[amsat-bb] ARISS

[Kelley]

Hi JoAnne,

I am able to copy stations on 145.825. I am also able to do APRS on 
144.390 (and the aprs.fi website shows my station as being active).

1. I now recall a series of posts not to long ago that talked about this 
very issue of SATGATE's. The only reason I wanted to see a posting of my 
callsign somewhere was to see that it was indeed working. I think I'll 
change my unproto to RS0ISS, seems most of the stations I hear have it 
set that way.

3. I do have my TNC set to PASSALL. I do see a fair amount of packet 
activity. I'm just not getting anything in the way of a response. I'll 
just keep at it and see what happens.

During the pass, I issue a "converse" command and send something like 
"Hi from Kelley EN25". If I see another station I send something like 
"Hi W0ABC this is Kelley W0RK". Is this the right format? I assume that 
trying to connect to another station isn't the right way?

Thanks for the very informative response JoAnne. Perhaps I'll see you on 
the bird.

Kelley - WØRK

On 6/8/2014 9:21 AM, JoAnne Maenpaa wrote:
> Hi Kelley,
>
> If you are able to copy stations on the 145.825 MHz downlink you have
> your packet setup working. If you add "more antenna" you'll find you
> can copy a pass starting sooner and lasting longer. Otherwise, if you
> hear with the vertical antenna it is working OK.
>
> I use the USA 144.390 MHz APRS beacon frequency for testing my packet
> receive setups. I'm near Chicago so there is always an APRS
> brap-brap-brappity-brap around. In rural areas you may need to wait a
> while. But, if your packet setup works on terrestrial signals it is
> ready for the ISS. You can do testing without waiting for an ISS pass
> if you use 144.390. Then tune back up 145.825 and it should be ready.
>
> But (there is always a but) ...
>
> 1. Getting on the list and/or map at www.ariss.net depends on the
> downlink also being heard by an earth station setup to SATGATE its
> received packets. There seem to be fewer SATGATE stations around than
> in years previously. You don't have to do anything special to get
> SATGATE'd. Your UNPROTO CQ VIA ARISS (CQ VIA RS0ISS works also) is all
> you need to do. But there has to be a SATGATE station in range.
>
> 2. ARISS has a weaker signal than before. It is still a good signal
> but in the past their higher power used to make the packet bursts able
> to be copied on an HT and rubber duck. Nowadays an external antenna is
> necessary (which you have). The ARISS downlink signal experiences
> shadowing from the ISS structure. Sometimes this contributes to the
> weaker downlink which means fewer stations hearing you ... or,
> SATGATES hearing you.
>
> 3. Setting PASSALL to ON helps you copy packets that don't complete
> the checksum. Many times there is enough information in there for
> human eyes to pick out. Still, the SATGATES will need to receive the
> entire packet with checksum to relay you. This is just another
> technique for troubleshooting. PASSALL is available on the hardware
> TNC configurations but I haven't found a soundcard packet program
> which supports it.
>
> 4. PCSAT NO-44 can digipeat on 145.825 if it has a good charge from
> its solar panels. Set your unproto to CQ VIA W3ADO-1. The signal from
> NO-44 is definitely weaker than the ISS. It often shuts down after a
> few packets because of power issues. On a good day it is another
> satellite to add to your list. The packet log and map for NO-44 is at
> http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/pcsat.cgi  The same lack of SATGATE
> stations issue also applies here. Sometimes it may be a couple of days
> until someone makes it through and on rare passes several stations are
> successful.
>
> --
> 73 de JoAnne K9JKM
> k9jkm at amsat.org
> Editor, AMSAT Journal