What follows is a list of the various cgi's available on www.findU.com, and the parameters and options that each cgi accepts. This list is meant to be a comprehensive reference to findU, as such it is fairly technical. This is not meant as a beginner's guide to findU. If you have trouble getting the output you want from findU, take a look at some of the form-based sites that have been created to simplify use.
In referencing any of these cgis please be aware of the findU policy on screen scraping:
Dynamic findU HTML pages must not be used to extract data which goes into a database...in other words, no screen scrapers. If you have a project that needs to do this, you should either use another database as a backend or create your own database by parsing the APRS data stream. Several open source APRS parsers are available. Lately there has been a great increase in the number of people attempting screen-scraping, so I must clarify my position. A single access generated from a user action (starting a program, pushing a button, etc.) is allowed, while any repetetive access by a program is NOT ALLOWED. This is necessary because a single program can use as much resource as dozens of human users, and I do not have the capacity to support this sort of use. I will be monitoring for inappropriate access and blocking IPs where I find a problem.
Recent events force me again to clarify this. If you use findU upon some user-generated action, please think hard about the most efficient way to accomplish this. I've had people use findU to show unaltered radar images by using an off-the-radar station. findU had to fetch the image, realize there was nothing to draw, then send it out again. All this instead of the person getting the image directly from the NWS. Others grab a list of hundreds of raw reports and use one. Please act as if you realize that findU is the limited resource it actually is. If you have questions about any use please ask.
ariss - www.ariss.net page
altitude - produces a png of altitudes
baro - barometer graph
breadcrumb - produces a png of tracked points
errors - look at parsing errors detected by findU
emergency - show stations with recent emergency messages received by findU
errorlist - look at parsing errors detected by findU for a specific callsign
find - locate an APRS station
inputpos - enter a position into the system
line - produces a tracking png where tracks are drawn as lines
map-near - display a map and table of APRS activity near a callsign, lat/lon, or zipcode
mapurl - generate a minimal web page containing a single MapBlast URL
msg - display messages to and from an APRS station
near - show the APRS activity near a callsign, lat/lon, or zipcode
panel - display the current weather of a single station
pcsat - the pcsat.findu.com page
plot - produce a png of current APRS positions
posit - displays parsed position reports
radar-find - produce a png of radar with current APRS activity overlaid
rain - rain graph
raw - show the raw packets data from an APRS station
rawposit - show the raw position data from an APRS station
rawwx - show the raw weather data from an APRS station
symbol - list stations matching a symbol
tele-list - list stations with telemetry
tele - telemetry plot, uncalibrated x axis
tele1 - telemetry plot, single parameter with scaling
tele2 - telemetry plot calibrated x axis
telpac - Displays maps and a list of WinLink Telpac nodes
temp - temperature/dew point graph
track - tracking page using breadcrumb cgi
track1 - tracking page using MapBlast features
wap find - Location using Wireless Access Protocol - cell phone access
wap wx - Weather using Wireless Access Protocol - cell phone access
warn-near - Display NWS weather messages near a callsign, lat/lon, or zipcode
warn-text - Display NWS weather message text
wind - wind graph
winlink - like find, but with maps and text customized for users of WinLink
wl-list - lists recent WinLink activity
wl-near - display WinLink stations near a callsign, lat/lon, or zip
wx - table display of an APRS weather station
wxnear - show the weather stations near a callsign, lat/lon, or zipcode
wxpage - show the weather at an APRS station
wxraw - raw weather packets
wxxml - experimental product producing XML
This is the workhorse of findU, it displays the current position of a station. The map(s) which are displayed is controlled through a number of parameters.
name units default remarks call mandatory units english can be english, metric, and nautical radar NEXRAD ID Radar map to display (*** picks closest) degree degrees of longitude 0.04 Scale of the APRSworld map to display norelief 0 1 disables display of photo-relief map noaprsworld 0 1 disables display of APRSWorld map terra meters per pixel 0 scale of aerial photo image (1,2,4,8,16,32,64) topo meters per pixel 0 scale of topographic map(2,8,32)
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?k4hgIt can also accept a radar parameter, which is either a three letter callsign (of the NEXRAD radar, not the airport ID, though sometimes they are the same) or ***, in which case the system will pick the closest radar.
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=k4hgComments: accepts multiple calls accepts wildcards tactical callsigns
Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=k4hg&radar=***wxpage.cgi
This displays the current conditions of a weather station, and four graphs of the historical weather data.
Example:
name units default remarks call mandatory last hours 120 length of history graphics radar NEXRAD ID Radar map to display The radar parameter allows you to replace the MapBlast map with an NWS NexRad radar image, which of course are only available in the US. Using *** results in the system choosing the closest site.
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=k4hg&last=24&radar=byxemergency.cgi
This displays an emergency beacons received by findU.
Example:
name units default remarks last hours 24 length of display
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/emergency.cgi?last=96wx.cgi
This displays the current conditions of a weather station in a table format.
Example:
name units default remarks call mandatory units english can be english, metric, and nautical last hours 24 length of history http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wx.cgi?call=k4hg&last=24wxraw.cgi
This displays the weather packets received from a weather station. It can be very slow, and can bog down the system, it should only be used if you have a real need.
name units default remarks call mandatory last hours 12 length of history wxxml.cgi
This displays recent weather data in XML. It should be considered experimental, if you have a need for something like this you should email me. This is NOT meant for downloading large amounts of data, I've set the somewhat arbitrary limit of 20 stations, each no more than once every five minutes. If you have a need for more data you should look for another backend, or extract the data yourself from the APRS stream.
Example:
name units default remarks call mandatory last hours 120 length of history http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxxml.cgi?call=k4hgerrors.cgi
This displays the a log of erroneous packets seen by findU's parser. The parser is rather strict, and may reject packets that display on other APRS programs. As the disclaimer states, please be sure a packet meets the APRS Specification before emailing me. The table includes the callsign, the number bad packets seen from this callsign over the period.
name units default remarks last hours 6 length of history
errorlist.cgi
This displays the a list of erroneous packets seen by findU's parser from a particular callsign
Example:
name units default remarks call mandatory last hours 6 length of history
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/errorlist.cgi?call=k4hg&last=24
altitude.cgi
This was primarily developed for balloon flights, but it works with any APRS station that sends altitude information.
Examples:
name units default remarks call last hours 24 time limit for display
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/altitude.cgi?call=k4hg-1&last=9999
near.cgi
This displays the position reports known to be near a given location, which may be specified as a lat/lon, callsign, or zipcode. One, and only one, of these options must be specified.
Examples:
name units default remarks call lat decimal degrees negative for southern hemisphere lon decimal degrees negative for western hemisphere zip Zip codes n 60 maximum number of stations distance miles 99999 maximum distance displayed last hours 240 time limit for display rate off rate=1 shows average packet rate over covered time period
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/near.cgi?call=k4hg&last=24&n=200
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/near.cgi?zip=33042&distance=50
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/near.cgi?lat=24.5&lon=-81.2&last=1&rate=1
wxnear.cgi
This displays the weather reports known to be near a given location, which may be specified as a lat/lon, callsign, or zipcode. One, and only one, of these options must be specified.
Examples:
name units default remarks call mandatory lat decimal degrees negative for southern hemisphere lon decimal degrees negative for western hemisphere zip Zip codes limit 20 number of nearby stations checked for weather noold 0 noold=1 suppresses display of stations over 1 hour old
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxnear.cgi?call=k4hg
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxnear.cgi?zip=33042
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxnear.cgi?lat=24.5&lon=-81.2
warn-near.cgi
This displays the NWS messages near a given location, which may be specified as a lat/lon, callsign, or zipcode. Only one of these options can be specified, if none are (or if call=* is used) then the page will show all warnings and they will be sorted by time received.
Examples:
name units default remarks call lat decimal degrees negative for southern hemisphere lon decimal degrees negative for western hemisphere zip Zip codes nomap 0 nomap=1 suppresses display of the map exclude (none) Types of messages to exclude include (all) Types of messages to include old hours 0 shows messages which expired in last n hours
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/warn-near.cgi?call=k4hg
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/warn-near.cgi?nomap=1&exclude=go
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/warn-near.cgi?include=o
warn-text.cgi
This displays NWS message text. It only takes one parameter, id, which is the callsign of the object associated with the message. Generally this is only used by the warn-near cgi. No examples are possible, because the valid id's change constantly. Messages are held 24 hours past their expiration.symbol.cgi
This displays stations matching a particular symbol.
Example:
name units default remarks icon (mandatory) two characters, first is the set/overlay, second is symbol limit 100 maximum number of stations to display http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/symbol.cgi?icon=/u&limit=200raw.cgi
This displays raw packets.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) start hours 24 start of history length hours start length of history time 0 if 1, prepends a timestamp to each packet http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/raw.cgi?call=k4hg&start=48&length=24&time=1rawposit.cgi
This displays raw position packets.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) start hours 24 start of history length hours start length of history time 0 if 1, prepends a timestamp to each packet http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/rawposit.cgi?call=k4hg&start=48&length=24posit.cgi
This displays position reports, either as a table or as a comma-delimited list.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) start hours 24 start of history length hours start length of history time 0 if 1, prepends a timestamp to each position comma 0 if 1, presents the data in comma delimited format http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/posit.cgi?call=k4hg-8&comma=1rawwx.cgi
This displays raw weather packets.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) start hours 24 start of history length hours start length of history http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/rawwx.cgi?call=k4hg&start=48&length=24baro.cgi
rain.cgi
temp.cgi
wind.cgi
These four cgis draw weather graphs as used by wxpage. They all take the same parameters, and each may be inserted into your own web pages using the img tag. If you use these directly please do not put them low on a page that auto-refreshes (meaning the vast majority of images you ask findU to create are never seen by a human). My resources are limited, please respect that.
Examples:The timezone parameter is meant to be fed by Javascript, and therefore uses Javascript's unusual time zone scale, minutes subtracted from UTC. The Internet standard is hours added to UTC. So Eastern Standard Time, generally denoted as UTC-5, must be sent as tz=300.
name units default remarks call (mandatory) last hours 24 length of graph xsize pixels 300 horizontal size of graph ysize pixels 200 vertical size of graph tz minutes 0 time zone for y scale date yyyymmdd absolute start date for graph http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/temp.cgi?call=cw0925&last=48&xsize=400&ysize=300
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/baro.cgi?call=cw0925&tz=300
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wind.cgi?call=k4hg&date=20050824&last=120breadcrumb.cgi
This draws an image with each track point shown as a small red square, the current position has the callsign attached.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) start hours 24 start of tracking interval length hours start length of track geo usa.geo geo file details zoom 1 zoom factor of map xsize pixels 800 horizontal size of image ysize pixels 600 vertical size of image http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/breadcrumb.cgi?call=k4hg-8&geo=keys.geo&start=10000line.cgi
This draws an image with each track point shown as a small red square with the points connected by lines.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) multiple callsigns, colors, tactical callsigns start hours 24 start of tracking interval length hours start length of track geo usa.geo geo file details zoom 1 zoom factor of map xsize pixels 800 horizontal size of image ysize pixels 600 vertical size of image http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/line.cgi?call=k4hg-8!Steve:0:255:100&geo=rad_byx.geo&start=100radar-find.cgi
This plots current APRS positions on top of NWS NEXRAD images, used by wxpage.cgi. If you use this directly please do not put them low on a page that auto-refreshes (meaning the vast majority of images you ask findU to create are never seen by a human). My resources are limited, please respect that.If there is a radar that is not being shown, please read the FAQ on findU's front page.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) multiple callsigns, wildcards, tactical callsigns radar Three character radar call zoom 1 zoom factor of map offsetx pixels none horizontal offset of edge offsety pixels none vertical offset of edge nocall 0 nocall=1 hides callsigns http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/radar-find.cgi?call=*&radar=amx&zoom=2plot.cgi
This draws an image with current positions shown as a small red square with the callsign attached.
Examples:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) multiple callsigns, wildcards, tactical callsigns nocall 0 nocall=1 hides callsigns degree degrees longitude 1 if no geo file, specifies an APRSworld map scale geo usa.geo geo file details zoom 1 zoom factor of map xsize pixels 800 horizontal size of image ysize pixels 600 vertical size of image last hours 120 hours of data to plot (max 240) http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/plot.cgi?call=*&geo=usa.geo&nocall=1
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/plot.cgi?call=k4hg-8&geo=keys.geo
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/plot.cgi?call=k4hg-8&geo=http://www.aprs.net/rad_amx.geo http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/plot.cgi?call=k4hg-8°ree=5tele-list.cgi
This displays a list of all stations with telemetry in the last 24 hours. Links are provided to display the data with tele.cgi and tele2.cgi.Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/tele-list.cgitele.cgi
This displays telemetry plots, it is the original telemetry cgi. The x axis is not calibrated, using a single pixel for for each report. In other words, each report is placed next to the other regardless of the time received. All five telemetry values are plotted, as well as the optional binary data.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) last hours 24 length of graph xsize pixels 530 horizontal size of image ysize pixels 330 vertical size of image http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/tele.cgi?call=K42C&last=240tele1.cgi
This displays a telemetry plot usings ploticus, so the x axis is calibrated to the time the report was received. It displays a single telemetry parameter, coefficients and labels may be provided to customize the display. APRS uses a quadratic equation for its telemetry calibration:ax^2 + bx +c
Full details on APRS telemetry are available here. This cgi is under development, and these parameters are subject to change, even more so than the rest of the site!
Examples:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) last hours 24 length of graph xsize pixels 530 horizontal size of image ysize pixels 330 vertical size of image param 1 number of telemetry parameter to plot label text Description of parameter units text Description of units of the parameter tics 10 Number of tics on y axis a 0 equation coefficient b 1 equation coefficient c 0 equation coefficient range range of y axis autorange boolean 0 automatic scale http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/tele1.cgi?call=k42c&last=96¶m=1&b=0.1&label=supply%20voltage&units=volts&autorange=1More examples to come....
tele2.cgi
This displays telemetry plots using ploticus, so the x axis is calibrated to the time the report was received. All five telemetry values are plotted, at this time the optional binary data is not shown.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) last hours 24 length of graph xsize pixels 530 horizontal size of image ysize pixels 330 vertical size of image http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/tele2.cgi?call=K42C&last=240map-near.cgi
This displays the position reports, on both a map and a table, known to be near a given location, which may be specified as a lat/lon, callsign, or zipcode. One, and only one, of these options must be specified.
Examples:
name units default remarks call lat decimal degrees negative for southern hemisphere lon decimal degrees negative for western hemisphere zip Zip codes cnt 100 number of stations to display
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/map-near.cgi?call=k4hg
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/map-near.cgi?zip=33042
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/map-near.cgi?lat=24.5&lon=-81.2&cnt=20
mapurl.cgi
This creates a minimal web page displaying nothing but a single MapBlast map. It is intended to be used within your web pages within a frame. Pretty worthless due to changes since MapBlast was bought by the evil empire. See it in action.
Example:
name units default remarks call (mandatory) wildcards xsize pixels 640 horizontal size of image ysize pixels 480 vertical size of image scale ? 20000 MapBlast's scale number refresh seconds 300 refresh interval last hours 120 hours of data to plot (max 240)
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/mapurl.cgi?call=k4hg&last=24
msg.cgi
This displays the messages to or from a given station. It only accepts one parameter,the callsign of an APRS station.Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/msg.cgi?call=k4hg
inputpos.cgi
This allows the web entry of position reports, and is detailed here. Note that this requires registration, as the reporting mechanism is password protected.track.cgi
This uses the breadcrumb or line cgi's to produce a tracked image within a page containing current position information and a street level map. All parameters are passed to the drawing cgi, look here for description. If the url includes line=1, then a line is drawn between each point. Example:http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/track.cgi?call=k4hg-8&geo=keys.geo&start=10000http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/track.cgi?call=k4hg-8&geo=keys.geo&start=100&line=1
track1.cgi
This is a deprecated cgi which uses capabilities from MapBlast to draw tracks. The only parameter is the callsign, tracking interval is fixed at two days. It draws dots at each plotted point. I have no plans to develop these further.Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/track1.cgi?call=k4hg-8winlink.cgi
This performs the same general functions as the find cgi, but the text and maps are customized for users if the WinLink system. These users are often in remote areas where the maps from the find cgi are not very useful.Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/winlink.cgi?KG4LARwl-list.cgi
This provides a list of users who have recently sent reports via the WinLink system. It takes no parameters.Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wl-list.cgitelpac.cgi
This displays maps and a list of WinLink Telpac nodes.
Example:
name units default remarks n 100 number of nodes to display call if given order the list based on distance from this APRS station lat degrees if lat/lon given prder list based on distance from this point lon degrees
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/telpac.cgi?call=k4hg&n=200
wl-near.cgi
This displays the position reports received via the WinLink system near a given location, which may be specified as a lat/lon, callsign, or zipcode. One, and only one, of these options must be specified.
Examples:
name units default remarks call lat decimal degrees negative for southern hemisphere lon decimal degrees negative for western hemisphere zip Zip codes
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wl-near.cgi?call=k4hg
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wl-near.cgi?zip=33042
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wl-near.cgi?lat=24.5&lon=-81.2
WAP find
This provides a Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) page showing the location of a station. It takes one mandatory parameter, a callsign. The URL must be entered into a WAP cellphone or WAP emulator. This is old, does not work with all cell phones, and is not being maintained. For a more complete WAP implementation, see WAPaprs, which uses the findU database for the backend.
Example:
wap.findu.com/find?k4hg-8WAP weather
This provides a Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) page showing the data of a weather station. It takes one mandatory parameter, a callsign. The URL must be entered into a WAP cellphone or WAP emulator. This is old, does not work with all cell phones, and is not being maintained. For a more complete WAP implementation, see WAPaprs, which uses the findU database for the backend.Example:
wap.findu.com/wx?k4hg
Footnotes and Comments
Accepts multiple calls
cgi's with this comment can accept more than one callsign, separated by commas. When one callsign has special meaning, for example in chosing the radar site or fetching a MapBlast map, the first callsign in the list is used for this purpose.Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=k4hg,w7iuc-3,w7iuc-1Accepts wildcards
cgi's with this comment can accept wildcards.Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=w7iuc*Tactical callsigns (or aliases)
cgi's with this comment can have a callsign replaced with an alias. The callsign is separated from alias by an exclamation point. If a callsign contains a wildcard character, the tactical callsign is ignored.Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/plot.cgi?call=k4hg!Keys House,k4hg-5!Miami House,k4hg-8!truck&geo=usa.geozip codes
There are two methods that can be used to specify zip codes. The first simply uses the for &zip=33042. This works for most US zip codes, but the file from the USPS site seems to lack some newer post offices. Thanks to Darryl Smith, VK2TDS, you can also do most Australian zip codes this way, since they are 4 digits long there is no confusion. The MapBlast zipcode lookup feature is no longer available due to changes in MapBlast.Examples:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/map-near.cgi?zip=33042Accepts color information
cgi's with this comment can have a color attached to the callsign (or a different color to each callsign if multiple callsigns are accepted). The color is specified as a red/green/blue 8 bit numbers separated by colons (":")Example:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/line.cgi?call=k4hg-8!Steve:0:255:100&geo=rad_byx.geo&start=100
APRS is a registered trademark of APRS Software LLC and Bob Bruninga, WB4APR.