Getting to your instance

Where do you open APRScaching, and what works on each way in? This page explains it for players. You need no setup knowledge, and at the end you know which way in suits you.

Instances and your home instance

The site you use is one instance: one APRScaching server, run by a ham, a club or a group for their region. Many instances run side by side. The best known is aprscaching.net; aprscaching.com forwards to it.

Instances link up into one network. Caches and confirmations of finds travel between them, so your map also shows caches from other instances.

• Your home instance is the one your account lives on. You sign in there, and your finds are logged there.
• A cache from another instance opens with mirrored from and the name of its home instance. You can read it, but you log your find on its home instance. It shows here once that instance publishes the find.
• An instance your sysop has not vetted marks its caches unvetted. They stay off your map until you turn on Include unvetted network data under Search & filter.

The ways in

An instance can be reachable in several ways. Your sysop decides which ones it offers.

Way in	What it is	What you use it for
Internet name	An https:// address, such as https://aprscaching.net	Everything
44Net name	A name ending in ampr.org, in the amateur-radio part of the internet (44Net). Often plain http://	The map, finds and logs; some phone features need https
HAMNET	An amateur-radio IP network reached over radio links, not over the internet (HAMNET). It needs no internet	The map, finds and logs, without the internet
Radio	APRS or MeshCom messages to the instance's service call	Logging finds and verifying your callsign, not browsing

flowchart LR
  you(["You"])
  inet["Internet name"]
  net44["44Net name"]
  hamnet["HAMNET"]
  rf["Radio: APRS, MeshCom"]
  inst[("Your instance")]
  you -->|https| inet -->|everything works| inst
  you -->|often http| net44 -->|sign-in link, no passkeys| inst
  you -->|http| hamnet -->|no internet needed| inst
  you -->|messages| rf -->|log and verify, no browsing| inst

What works on each way in

Some phone features work only on a secure page: an https:// address. On a plain http:// page your browser turns them off.

Feature	https://	Plain http://
The map, caches and logs	Yes	Yes
Sign in with a passkey	Yes	No: use a one-time sign-in link
Your phone's location (for Location-verified finds)	Yes	No: finds reach Logged, or Radio-verified when a receiving station hears your beacon
Your radio in the browser (USB or Bluetooth)	Yes, in a Chromium browser such as Chrome or Edge	No
Push notifications	Yes	No: the in-app watchlist still works

On a plain http:// instance, the sign-in panel says passkeys need a secure page. You then sign in with a one-time sign-in link. On a HAMNET or field instance without email, your sysop makes the link for your callsign and hands it to you, as a QR code or on your screen. The link works once, for 15 minutes. Ask your sysop; One-time sign-in links is the page they follow.

Radio links and HAMNET carry no encryption: amateur rules forbid it. Anyone in range can read what you send there, so use these ways in for the game, never for anything private.

Find out which ways your instance offers

Open Settings → Help & credits → About this instance. It names the instance, its sysop, the ways in it publishes (its internet, 44Net or HAMNET name), how many peer instances it names and the version it runs. A way in the sysop did not publish is not listed: ask your sysop. For logging over the radio, the instance names its service call when you verify your callsign; it is your sysop's callsign with SSID 15 unless the instance names another (Log from your radio).

On the air

Logging over the radio is a transmission from your station, so a few rules apply. You need a licence and your own callsign. Nothing on amateur bands is encrypted: your messages and your position are public. What the instance transmits on its own, such as replies to your messages, follows the settings its sysop chose. You remain the control operator of your own station (On-air etiquette and rules).

Next

• Join: sign in on your home instance and verify your callsign.
• Help and FAQ: answers to the questions players ask most.