On 7/27/2018 3:22 AM, Mike Asbury
wrote:
The
set up that I'm using to monitor this test is RF only. I have the
internet disabled so anything I receive is coming through the
radio via SoundModem> APRS Messenger> APRSIS32. The radio
was set to 60m Channel 5 (5.405.00) I received one beacon from
Des Moines and another a few minutes later from west of Des
Moines. Nothing on 60m the rest of the day. I'm now back on 30m
monitoring.
I was on 60M all day Wednesday and until about 1000 EDT Thursday.
I then switched to the usual 30M frequencies.
The screencaps from APRS.fi below show my home station in central
Michigan (that was also igating) heard the 60-meter beacons pretty
much constantly until I switched to 30 about 100 miles west of Des
Moines on Thursday morning.
The Iowa highway rest stops located about every 30 miles along I-80
all provide free WiFi to the parking lot. As I headed west, I would
pull into each rest stop in turn and look at both my own home
copies of UIview using VNC, and the tracks on APRS.fi. When I
stopped seeing any evidence that my home igate was hearing me on
60, I switched to 30 meters.
Two takeaways so far:
1) 60 only started working after about 8-9 AM local time and shut
down at about 8-9 PM local.
2 The MFSK16 mode was VASTLY superior to AX.25 packet at the
beginning and end of each day. My igate would start hearing me
about 30-60 minutes earlier each day than on AX.25, and stopped
hearing me about 45 minutes later than on AX.25.
First day on 60M MFSK16
Second day on 30M MFSK16 to end of drive in Ft Lupton, CO. Today
(Friday) I will be driving around the Boulder/Evergreen area.