APRS/MIR test extended overnight!

[Bob Bruninga <bruninga@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

R0MIR is back on line!
Due to missing the 2 test orbits today due to R0MIR being QRT, we now have
authorization to extend the test overnight.  Since this is in the "middle
of the night" USA time, here is the best proposal to allow maximum
participation while still getting some sleep:

All settings are the same as before, (See APRS note below!) but instead of
recommending one packet a minute until successful, and then stopping, we
now recommend setting your station to one packet every 3 or 4 minutes.  If
you doze through a pass, you will still have probably 2 good packet
attempts at closest point of approach during 5 passes...till dawn.
Wake up and see a map full of what you captured...
Here are the pass tracks in UTC and local times:

UTC 11 Mar   PST   CST   EST
-----------  ----  ----  ----
0735z-0745z  ...   0135  0235  pass up the east coast 
0905z-0925z  ...   0305  0405  up the central usa out over newengland
1040z-1100z  0240  0440  0540  across central usa total coverage
1215z-1235z  0415  0615  0715  Northwest to southeast
1355z-1415z  0555  0755  0855  Northwest to south
1530z-1550z  0730  END OF TEST !!!

Notice EVERYONE MUST SECURE APRS packets on 145.985 and END THE TEST when
they awake Wednesday before they head off to work!

TNC-ONLY (non APRS stations):  On most TNC's, a setting of BEACON
EVERY 18 means once every 180 seconds or 3 minutes...  Choose a random
number between 18 and 24 so that you dont sync up with someone else who
always clobbers you... For KANTRONICS's TNCs, the actual entry is in
MINUTES, so set your BEACON command to 3 or 4 or 5.

APRS STATIONS:  Unfortunately APRSdos will limit your beacons to once
every 10-30 minutes dependding on how many digipeaters you have
in your path.  This is inadequate for a brief MIR pass.  For APRSdos, you
can override this limit by editing the CFIG800.APR file in your root
directory.  About 8 lines down is the following entry

   1800 , Maximum number of seconds between packets

This sets your maximum period to 30 minutes.  Change this value to
a random number between 180 and 240 for TONIGHT ONLY.  Since this is an
APRS value, 180 = 3 minutes for all TNC's...

DONT FORGET TO RESET IT TO 1800 TOMORROW!

Im not sure how to change the value in Mac/WinAPRS or APRSa4.  Good luck.
I fear that we may have lost 90% of our testers who wont get this late
word until too late, so spread the word on all APRS nets via local
BULETINS thanks...  de WB4APR