[amsat-bb] APRS Messaging QSOs

[Jeff Johns]

There are a couple reasons why more people are active on the ISS digipeater
(IMHO):

It's somewhat deaf.
The barrage of unattended stations that beacon every few seconds.

With that said, it's still easy to work and a lot of fun. I frequently work
it using a vintage Kenwood TH-D7 and an Arrow. What makes it more fun
(challenging) for me is that the D7 cannot store 'canned' messages and I
have to type out each message in T9 format, live, during the pass.

Even with all the garbage, unattended stations beaconning their email
addresses and other junk, it's still quite possible to make contacts. As
long as there are these unattended stations, it will make working APRS via
the ISS challenging. It may be challenging, but it's definitely not
impossible. There's really no need for things such as a Raspberry Pi or
other equipment, an old (20+ years) HT like my D7 is still plenty capable
of making contacts on the ISS, NO-84 (when it's on) and FalconSat-3.

My suggestion would be for the organization to work on educating the masses
about unattended operation on the APRS capable satellites. By removing that
QRM, it will make it much easier for live operators to have successful QSOs.

Jeff WE4B
http://we4bravo.com

On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 2:57 PM Robert Bankston via AMSAT-BB <
amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:

> It's a shame that their are not more APRS messaging satellite QSOs being
> done via ARISS and other satellites.  Is this because...
>   * Lack of equipment?  * Erratic operational schedules?  * Proliferation
> of non-attended stations (beacons)?  * Too much button pushing?
> Most ops you an HT and very few of those have APRS messaging capability.
> Those HT's that do (including mobiles) are a bit clunky and require fast
> thumbs to complete all of the necessary steps to complete a QSO.  Of course
> the more you do it, the more second nature it becomes, but that circles
> back to the erratic scheduling.
> One solution could be to develop an app or software with prescribed
> message formatting and QSO automation, similar to similar FT8.
>   (click on target call in station list)  * [Target Call] [My Call] [My
> Grid]  * [My Call] [Target Call] (Target Grid]  * R [Target Grid]  * RR [My
> Grid]  (click on log QSO)
> Single board computers could easily handle the task (even the Pi Zero),
> for those worried about keeping their station small. Only thing left would
> be a microarduino TNC or soundcard and a couple cables to the HT mic and
> earphone jacks.
> Just a thought.
> 73, Robert KE4AL
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