[aprssig] KPC3+ issues

[Kent Hufford]

I had a new KPC3+ with the current ROM , in the KISS mode thru UI-View
running a IGATE.

I was having the same "issues" of echoing late station locations. I rebooted
every week to help prevent the issue.

The APRS police was on my so heavy, I removed the KPC3+ that I had just paid
$200 for and replaced it with a

Argent OT-2m TNC and have not had a complaint since.

If you GOOGLE UI-VIEW and KPC-3+ you will see truckloads of messages about
talking to Kantronics, and they saying they have

never heard of the problem, etc.

Kent

KQ4KK

 

From: aprssig-bounces at tapr.org [mailto:aprssig-bounces at tapr.org] On Behalf
Of Phillip
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 3:37 PM
To: aprssig at tapr.org
Subject: [aprssig] KPC3+ issues

 


Hi,

       If what is being stated here is correct, has any one contacted
Kantronics 

and mentioned it to them that the KPC3+ has this problem with some test
results .

 

If so what was Kantronics reply..

 

Surely there are truckloads of these KPC3+s out there and if they are
causing

these delays within the APRS network Kantronics would want to investigate
the problem surely !

 

Is it hardware or firmware ?   can any one confirm ..

 

Is there any one on here testing the KPC3+ to see what / why etc this is
happening ??

 

We are lucky there are not to many of these in ZL with the APRS network .. 

 

73 Phillip

ZL2TZE 

 

 

 

> I have seen the KPC-3+/KISS issue discussed several times on multiple APRS

> mailing lists, but my best reference is the direct experience of Richard

> Sharp (KQ4KX) who maintains the WC4PEM digi/IGate network in Polk County

> here in Florida.  WC4PEM is a KPC-3+ running in KISS mode and if he
doesn't

> reboot the TNC every week or so (sooner if APRS traffic gets heavy), it

> begins introducing delayed packets into the APRS-IS network.  The easiest

> way to see this is on packets that include a timestamp.  The packet will

> appear once via some other IGate and then again via WC4PEM with a 1-5
minute

> (yes, it has been up to 5 minutes) delay.   The problem is only known to

> exist in KPC-3+, the non-plus and other Kantronics units do not seem to
have

> the issue.

> 

 

On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 13:30, Keith VE7GDH <ve7gdh at rac.ca> wrote:

 

> Wes AI4PX

> 

> 

> Please tell me more about the delays.  Do they just affect KISS mode?

>> 

> 

> After running KISS mode for about a week or two, the KPC3+ starts

> introducing delays. I've observed it in UI-View and a friend has seen it

> in Xastir. I don't know who started the rumour that it was a "UI-View

> problem" but that person was incorrect... and likely not a UI-View user.

> 

> 

> Do they affect in-tnc digipeating?

>> 

> 

> I have a KPC3+ based digi running for several years, and I've never

> observed

> any delays in anything that it digipeats. If the frequency is quiet, it

> digipeats

> what it is supposed to right away.

> 

> 

> Do they affect CONVerse mode?

>> 

> 

> Sorry, except for playing around with it the odd time, I haven't used

> CONVerse mode for years.

> 

> 

> This could be the delay issue we've been chasing for years.... the

>> issue that I've thought was UI-View all this time! Could it be???

>> 

> 

> I haven't heard any evidence to point the finger at UI-View. I know

> there are a few digis and IGates in the Puget Sound (Seattle) area

> that are sometimes involved with delayed packets, and sometimes

> some IGates in the Vancouver (BC) area. Unless you are watching on

> RF, it's difficult to prove that a digi was involved. Only occasionally

> can it be proved that a digi was responsible, but if one was using

> squelched audio and the squelch was set too loose, it could delay

> digipeating a packet. In many (if not almost all) instances where the

> cause has been pinned down to an IGate, it has been a KPC3+ running

> in KISS mode at an IGate. I try to be open minded, but if I don't see

> any shred of evidence of it being a UI-View problem, I'll believe

> my eyes and see it as a TNC problem. I have a stack of KPC3+, all

> ver 9.1. I'm actually running one in KISS mode on my IGate now, but

> only because a KPC3 quit responding. With over half a dozen KPC3+

> sitting there, I just grabbed one of them... and promptly told UI-View

> to restart every day. This will take the TNC out of KISS mode and

> put it back in KISS mode when the program starts. It's a work-around

> to fix a TNC problem, but it's been running at least a month or so like

> that and I haven't observed any delays.

> 

> If you hear anyone talking about UI-View introducing delays, please

> ask them to do their homework. They can take my word for it, or they

> can run their own tests and see it for themselves. If they have another

> TNC, use it. If the KPC3+ is their only option, it should be restarted

> periodically. While one could manually tell it "com port none" and

> OK their way out from there, and then tell it the correct com port

> again, a more foolproof method is to use the Schedule Editor to

> make it automatic and just restart the program every day at 3 am

> or whatever time of the day there is the least amount of APRS activity.

> 

> You can't be blamed for thinking it was a UI-View problem because

> it was being parroted on all of the APRS related support lists. I'm

> not the original person that debunked the issue. Someone on one of the

> support lists that I participated in said that it was the KPC3+ causing

> the delays. I don't really recall if it was the APRS SIG, UI-View support

> list or the NWAPRS list, but it was probably the latter. I was most likely

> using a KPCII or a KPC3 at the time. At some point, I changed over to

> a KPC3+ for some reason. One day, I got  involved in trying to track

> down some delayed position reports and observed my own IGate doing

> it. I ran my own tests and observed the problem myself. Not much later,

> an Xastir user within earshot of me ran the same tests. We also did some

> tests with one of us sending beacons to the other and counting the seconds

> (or minutes) before the other's KPC3+ spat the packet out to the APRS

> client. We have also both asked the operators of several KPC3+ based

> IGates to restart the TNC or the program (effectively restarting the TNC)

> and it has solved the problem... for a while.

> 

> 

> 73 es cul - Keith VE7GDH

> --

> "I may be lost, but I know exactly where I am!"

 


		

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