SETTING UP A SATGATE USING ALOGGER 13 Oct 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------ You can set up a turn-key satgate for ANDE, RAFT and MARScom using the ALOGGER program which is independent of the usual APRS intensive IGATE approach. ALOGGER was written by Bill Diaz as a simple monitoring program to make it easy to view and monitor the global APRS LIVE Internet System (APRS-IS)and to make it easy to filter for and extract any packets you might be interested in from anywhere. So it was not intended as an IGate, but only a tool to watch the APRS-IS and capture packets. But when PCSAT2 was launched, Bill did add a serial port interface so that if your TNC was connected to the serial port, your station could then inject packets into the APRS just like any other APRS IGate software. Thus, a simple SATGATE was born, ALOGGER 2.0.3. LOGGING ON TO THE APRS-IS: Although anyone can logon to the APRS- IS to monitor packets using an unverified logon, only stations that have a validation number to match their Ham Radio callsign are allowed to inject packets. So first thing you will need is a validation number. More about that later. Initially just use an unverified logon to see what all you can monitor. WHAT YOU WILL SEE: When you install ALOGGER, you used to simply see a real-time scrolling screen of all packets on the APRS-IS. It is like monitoring every APRS tnc in the world at the same time. This is usually 10 to 20 packets per second. Due to this large volume of data, most APRS servers no longer provide the full feed, but only give you what you ask for. Thus you won't see anything until you specifiy a selection criteria or "filter". The easiest one is a filter around your station. For example, "filter f/39/-77/100" which will pass all packets with a position report within 100 km of 39N amd 77W (washington DC). This filter is sent to the APRS-IS server when you "connect". So here is the step-by-step way to set up an ANDE/RAFT/NMARS SATGATE: 1) Get ALOGGER 2.0.3 from: http://www.billdiaz.dynip.com/ 2) Install it, Run ALOGGER. 3) Go to the LOG-TEXT tab and enter - your call under the LOG TEXT TAB - enter a -1 for your validation number - click "unverified logon" - click "send additional text" - enter "filter r/0/0/99999" This is saying send me the whole world! "filter r/LAT/LON/rang" or this one for just your local area. 4) Go to the SERVER TAB and initiate a CONNECTION to - satgate.aprsca.net:10150 from the pull down Server list - Click on the CONNECT button 5) Now click on the Display Data box and you should start to see packets based on the filter setting you provided at logon At this point, you have a working ALOGGER and are ready to start mining data on the APRS-IS. For this you go back to the LOG-TEXT PAGE to set up your logging criteria. This is different from the FILTER settings we already discussed. The filter is sent to the APRS-IS server to tell it the bulk types of packets you want to see. But ALOGGER will not log any of these to a file until you set up your own LOG TEXT strings. 6) Go back to the LOG-TEXT TAB and enter a selection criteria such as the callsign of your local APRS DIGIpeater. This will cause you to capture a daily file of EVERY PACKET transmitted from and or VIA your digi. You could enter "red monkeys" and you would capture every packet having "red monkeys" in it. ETC. 7) Actual LOGGING of the packets begins when you click the "Log Packets Containing" box. 8) Now go back to the SERVER tab and click "Display Logged packets only". Now the flood of packets you were seeing will be throttled to a trickle and you will only "see" packets that are being captured. Just setting LOG TEXT strings and mining the APRS data stream is a whole hobby in itself! NOW SETTING UP A SATGATE: To this point, you are not a SATGATE, just a voyer on the APRS-IS data stream. Now you want to inject data from your satellite TNC. a) First go to the SERIAL tab and click on the "A LOG PACKETS CONTAINING" and the "B LOG PACKETS CONTAINING" boxes that Bill added to this page just for PCSAT2. You will notice each has a pull down list of all the callsigns that the A side and B side of PCSAT2 can use. The serial port will only therefore inject packets from these callsigns only. If you are setting up for a satellite other than PCSAT2, enter its DIGIPEAT callsign here. For ANDE/RAFT/NMARS, enter "ANDE-1","ANDE-2", "RAFT" and "NMARS". (but without the quotes). AFTER EACH INDIVIDUAL CALLSIGN-SSID ENTRY IS COMPLETE, HIT THE ENTER KEY TO ADD THE ENTERED CALLSIGN-SSID TO THE LIST. b) Now click the 3 boxes for "log serial data", "log serial telemetry" and "Gate...to APRS-IS". c) You may click on the left buttons to set up your serial port and to set up your TNC if you want to send it some text to get it in the right mood. d) Now go back to the SERVER tab and click on the "Display Serial Data" box and not only will you begin to see any PCSAT2 and or ANDE/RAFT/NMARS data that might come into your station, but this also automatically tells ALOGGER to start logging all satellite data to TWO files: xxxxALIST and xxxxBLIST. These files match the callsigns on their SERIAL port page which gives all the callsigns that the two PCSAT2 TNC's might use. THis is so that all the A side telemetry and B side telemetry go into the proper file independent of exactly which callsign PCSAT2 may be using at any particular time. ANDE and RAFT data will go into ANDE and RAFT files respectively. HOW TO LOOK AT YOUR LOGFILES: Bill has added a tremendous capability for viewing these captured files even while operating. Just go to FILE and select VIEW LOGGED DATA and select a file. Every file has the DATE in the file name followed by the matching LOG-TEXT string that you used to force data into that file. If you put your own local digi in as a sample LOG- TEXT string, as noted in step 6. If you didnt, go pack and just put something there so that you can start getting some data flowing into a file. 1) Once you have a file name, click it and then VIEW FILE. You will get a text list of the file. 2) But now the fun begins. You can select any sub-list of packets based on any SELECT or REJECT criteria you list. Then you can SAVE such a subset under a file name of your choice. SATGATE HARDWARE: Now you are almost done. You have the ALOGGER software that can not only look at the APRS-IS but you can also inject packets you receive from any of the APRS satellites digipeaters such as: ARISS, PCsat, PCSAT2, and future ANDE, RAFT, MARScom and any other satellites that will use AX.25 packets. Just hook up a Receiver and TNC and put it on one of the downlink frequencies (145.825 for ANDE and RAFT) and feed that to your serial port. You may operate with just an OMNI antenna or a full auto tracking satellite station. That is your choice. But I have lots of tips near the bottom of my ASTARS web page: http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/astars.html VALIDATION NUMBER: Oh yes, you will also need to get a validation number to match your callsign if you do not already have one for APRS. You can get that from Bill Diaz, the author of ALOGGER. FILTERS: Remember, that if you also want to capture and see packet data from satellites, that you must put in the FILTER settings for the SERVER that you will use to tell it what kinds of packets to send your way. Normally, for APRS, this will be a RANGE around a LAT/LONG. But this does not work for satellites who can be anywhere (or may not send any positions). Thus you have to list each satellite callsign separately. Use the "p" filter. So the minimum filter setting to get all possible packets from PCSAT2 and for ANDE/RAFT/NMARS are: "filter p/PCSAT2/PC2PSK/PC2RPT/PC2TLM/ISSTLM/PC2ISS "filter p/ANDE-1/ANDE-2/RAFT/NMARS and to see any packets digipeated by these calls, you also must add: "... d/PCSAT2/PC2PSK/PC2RPT/PC2TLM/ISSTLM/PC2ISS "... d/ANDE-1/ANDE-2/RAFT/NMARS and lastly, unless you want the link to shut down due to no activity, you have to make sure that at least some packet come down the pipe, so you should also make a range filter around your station for example to guarantee that you at least get one packet every 10 seconds or so. Here is the filter I use, and it all goes in the one entry location on the "send additional text at logon" box: filter p/PCSAT2/PC2PSK/PC2RPT/PC2TLM/ISSTLM/PC2ISS d/PCSAT2/PC2PSK/ PC2RPT/PC2TLM/ISSTLM/PC2ISS r/39/-77/100 For ANDE/RAFT/NMARS I use: filter p/ANDE-1/ANDE-2/RAFT/NMARS d/ANDE-1/ANDE-2/RAFT/NMARS r/39/-77/100 de Wb4APR, Bob.