Hello Peter,

connect to ISS using AGWPE with my soundcard. can anyone help me with this?

I found the links to JE9PEL's setup guides posted on the UISS main page to be helpful in getting my soundcard packet running: http://users.belgacom.net/hamradio/uisslinks.htm

How does one connect to the ISS digipeater?

1. One good way to learn is to see what kind of packets others are sending. You can spy on the ISS 145.825 MHz packet log at http://www.ariss.net/

2. 99% of the packet digipeats via ISS are UI packets (they aren't connected to any specific node) and pretty much are an AX.25 CQ-with-text-string so to speak.

3. To setup your packet path for the ISS setting the UNPROTO parameter to 'via ARISS' (UNPROTO CQ VIA ARISS) is about all that is needed for the average user. The digipeater at the ISS plugs in its specific callsign RS0ISS-3 or RS0ISS-4 in response to the ARISS alias. There is a pull-down menu in the UISS program where you can select ARISS.

4. An AX.25 hard-connection to the RS0ISS-11 Packet PBBS (C RS0ISS-11) is not recommended over highly populated areas. If you establish a connection to RS0ISS-11 the full AX.25 protocol for packet retries and timeouts takes effect. Now your hard-connection retries will compete with the dozens of UI packet transmissions and you'll never get to the PBBS anyways. You'll see the ISS digi faithfully retrying and retrying per AX.25 protocol as it goes over the horizon ... it will timeout over someone else's QTH. Most of the PBBS messages you occasionally see are "Hello There" postings and not worth the effort compared to the quick keyboard UI packet QSOs that many successfully complete.

5. If you run UI-View along with UISS and AGWPE you can get an APRS map showing the locations of the stations sending location data via ISS digi. I have one example of an ISS pass mapped at http://home.comcast.net/~k9jkm/UI_View_ISS_Pass.jpg

Hope this helps, -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm@amsat.org