so this has been bugging me for a couple weeks now and im at the point where im just gonna ask because i cant figure it out. running a Mobilinkd TNC3 into my phone with APRSDroid, callsign is set correctly with the SSID (-9 for mobile), path is WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 which should be fine for my area. the TNC connects, i can see it decoding packets from other stations just fine, and when i key up it shows the little TX indicator in the app.

but when i go to aprs.fi and search my callsign theres just nothing there. not even old packets. checked the RF output on my 857D and its definitely transmitting, the SWR is fine. i did notice that when i watch the received packets i can sometimes see digipeaters near me so theres coverage in my area for sure.

one thing i should mention is i changed the comment field recently, not sure if that matters. also been using it on 144.390 obviously. anybody run into this before or have ideas what to check next?

few things to check — first thing id look at is your audio levels. even if the TNC looks like its keying up properly the audio going into the radio might be too hot or too quiet and the packets are just garbage on the air. digipeaters are picky about that. try finding a local igate frequency display or use a second radio to actually listen to what youre putting out. if it sounds like garbage or the deviation is way off no digipeater is gonna pick it up regardless of coverage.

also double check that the PTT is actually releasing cleanly. ive seen issues with Mobilinkd where there's a slight tail on the PTT and it ends up clipping the beginning of the next packet or something, cant remember exactly but it was weird. the comment field change wouldnt cause this, that doesnt matter at all for routing.

yeah what he said about audio levels is probably it. i went through the same thing last year with a different TNC setup and drove myself crazy for like three weeks. turned out my mic gain on the radio was cranked up and everything i sent was way overdeviated, sounded fine to me on the radio but the digis just werent decoding it.

one other thing — are you sure your comment field doesnt have any weird characters in it? i dont think thats your problem but ive read of edge cases where malformed packets dont get igated. probably a long shot. honestly just hook up a cheap rtl-sdr and listen to yourself transmit, youll hear pretty quick if the audio sounds right or if its all distorted.