Tucson Amateur Packet Radio
Encyclopedia
TAPR is an international amateur radio
organization. It was founded in Tucson, Arizona, in 1981 by a group of amateurs interested in developing a terminal node controller
(TNC) for amateur use. Thus, the group was named Tucson Amateur Packet Radio, Inc. After developing one of the first widely available TNCs, TAPR rapidly became a national and then international group. It now identifies itself simply by the acronym TAPR rather than the spelled-out name. TAPR no longer has any direct connection with Tucson, Arizona
.
Today, TAPR no longer focuses on packet radio, but continues as a research and development oriented group offering kits, assembled products, and publications related to the intersection of amateur radio and digital technology. TAPR describes itself as "A community that provides leadership and resources to radio amateurs for the purpose of advancing the radio art." Current products and development activity relate to software defined radio, GPS, APRS
and time and frequency measurement.
TAPR is a supporter of the HPSDR
(High Performance Software Defined Radio) project which has developed a modular and extensible hardware platform for amateur and experimenter oriented software defined radio.
Together with the ARRL, TAPR sponsors an annual Digital Communications Conference.
They are the creators of the TAPR Open Hardware License
.
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
organization. It was founded in Tucson, Arizona, in 1981 by a group of amateurs interested in developing a terminal node controller
Terminal node controller
A terminal node controller is a device used by amateur radio operators to participate in AX.25 packet radio networks. It is similar in function to the Packet Assembler/Disassemblers used on X.25 networks, with the addition of a modem to convert baseband digital signals to audio tones.The TNC was...
(TNC) for amateur use. Thus, the group was named Tucson Amateur Packet Radio, Inc. After developing one of the first widely available TNCs, TAPR rapidly became a national and then international group. It now identifies itself simply by the acronym TAPR rather than the spelled-out name. TAPR no longer has any direct connection with Tucson, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
Today, TAPR no longer focuses on packet radio, but continues as a research and development oriented group offering kits, assembled products, and publications related to the intersection of amateur radio and digital technology. TAPR describes itself as "A community that provides leadership and resources to radio amateurs for the purpose of advancing the radio art." Current products and development activity relate to software defined radio, GPS, APRS
Automatic Position Reporting System
Automatic Packet Reporting System is an amateur radio-based system for real time tactical digital communications of information of immediate value in the local area. In addition, all such data is ingested into the APRS Internet system and distributed globally for ubiquitous and immediate access...
and time and frequency measurement.
TAPR is a supporter of the HPSDR
HPSDR
The HPSDR project dates from 2005 when Phil Covington, Phil Harman, and Bill Tracey combined their separate projects to form the HPSDR group. It is built around a modular concept which encourages experimentation with new techniques and devices The HPSDR (High Performance Software Defined Radio)...
(High Performance Software Defined Radio) project which has developed a modular and extensible hardware platform for amateur and experimenter oriented software defined radio.
Together with the ARRL, TAPR sponsors an annual Digital Communications Conference.
They are the creators of the TAPR Open Hardware License
TAPR Open Hardware License
The TAPR Open Hardware License is a license used in open-source hardware projects. It was created by Tucson Amateur Packet Radio , an international amateur radio organization. Version 1.0 was published on May 25, 2007....
.