[amsat-bb] APRS FD method

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi Bob!

I will be looking to work the packet digipeaters during
Field Day, as that has been the easier way for me to
get a completed satellite QSO - even when the ISS had its
digipeater working. I like the basic premise you outline
for a QSO, but it seems like something is missing to call
it a QSO. It certainly seems to stop short of what we would
consider a QSO if we are working SSB or CW, or for that
matter a QSO on an FM satellite.

Assuming NO-84's digipeater stays on, I see some NO-84
passes late Saturday afternoon during Field Day. The
FalconSat-3 passes come late in Saturday evening and
early Sunday morning; I might not be out for those.

Based on the AMSAT Field Day rules:

https://www.amsat.org/field-day/

I am not sure your approach would meet the definition of a
complete QSO. Station A makes a general CQ call, and station
B would simply list your call as a QSL in the status text.
Then how does station A acknowledge station B's QSL - adding
B's call sign to the status text from A? Add in the time of
having to edit the status text on the APRS-ready radios,
and it gets messy fast.

When using messages, at least on the Kenwood radios, you
can clear the retry counter once you know the other station
received your message. That cuts down on the clutter. It is
unfortunate that Kenwood and Yaesu don't provide an option
to send messages without requesting an ACK from the other
station, but that's the hand we have been dealt. Based on
my experience over the past few Field Days on the 145.825
MHz digipeaters, very few ACKs ever get through anyway to
clog the frequency. The 145.825 MHz frequency will probably
have its assortment of unattended stations squawking away,
and FalconSat-3 adds in the traffic from mailbox users.

Other than the requirement for ACKs built into the Kenwood
and Yaesu APRS-ready radios, APRS messages are really the
ideal way to go about completing a QSO. The APRS message
format contains the two call signs, and the message text
can carry the Field Day exchange, maybe a grid locator, or
the "TNX" or "QSL" to wrap up the QSO. It comes closest to
how the exchange is laid out in the AMSAT Field Day rules,
and it would look more like a QSO for anyone monitoring the
traffic on the frequency (or looking on pcsat.aprs.org in
the case of NO-84 traffic picked up by APRS gateways).

73!




Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
http://www.wd9ewk.net/
Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK





Place your CATEGORY and SECTION in your STATUS text and set beacon time to
> once a minute.  You don't need GRID since all APRS radios display that on
> receipt based on the position.  SO here is your STATUS at the start:
>
> CQFD 3AMDC  (category and section)
>
> Then every time you see someone else's info, QSL them by pressing the F key
> and SEL button 5 times and it will go directly to place the cursor at the
> end of your status text for you to add the first contact call:
>
> CQFD 3AMDC QSL WB4APR
>
> And then when you see the next one, add the next call:
>
> CQFD 3AMDC QSL WB4APR,W3ADO
>
> And so on.  You can be acking up to 4 calls at a time.  And your CQ and
> acks are all in a single packet.
>
> You can only count the calls as 2-way if you also see your call in the QSL
> list of the other station.
>
> When you get to 4 calls, then ERASE the first one, and add the next one at
> the end. and so on.
>
> This method keeps the channel load low, automatically captures and records
> other stations in your  STATION LIST and automatically sends your QSL's in
> your next automatic beacon.  This lets you spend your time reviewing the
> lists, deciding who you have received QSL's from and entering the next
> calls in your STATUS text.
>
> PRACTICE.  Yes, pressing F key and SEL key 4 times will get you there since
> it will go to APRS, then STATUS TEXT, then SELECT the existing one, then
> SELECT it for editing, and then the cursor goes to the end so you can edit
> it.
>
> You should WRITE down any packets that have your callsign QSLed in them,
> since once that station has entered 4 more calls, yours drops off his
> beacon and so your STATION list will no longer have a copy of your call,
> just his latest 4.
>
> In my mind, this is a legal 2-way.  You both exchanged grids, and category
> and section and QSLed and saw your call acknowledged.
>
> Again, NEVER us APRS "MESSGE" format via a satellite.  It is tremendously
> inefficient and clogs the channel with retries because the ACKs just dont
> get through.  That's why we invented APRS in the first place.  TO get away
> from the abysimal success of ACKS on a crowded channel.
>
> Bob, WB4APR
>
>