[aprssig] Leonids Meteor Shower APRS protocol

Thu Nov 12 18:03:01 EST 2020

To clarify exactly what a high power TX station needs to send is say 30
copies of the APRS grid format in a single burst  IE send this to the TNC
every minute:

>GG##gg<CR>
>GG##gg<CR>
>GG##gg<CR>
>GG##gg<CR>
...
>GG##gg<CR>
>GG##gg<CR>

 The TNC will concatenate probably seven to ten of these at a timel into
dense packets with only a single TX delay, not 30 delays.

The TNC has UNPROTO set to simply "APRS" no path! And set to CONVErSE..

Adjust the number (30?) till the TX burst lasts 15 seconds each minute.
The result is a complete grid in only 200 milliseconds each.  Hopefully
short enough so that occasionally one will get bounced somewhere by the
extremely short meteor path bursts at VHF.

Point beam to a high ham population density at least 600 miles away.
Vertical or Horizontal will work.

This  will take special software for the 15  TX stations.  (METEOR-1
through METEOR-15)

RX stations need nothing special.  Any APRS software should capture and
decode and plot a grid report if received overnight.  All of this on the
national channel 144.39 from midniight to 6 AM local time

Here is the report form 1998 event
 http://aprs.org/APRS-docs/LEONIDS.TXT

Bob WB4APR

>
> On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 5:06 PM GEO Badger <w3ab at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Actually, I can program my spare TNC, KPC 3+, to TX every X seconds for X
>> time.
>>
>> ---
>> Ciao baby, catch you on the flip side
>> 73 de W3AB/GEO
>>
>> WA2LSI, KE6RJW, AAR9AG
>>
>> http://www.w3ab.org
>>
>> You can say "over", you can say "out", you just can't say "over and out".
>>
>>
>> On Thursday, November 12, 2020, 01:39:04 PM PST, Robert Bruninga <
>> bruninga at usna.edu> wrote:
>>
>>
>> AMEN!  Your location?  Beam should point to high APRS population density
>> about 600 miles away.
>>
>> Do you have APRS familiarity?
>> Though it is not required, bu will neet a PC program to send the 40
>> packets in 15 secs every minute,'
>> Hopefully someone will write it quickly.
>>
>> bOB
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 3:39 PM GEO Badger <w3ab at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> I have 100W & 7 el beam. Will that meet the requirements?
>>
>> ---
>> Ciao baby, catch you on the flip side
>> 73 de W3AB/GEO
>>
>> WA2LSI, KE6RJW, AAR9AG
>>
>> http://www.w3ab.org
>>
>> You can say "over", you can say "out", you just can't say "over and out".
>>
>>
>> On Thursday, November 12, 2020, 12:28:49 PM PST, Robert Bruninga via
>> AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>> We are seeking Amsat operators with beams and high power on VHF to
>> participate in this coming Monday night's Leonids Meteor Shower APRS test.
>>
>> So far, no one on the APRS list seems to have any power and beams to be a
>> transmitting station.  If you have high power and a beam, you can help.
>> Here is the pitch:
>>
>> --------
>>
>> With the Leonids Meteor shower coming up after Midnight next Monday (Tues
>> AM), maybe its time to have some fun with APRS again!
>>
>> Last time we did this was 1998 and over 48 MS packets were seen over 500
>> to
>> 600 miles on the APRS channel..  Here is the report:
>> http://aprs.org/APRS-docs/LEONIDS.TXT
>>
>> THis year I propose not a free-for-all but just a few HIGH power stations
>> transmitting and everyone else in the country checks the next morning to
>> see what they copied..  Best TX stations are those with several
>> hundred watts and a beam.  Even one such station would be a great test,
>> because on 144.39 we would have maybe 10,000 full time normal APRS
>> stations
>> as receivers. In retirement, i dont have the power nor the beam
>>
>> But it would go something like this.  Up to 15 TX stations around the
>> country would TX a continuous keydown string of short packets for 15
>> seconds every minute. Xmission is on the 144.39 national APRS channel to
>> maximize the number of people that might copy one.  Transmissions begin at
>> midnight local time and runs to 6 AM only to minimize any interference to
>> other operators. We all wake up the next morning to see what we got.  Yes,
>> this will burn the local channel within about 20 miles of the TX station.
>> but since the packets have no path, they can only be heard in simplex
>> range
>> of a transmitter and everyone is sleeping anyway.
>>
>> But if a meteor happens, someone within about 400 to 600 miles is likely
>> capture it.  Remember, the APRS channel load in most areas is only a
>> packet
>> every 3 or 4 seconds and that gives everyone a receive window of 75% of
>> the
>> total slots available.  And even if the TX stations are not even
>> synchronized it doesnt matter because a given meteor path only exists for
>> a
>> fraction of a second and only between two fixed 100 mile or so areas for
>> that instant.
>>
>> The original APRSdos had Meteor Mode built in and did the timing and
>> transmissions.  WIth a very short packet and  short TXD a single key down
>> could transmit about 30 packets during each 15 second period.
>>
>> Any high power TX volunteeers?
>>
>> Oh, here is the original page:  http://aprs.org/meteors.html
>> Look about 75% down the page for the map of that 2m experiment.
>>
>> IGNORE the majority of that page.  It was showing how an emergency
>> response
>> station for example could go to an area of total devastation with all APRS
>> wiped out, and with enough power and persistence could likely get out an
>> emergency email message.  This one time, test is completely different.
>>
>> Bob, WB4APR
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Opinions expressed
>> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
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>>
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