[amsat-bb] Re: APRS beaconing on the ISS no luck....

[JoAnne Maenpaa]

Hello Alexander,

> I have set my PATH to Others/ARISS.  I see some have used
> ARISS,WIDEN-n

I just set UNPROTO CQ VIA ARISS. I've heard that the 'CQ' makes no
difference; it works with or without the CQ.

> My beacon is set again to TX 30 seconds AUTO.

When you beacon at a fixed interval it likely does not take into account
whether the frequency is clear. You may or may not be colliding with the
dozens of other users blasting a UI packet upward. Since its an FM channel
the strongest signal arriving at the ISS captures their receiver. If you fit
in between the other packets 5 watts usually gets through nicely.

When I run with a hardware TNC I use CONVERS mode. I have a summary of the
hardware TNC commands at:
http://home.comcast.net/~k9jkm/ARISS_Packet_How_To/ ... but not sure how
those map into your HT's setup.

I also use AGWPE and UISS. The VIA [path] is selectable from a pulldown menu
from which I select ARISS.

> Also, to send a message via the ISS what is the address?

The ISS PBBS is RS0ISS-11. This requires a "hard connect" which is not
recommended because over populated areas you will never to able to complete
the QSO with all the other competing UI packets out there. RSOISS-11 is
single user and when connected the full AX.25 protocol kicks in with the
acks and retries, etc. We see ISS go over the horizon faithfully executing
channel protocol and you will have not have been able to upload your
greetings. Stations over the horizon will see the AX.25 disconnect message
as it times out from your CONNECT request.

The crew is rarely at the keyboard so UI digipeating is your most likely
path to success.

Stations in less populated parts of the world connect to the RS0ISS-11 PBBS.
It does not seem to work too well over the USA from my experience.

> I have been using RS0ISS-4 based on packets received.

VIA ARISS translates into RS0ISS-4 or RS0ISS-3 depending on the setup aboard
the ISS.

For the RF side I run 5 watts into a 3-element 2 meter beam. The beam is
fixed elevation around 20 degrees and turns on a TV rotor I got on ebay for
$9.

--
73 de JoAnne K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat.org