Greetings, and welcome to the APRS party.
Let's clarify some terminology here.
"messages" in APRS are a specific type of packet, equivalent to cellphone SMS text messaging. So you will not see anything on YAAC's "Messages" displays unless someone sends an APRS text message addressed to you (or you have the box checked to display all received text messages regardless of addressee), or you send one to them and they acknowledge the message. Position reports (beacons) only show up on the Raw Packets table (or the History for a single station).
To send a text message in YAAC, you either fill in the fields at the bottom of the map window and click SEND, or right-click on a station and select Send Message (which brings up a similar form with the addressee field already filled in with the selected station). On HF, you do _not_ want to specify a digipeat path, as HF APRS packets can travel hundreds of miles in all directions.
Regarding knowing if your I-gate connection is up:
Those little colored buttons above the map labeled "GPS", "IP", and "RF" correspond to the different ports you have configured in YAAC. "GPS" is GPS input, "IP" is an I-gate connection to an APRS-IS backbone server, and "RF" is a port to a hardware or software (like Direwolf) TNC. Black backgrounds on the button indicate the port is open, but no traffic is currently going through it. Green buttons are actively receiving something (inbound to YAAC) at that moment, and red buttons are actively transmitting (outbound from YAAC). Orange buttons have a problem; gray buttons have failed for some reason (you will usually get a popup dialog window reporting the reason if the failure isn't because you deliberately chose to disable [close] the port).
Note you will not be able to transmit to the APRS-IS through an I-gate port unless you have provided your correct APRS-IS server passcode corresponding to the callsign you are specifying on the port. Also, you won't be able to transmit through _any_ port if you have disabled transmitting on that port; that is the default for all ports, to protect unlicensed beginners from getting in trouble, by requiring the user to explicitly turn on transmit capability (and also specify a callsign-SSID for the port).
Also, note that you cannot use the aprs.fi website to confirm your I-gate port is sending to the backbone, as the APRS-IS backbone automatically suppresses duplicate packets, and YAAC is a comparatively slow I-gate, so it is unlikely to get there first _unless_ it is the _only_ I-gate to hear a particular RF station transmission.
Furthermore, just because Direwolf is running and receiving packets does not mean that YAAC is connected to it. You will need to open an AGWPE or KISS-over-TCP port to Direwolf to take advantage of it from YAAC. I assume you have done this, since you report seeing packets in the Raw Packets view, though those packets could be coming from the I-gate (APRS-IS) port.
Now, it's very strange that you would have 3 open GPS ports (unless you were using a remote GPS as some amateur rocketry people do with their mobile recovery stations); one GPS port is normally sufficient, and then only if you actually _have_ a GPS connected to the YAAC computer. You should see a green GPS button, as the GPS receiver generally sends as many NMEA-0183 sentences as it can fit into its configured serial port baud rate.
Similarly, you don't need to connect to Direwolf using both an AGWPE port and a KISS-over-TCP port; you'll get the same information both ways. Pick one and use that.
Hope this helps.
Andrew, KA2DDO
author of YAAC
________________________________________
From:
[email protected] <
[email protected]> on behalf of Niece KA1ULN via groups.io <ka1uln1@...>
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2025 4:21 PM
To:
[email protected]Subject: [yaac-users] Newbie to group and YAAC-1.0-beta202
i am using direwolf and YAAC on HF aprs.
the goal is to get aprs and be able to send messages.
I really like YAAC.. it was easy to get started, but now i know it can do a lot more.
I have ICOM HF rig and i see a lot of activity on 14.102.3 and 10.147.6
only on the map., radio view and RAW packet sniffer.
the I have GPS IP GPS GPS RF and green light all lite. but i don't see messages.
how do i know if Igate is running? on direwolf AGW and KISS TCP are both open on port.
What am i missing?
thanx so much
Niece KA1ULN