[sarex] ISS Alpha. Even More

[Norm McMillan <njmcmillan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

G'day all


  If you're having trouble getting through the  ISS Alpha digi, don't feel 
lonely. Of 40 packets transmitted in 10 minutes I got exactly 1 packet 
digipeated, then one at the end as I shut down the software! This precludes 
any sort of meaningfull comunication.

I set the TNC to beacon every 20 secs with a very short id packet, then 
tried adjusting parameters as I went. eg. I adjusted the audio drive to tx, 
hence deviation, in steps to see if it made a difference. I tried changing 
the tx freq to see if the doppler calcs were wrong. Upped the tx power to 
80w, dropped it to QRP. Changed from hoz beam to vert beam to 5/8 whip. I 
even set the TXdelay (time from txkeyed to packet sent... sends nulls 
during delay) to 1 second then to 10 milliseconds and all in between.

No amount of tweaking at all improved matters beyond a random response.

The lesson is just to keep trying. The most succes has been...

Spacecraft coming towards me, Rx 145.803, Tx 145.987
80W into vert beam (10element)
Tx deviation low (<3kHz)
Short packet containing only Gridsquare.... (this doesn't seem to matter 
much tho')
Equipment
  FT480-R
  Concepts 80W Amp
  Tiny 2 TNC
  Software... PaKet6, APRSdos,Hyperterm, Minicom. (doesn't make a difference!)
  Tracking... WinOrbit, keps from http://www.celestrak.com
  I checked the keps at ... 
http://www.liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html

I can only think that perhaps the ship has a "bad attitude" over this part 
of the world. I know I'm developing one.

Perhaps someone else is having more success. and would like to share?


Good Luck





Norm. Vk2XCI.
QF27wd, Mount Hope, NSW, Australia
Voice of The Edge Of The Outback.

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