5.13.3 Packet Robot [AMSAT-NA] How to Work the Packet Robot on the Shuttle --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This script from the Houston AMSAT Net was written by AMSAT Area Coordinator Bruce Paige, KK5DO. Authorization is given for the use of this information over any ham band. Please give credit for the script where credit is due. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have found a way to work the shuttle packet robot that always has placed me on the QSL list. It takes about 20 seconds to do and I have made the QSL list every time in the past 2 years. There is nothing special to making a connection, the hard part is among all the signals the robot hears to make sure it gets a disconnect from you when it requests one. Here is how I do it. You cannot use a TNC program becuase I have found them to be to slow to let you know a connect has been made. Usually they wait a second, ring a bell, wait a second and by then, the world has passed you by. I use Procomm Plus (DOS version) and connect to the TNC. I have a Kantronics Data Engine but the type of TNC is irrelevant. My settings for the shuttle are as follows:
MONMODE ALL
MONTYPE ALL
MONITOR ON
FRACK 2
The other settings that you normally use are just fine. Here is how the connect goes.... Issue your connect command to the TNC. As soon as you see the message on your screen that the Robot has connected *IMMEDIATELY* press your dissconnect key (for me it is CTRL-C to gain control of the TNC and then 'D' for disconnect). The next time the packet robot looks for my confirmation of the disconnect, I will be telling it to disconnect and it is a done deal.
Below are 2 sequences where I connected to the Robot. You will see that the connect was at 14:03:47 and I issued the disconnect at 14:03:51, a mere 4 seconds later. The Robot finally got around to seeing it at 14:04:07, a total of 20 seconds to complete the contact. Further down you will see the SAREX report of QRZ and QSL and I appear in both. Now I don't have to try any further connects if I hear the Robot and concentrate on a voice contact.
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ROBOT EXCHANGE SEQUENCE GOES HERE
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5.13.4 Shuttle Communications Overview - Other Frequencies to Listen for! Depending on the lattitude of your location, and the inclination of the Shuttles orbit, you may be able to listen directly to the Shuttle as it passes overhead. Many of the communications the Shuttle carries out with the ground are through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), and take place using microwave frequencies. These will be impossible to copy. However, there are a number of other voice channels which may be monitored during a pass. The EVA suit frequencies, Shuttle/MIR ship-to-ship frequencies, as well as the UHF air-to-ground frquencies may be active depending on the activities on board. Table X.X lists the main frequencies used by the orbiter. Appendix X provides a primer on the Shuttles communications systems to satisfy curiosities about how NASA really does it, and to provide information to assist you with monitoring the Shuttles frequencies. There are federal regulations which apply to monitoring any radio transmission. These are contained in the Communications Act of 1934, and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. The information in this section was taken from the 1988 Edition of the Shuttle Reference Manual. The full text is available online, on the World Wide Web at the following site: http:/www.shuttle.com/shuttle.http.