[amsat-bb] Working APRS

[Roy Dean]

Hugo,

ISS is down indefinitely for APRS.   There is a new system on earth that is
waiting for a ride to the station, but until then - don't count on ISS
packet.   Their voice system seems to still work fine, so you may get lucky
if you call them (but probably not - I've tried 100 times over the last 2
yeara, and nobody ever returns my call).

NO-84 works just fine when the digipeater is on.   If the battery voltage
falls too low, then the digipeater turns off and has to be manually reset
(And I think DK3WN is the only command station currently).   NO-44 is very
difficult to work.   User agreement explicitly states that you are not to
attempt digipeating using the "W3ADO" path, but that seems to be the only
one that works.   I've tried a few times when it was in "PCSAT" mode and it
just flips to W3ADO, or sends a poor excuse for a packet that won't decode.

The only other packet option is Falconsat-3, which is 9600bps.   It is
always on, however, but takes more skill to operate than the 1200bps sats.

--Roy
K3RLD



> This weekend I decided to try APRS on the ISS, NO-44 and AO-84. So far I
> have heard nothing on the ISS. I've heard that the radio is down. Is it
> still down completely or only for certain frequencies? Are any available
> on the ISS? I was using 145.825 for the ISS and AO-84 on APRS. I did
> hear a sound shortly yesterday either on AO-84 or NO-44, but not long
> enough to receive packets. I've also tried the ISS on 437.550. This page
> shows that APRS was last heard 1 week and 1 day ago
> https://www.issfanclub.com I'll try AO-84 in a minute to see again. What
> other birds does anyone
> recommend for APRS? NExt I will try PSK31. LEarning one new thing at a
> time with the birds --
> Hugo Dominguez, Jr.