[Oremem/Idamem] Oregon Army MARS Members

Thu, 24 Jul 2003 23:30:24 -0700

Greetings All,
Happy to say we mounted the three Hustler antennae today after cleaning,
sanding and polishing all the cap hats and sockets.  It is 35 feet up and (I
hope) will use the G5RV as ground radials.

Hooked it up to the antenna switch and loaded it up for the evening Gateway
session.  It loaded quite well. I'm grateful to AAR0FC and AAM0TOR who have
volunteered (I always luck out and get the best) to test both antenna
systems out this weekend on our new frequencies from the SMD.  We'll use two
sessions, one at 11 AM PDT and another at 9PM  Saturday.

Now comes the pitch - we would appreciate as many members as possible to
test the Gateway on times and frequencies I will send out via this oremem
list on Saturday night, after we analyze the test results.  Be sure to
listen before transmitting so you don't interfere with another station.

Now a few remarks on operations:
1. Please remember that a Pactor Gateway system is not going to react with
the speed of a computer.  The reason (for those who don't know) is that the
Pactor system must receive your command, then send it back to you for
verification, and then if the command is the same as that which you sent, it
will then process the command.  DO NOT enter a second command, thinking the
system didn't receive your first command as your system will continue to
send the first command until it is verified by the Gateway.  After
processing the command (which takes only seconds) the Gateway then sends a
data packet with the information you asked for and it and your system go
through exactly the same verification process as with a single command,
meaning that the data packet must be verified before your system will
display that data. The verification process insures your display shows
nothing but correct copy.  Propagation may effect data transfer, also.  You
can tell if the data packets are getting verified by watching your TNC
lights - if the "error" light flashes it means a failed verification and the
systems are re-doing the verification process.

The kicker is that one must be properly tuned to receive the data.  The
indicators on your TNC must be spread as far as possible apart for proper
data transfer.  Your system will linkup when only closely tuned to the
correct frequency, but will not process data until accurately tuned.
IMPORTANT:  Insure you have proper tuning BEFORE you send a command to the
Gateway.  Tuning after sending a command or during data transfer will only
lengthen the time it takes to get verification of data transfer.  DO NOT
send more than one command!  Wait for the verification between radio systems
for the single command to be acted upon.

If you send a faulty command, wait for the Gateway to send you an "invalid
command" report before you re-send a new command.  If you see text from the
sysop appear in your display, act on it but DO NOT attempt to answer as the
Gateway will see every letter you send as a command and will send an
"invalid command" response for every letter.  The sysop can talk to you, but
you cannot reply in kind.  Just continue to follow whatever the sysop tells
you.

Remember, you cannot hurt the Gateway system with anything you send as a
command - it can be slowed down by trying to process multiple commands, or
invalid commands, but it will not be hurt.

Guess that does this session.  The next traffic from the Gateway will be an
oremem list email containing the list of times and frequencies for the BIG,
BAD, WE CAN'T BE STOPPED, SUNDAY TEST RUNS.  Of course, none of the test
times will include net times.

Thanks everyone for all your help and patience.  Most of the members are
starting from scratch on digital and especially Pactor, and that includes
the Gateway sysop, so we really are making fine headway.  If we continue
with the efforts we have been giving to Oregon Army MARS, we'll have this
project completed and fully operational very soon. Kudos to all !!!

73's
leo
AAR0NH