FT-5D GPS APRS setup

1. Turn GPS on
   • Hold [F MENU]
   • Touch APRS
   • Select 20 GPS POWER
   • Set it to GPS ON
   • Press PTT to exit.
2. Tell APRS to use the live GPS position
   • Hold [F MENU]
   • Touch APRS
   • Select 24 MY POSITION
   • Set it to GPS
   This one is critical. If it is set to Manual or P1-P10, your beacon will not use your current GPS coordinates.
3. Enable the APRS modem
   • Hold [F MENU]
   • APRS
   • 4 APRS MODEM
   • Select 1200 bps
   For normal North American APRS on 144.390 MHz, use 1200 bps, not 9600.
4. Put APRS on Band B
   • Press A/B so you’re working with Band B
   • Set Band B to:
   144.390 MHz You should see A12 next to the Band B frequency, indicating the 1200-baud APRS modem is active. Yaesu states that APRS operates only on Band B on the FT-5D.
5. Verify your APRS callsign
   • Hold [F MENU]
   • APRS
   • 23 CALLSIGN (APRS)
   • Enter your callsign and desired SSID.
   The radio will not transmit APRS packets without an APRS callsign configured.
6. Enable automatic beaconing
   • Press [F MENU]
   • Touch S.LIST
   • Touch the menu-grid icon
   • Touch BEACON
   Repeatedly touching BEACON cycles: MANUAL → AUTO → SMART For simple periodic GPS beaconing, choose AUTO. The default interval is 5 minutes.
7. Set the beacon interval
   • Hold [F MENU]
   • APRS
   • 14 BEACON INTERVAL
   • I would use 5 minutes for normal handheld/mobile use.
   Available settings range from 30 seconds to 60 minutes.

Better option for mobile use: SmartBeaconing

If you’re using the FT-5D while driving, I recommend SmartBeaconing instead of a fixed 5-minute timer. It changes the beacon timing based on your speed and direction.

Set:

[F MENU] → APRS → 27 SmartBeaconing → TYPE1

Yaesu defines TYPE1 for higher-speed vehicle operation. Then set the beacon mode to SMART instead of AUTO. It will transmit your GPS-derived position, speed and direction more intelligently.

Quick test

Once the radio has acquired GPS:

F MENU → BCN-TX

The FT-5D should transmit a packet on 144.390 MHz. Yaesu warns that when MY POSITION = GPS, the radio will not transmit the position beacon until it has actually acquired GPS data.

For your FT-5D, I would configure it as:

Band B: 144.390
APRS Modem: 1200
GPS Power: ON
My Position: GPS
Beacon: SMART
SmartBeaconing: TYPE1 for the car
Symbol: Car
Digi Path: WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1

That gives you a proper moving GPS tracker, not just a fixed APRS beacon.