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ZL3AI > APRDIG 04.05.03 19:04l 241 Lines 9777 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: TAPR Digest, Apr 26, 2/5
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From: ZL3AI@ZL3VML.#80.NZL.OC
To : APRDIG@WW
Subject: NSTAR tracking assistance needed
From: n9xtn@cox.net
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 9:05:50 -0400
X-Message-Number: 8
About 20 minutes ago, we launched NSTAR 03-B with call N9XTN-11 on 144.34
MHz and a backup beacon on 144.39 MHz with call N9XTN-12. Our ascent rate
is only about 200 ft/min, about 4-5x less than expected.
We are concerned the flight will go much farther than expected. Our
original prediction was on a bearing of about 110-120 from Treynor IA (15
mi E of Omaha). I believe it will continue on that bearing, but perhaps go
>200 miles downrange. The balloon will burst about 65,000 ft, but there is
not a cutdown device on this payload.
The primary battery should be good for about 8 hrs, the backup beacon about
16 hrs.
Any help with logging or chasing is appreciated. I don't have maps in
front of me now, but I would expect the landing in southeast Iowa or
northeast Missouri.
My cell phone # is 402-201-4422.
73 de Mark N9XTN
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Subject: RE: Recommendations; Was: Just trying to understand.
From: "Rich Garcia" <k4gps@bellsouth.net>
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 09:21:29 -0400
X-Message-Number: 9
This is difficult since some areas are different when it comes to coverage
or activity. The main problem is that the more traffic you add to a network
the additional traffic loading you add and hence the increased chances for
collisions. I would say that a WIDE7-7 is crazy. You are creating more of a
mess with that than needed, I call it the "I am bigger than you" syndrome,
somewhat the same as on HF with amps, everyone has to have the biggest
"mouth".
The other problem is people with dumb trackers. They may need Widex-x at
home but when they travel to places like Austin, Dallas, or the NE where
coverage is solid for hundereds of miles with a smaller WIDEx-x then they
are an "alligator" in that area while they are not at home. A WIDE7-7 may be
chaos for you but guess what in SE Florida that packet is worthless, no digi
would repeat it. It would not create any traffic except for stations in
direct range.
ANOTHER problem with dumb trackers is that not every area of the country can
handle WIDEx packets. Many digi's were built before those capabilities and
are not upgraded due to costs, lack of activity or just lack of knowledge.
Even if 1 digi owner is willing to upgrade what is the point unless all the
surrounding digi's are willing to do the same ?
Bottom line is that unless people learn that more is not better they will
suffer and so will the others in the area. I believe in short packets. I may
digi WIDE,WIDE,WIDE from my tracker every hour but that is for my local
region, I take a laptop with me on trips and cut that out if necessary
depending on the area. I also believe in brevity, I keep a SSID on my home
stations but not on my mobile. My chances of a good packet without the
extra -9 and the extra 1 or 2 WIDE's in the path is much better than a
really LONG string that may get blocked due to a tree, bridge, dip in the
road or a tractor trailer.
Rich
K4GPS
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Subject: Re: Ver.2: Another thing I'd like to see...
From: "Guy Navarro" <wb5uaa@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 06:31:03 -0700
X-Message-Number: 10
From: "Ev Tupis (W2EV)" <w2ev@arrl.net>
Reply-To: "Ev Tupis (W2EV)" <w2ev@arrl.net>
To: "TAPR APRS Special Interest Group" <aprssig@lists.tapr.org>
Subject: [aprssig] Ver.2: Another thing I'd like to see...
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 18:43:49 -0400
BobDonnell@arkalmus.com wrote:
>Then you need the whole AX.25 protocol stack, and APRS software isn't
>designed to support connected-mode operations.
I wonder why APRS hasn't exploited the advantages of connected mode more.
Hmmm.
Ev, W2EV
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Ding!
Sorry, that hit a nerve with me also. Back in the early 80's (gosh, am I
getting old?) I played around with packet radio. I quit playing around with
it for a number of reasons and a few years went by. Then I hear of APRS.
As soon as I fire that up, I recognize a few things from a few years ago and
then I see that messages are acknowledged with UI frames. That's where I
went, "hmmmm...."
Guy
WB5UAA
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Subject: Re: Alinco DR-135TP
From: Henk de Groot <henk.de.groot@hetnet.nl>
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 15:32:15 +0200
X-Message-Number: 11
At 06:27 25-4-03 -0400, chris rose wrote:
>Has anyone found out if external control from a terminal program or APRS
>client software will make it digi?
I didn't test it, but if it can be switched to KISS then I think you can
use the "digi_ned" bootfloppy to have a state of the are digipeater within
a minute. That is, if the TASCO TNC keeps operating in KISS (I have no
reports that it doesn't).
During configuration select a "TAPR TNC2" like TNC, not "Kenwood";
"Kenwood" uses some kenwood specific control commands to initialize the TNC
and to reset it when it appeard to be hanging.
I'm pritty sure it will work. Serial linespeed to the TNC shall be set to
9600 baud, otherwise you have to make modifications to the floppy (also not
that hard, but there is no nice menu to do that).
The digi_ned floppy can be found on my web page:
http://www.homepages.hetnet.nl/~pe1dnn/
You need a "fast" PC to run this, at least an 8 MHz AT 80286 with 1 Mb ram,
a 8086, 8088 or 80186 XT will not work :-). Tested on a Commodore LT286
laptop in crossband digi mode (one BayCom modem and one TH-D7E connected as
TNC).
Kind regards,
Henk.
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Subject: Re: Recommendations; Was: Just trying to understand.
From: Bruce Gordon <bgordon@rain.org>
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 08:29:05 -0700
X-Message-Number: 12
Hi all,
I strongly agree with Rich's suggestion. As a relative newcommer to APRS,
I want to "do it right" but haven't found a consistent set of suggestions.
If one exists, I havn't found it. How about it you old hands?
Bruce N6OLT
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Subject: Re: Recommendations
From: "Wes Johnston" <wes@johnston.net>
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 11:36:12 -0400
X-Message-Number: 13
Here's the solution......
All you digi owners create an APRS formatted message in one of your spare LT
buffers. Transmit it only direct, or maybe one hop. The message will
contain the best LOCAL path. For example, RELAY, WIDE may be needed in an
area which does not contain a WIDEn-n digi. Or RELAY, WIDE2-2 if local
customs permit. The message should be addressed to PATHS and transmitted
every 5 minutes. A second message can be sent to IPATHS. The message will
contain the best LOCAL path to get to an IGATE. For example, in Sumter, SC,
the best local path is simply RELAY to get to an IGATE. The most important
thing here is that you want these messages to go out over a SMALL area.
Your digi's APRS Posit and ID may "advertise" over a wide area, but these
messages are specifically intended for people who can hit your digi direct.
If this catches on, later the ham hud folks or the open trac folks can
decode that message and modify their paths to match it. Best of all, it
requires no firmware upgrades.
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Subject: Re: Recommendations
From: "Rich Garcia" <k4gps@bellsouth.net>
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 11:49:56 -0400
X-Message-Number: 14
Good idea but...how about all the dumb trackers ? I have no idea what is
going on outside other than a DCD light that goes on. Yes I may run a laptop
when I go on a long trip but others may not.
Either way it is still a good idea, I don't think every 5 minutes is quite
necessary but I may do that every 15. The other problem is that there are
still a lot of TNC-2's out there with no optional LT buffers. That is a KPC
thing...BUT one person could set up their APRS station to do such a thing in
the area.
Rich
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Subject: Alinco DR-135TP and Digi_Ned
From: John <bigjohn45@cox.net>
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 12:09:44 -0400
X-Message-Number: 15
I have an Alinco DR 135TP. I have never been able to get it to work with
Digi_Ned since it won't stay in KISS reliably. Alinco even cautions not to
use KISS. I hope to soon begin playing with the Tigertronics Baypac type
modem. The BP-2 at $xx is likely to be the cheapest way to do a Digi_Ned
digi.
For those who think Digi_Ned is not a viable solution I would suggest a
look at the messages associated with each of the Digis that I maintain.
None of these are on UPS although I plan to do that. NA4V-2 ran from
September to January without a reboot. The reboot then was the result of a
work event at the site that caused all power to be cut while equipment was
upgraded.
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/msg.cgi?call=NA4V-2
NA4V-2>KC4ZGQ-3 04/24 19:35:52z Up since: Jan 06 2003 - 16:51:15{83
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/msg.cgi?call=KG4OLD-2
KG4OLD-2>KC4ZGQ-3 04/24 19:37:08z Up since: Jan 24 2003 - 17:41:34{7
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/msg.cgi?call=N4XKE-2 (still in testing mode)
These digi's are running on IBM 486 33mhz boxes using either MFJ or
Kantronics TNC's. Digi_Ned is running on MS-Dos 6.2. They are setup in
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to create a Ramdrive then copy the files to
memory to run. Then 2 minutes after boot the hard drive shuts down via the
bios. Actual power consumption on a Kill-a-Watt meter is about 20-30 watts
with the power supply fan running. I plan to see how low I can get this
later this summer.
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