST will be obscured. AND you
do NOT know the order of other stations P-lists.
AREAS FORMAT: The new format for specifying special areas uses the
CSE/SPD field to provide the additional information as follows:
$CSE/SPD... Normal Field description
lTyy/Cxx... Where: l (lower case L) is symbol for "LOCATION SHAPES"
T is Type of shape: 0=circle, 1=line, 2=elipse
3=triangle 4=box
add 5 to these => color-in
C is color from 0 to 15. For colors geater than
9, / is replaced with a 1.
yy is sqroot of the latitude offset in 1/100ths
xx is sqroot of the longitude offset
These offsets are ALWAYS positive to the right and down, except for
the special case of a lower right quadrant line, these are given the
Type of 6 and are drawn down and to the left.
HURRICANES, TROPICAL STORMS and DEPRESSIONS: These symbols will be
differentiated by colors red, yellos, and blue. Additionally a radius
of Huricane and also Tropical storm winds will also be shown if the
format detailed in WX.txt is used.
SYMBOLS ON MAPS! APRS can also be permanently embedded in maps. To
embed a symbol in a map, simply make the first four characters of the
label be a # followed by the dual symbol character, followed by a hex
number from 1 to F that indicates the color for the symbol. The
remaining 8 characters can be used for a conventional label at the
same location. An example are the VORTAC nav-aids in Alaska. The
Anchorage VORTAC appears as ANC on all maps below 128 miles. The label
entry is #\VFANC,LAT,LONG,128.
VALUE SIGNPOSTS: Signposts display as a yellow box with a 1-3 letter
overlay on them. You specify the 1-3 letter overlay by enclosing them
in braces in the comment field. Thus a VALUE Signpost with {55} would
appear as a sign with 55 on it, designed for posting the speed
of traffic past speed measuring devices. APRSdos has a version named
APRStfc.EXE that monitors traffic speed and posts these speed signs
objects when traffic slows in these areas. To avoid cluttering the
map, they ONLY appear at 8 miles and below AND they do not show any
callsign or name. Only the yellow box and the 3 letters or numbers.
Select them from the OBJECT menu under VALUE...
APRS 1.2 OVERLAY TYPE SYMBOLS [April 2007]:
-------------------------------------------
All alternate symbols have the potential to be overlayed. This was
the original intent and was only limited to a few due to limitations
in Mac and WinAPRS. Those original "numbered" symbols are marked
with a # in the table above. But by 2007, it was time to move on.
In APRS 1.2 it is proposed that any ALTENATE symbol can have overlays.
Kenwood has already responded with the new D710 that can now display
these overlays on all symbols.
To help define these hundreds of new symbol combinations, we have
added a new file called:
http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/aprs/symbols-new.txt
The overlay symbols may be used in two ways. First, simply as an
overlay on a basic symbol type. Most uses of these symbols will be
in this manner. But special overlays on some special characters
may also be re-drawn as entirely new graphics for clarity if desired.
The above NEW-Overlay document attempts to define those special
combinations that may rate their own special symbol or where multiple
use of an overlay character for different purposes would be confusing.
Bob, WB4APR
