I have been using the NMS database nrd_archive.nms_remote_status_[0-5].scpc_rx_errors as an indicator of stations with down link problems due to weather, miss-pointing, bad X-Pol, over temp, etc... In version 10 of iMonitor, reference to this column seems to be eliminated. I have a few remotes with hundreds of these errors in the 20 second measurement interval and yet seem otherwise clean by iMonitor standards. Testing one of those remotes revealed horrible X-Pol of about 10db isolation. So my question: is there a better indicator of downstream performance?
A little background: I feed this query data into a home grown cross pole analyzer. A VB6 program takes control of an iMonitor session and feeds it keystrokes and mouse clicks and rapidly sends remotes into CW test mode while sending serial bus commands to a Tektronix 2715 Spectrum Analyzer that measures C/N of the CW carrier. Resulting data is tabulated in a file. All this started a year ago when my space segment provider got a complaint about interference and it took weeks to find offending remotes out of a field of 420. They are gone now, and I have a new job, but keep working to refine the project anyway.