Print

[N8FNR]

I am new to the TH-D72a and have it receiving GPS signals well. It seems to be working OK also on the APRS frequency. I am receiving APRS beacons from other stations near me as there are a lot of stations in the LIST. However if I BCON and it transmits my station N8FNR-7 never shows up on the APRS map https://aprs.fi/#!addr=48073

I have it set up as per: http://www.algissalys.com/amateur-radio/kenwood-th-d72a-aprs-quick-start-guide
The display screen shows this: H APRS12 BCON iGPS

Data band is A band (310).

Any idea what is wrong here? I have both Kenwood manuals BTW and been fooling around trying to figure this out for a few days.

Zack N8FNR

[WD9EWK]

I am new to the TH-D72a and have it receiving GPS signals well. It seems to be working OK also on the APRS frequency. I am receiving APRS beacons from other stations near me as there are a lot of stations in the LIST. However if I BCON and it transmits my station N8FNR-7 never shows up on the APRS map https://aprs.fi/#!addr=48073

I have it set up as per: http://www.algissalys.com/amateur-radio/kenwood-th-d72a-aprs-quick-start-guide
The display screen shows this: H APRS12 BCON iGPS

Data band is A band (310).

Any idea what is wrong here? I have both Kenwood manuals BTW and been fooling around trying to figure this out for a few days.

As of this message, I haven't seen anything show up for http://aprs.fi/N8FNR-7 (the link that should work for your N8FNR-7 call sign, once gateways begin to receive your packets).

Unfortunately, there's not enough information here to accurately troubleshoot. A few questions...

What antenna are you using for APRS? You may be able to hear packets from other stations, but a poor antenna won't allow your packets to get to digipeaters or gateways.

When you beacon your packet, are you seeing "My Position" or "My Position via (call sign)" flash on your HT's screen after the transmission? This indicates that a digipeater is retransmitting your beacon, and that your HT picked up the retransmission.

What is the "DCD Sense" (menu 320) and "TX Delay" (menu 321)? For terrestrial APRS, I use "D or RxD Band" for "DCD Sense". As for "TX Delay", the time between the TNC keying the HT's transmitter and sending packets, I use 200ms.

What is the PacketPath Type in menu 3H0? It should be "New-N". Menu 3H1 for "WIDE1-1" should be "On", and I use 3 for menu 3H2 ("Total Hops" - some areas recommend using 2 for this value).

One thing to keep in mind is that aprs.fi and other APRS-related web sites depend on gateway stations receiving APRS traffic and sending that to the Internet. If you are not near an APRS gateway, you'll need to see that your packets are being retransmitted, to have a chance that the packets will make it to a gateway. Using 3 for the "Total Hops" value as I mentioned above is a good way to allow your packets to get away from your area, and hopefully reach a gateway. If you are very close to a gateway station, that station may be able to hear you directly, and you might not see "My Position" flash on your screen. Some gateways are receive-only, so the only way you'll know if your packets were heard by one of these gateways would be to see it online.

Good luck, and 73!

[N8FNR]

Thanks for the reply. I was using the stock Kenwood duck. Put an AEA Hot Rod antenna on it and when it beaconed it said My Position on the first TX. I had figured that since I was seeing a lot of stations in the LIST that the stock antenna was ok.

Thanks for helping me with this. I really appreciate it. I figured that it was something simple......

Zack N8FNR

[WD9EWK]

Thanks for the reply. I was using the stock Kenwood duck. Put an AEA Hot Rod antenna on it and when it beaconed it said My Position on the first TX. I had figured that since I was seeing a lot of stations in the LIST that the stock antenna was ok.

Thanks for helping me with this. I really appreciate it. I figured that it was something simple......

Zack N8FNR

This is not unusual, where you hear better than you can transmit with a duckie antenna. Glad you had something else to try.

I saw you show up on aprs.fi at http://aprs.fi/N8FNR-7 - it works! The info for your station on that site shows you used a TH-D72.

73!