[OZAPRS] Digipeaters and iGATE's

[Dom Dahl]

Hi Peter and Group

Its great that your wanting to help fill in a black spot. I think with your
location having internet access that microsat be a great option. If your in
ear shot of other digis maybe a "fill in digi" igate option would work
well. Also VK2RMY-1 digipeater / igate uses microsat.

I think today with a lot of these radios that have APRS build it is great
and certainly is increasing the activity on the channel. But as with any
radio RTFM is a good start. Not leaving things set to default and
understanding what the all the APRS settings mean.

I think the major issue which Owen has pointed out is conjestion on the
channel which causes more missed packets reaching an I-gate. The thing is,
I have seen many portable stations with Kenwoods D710 that set up a "Fill
in Digi" supposadility and actually setup a "WIDE2" digi instead. One was
setup in the Bowral a few months back which already has two "WIDE2" digis
(Which is an overkill). This just adds so much unwanted traffic to the
network and mostly because HAMS don't understand what they are doing. (I
understand we can all make mistakes but if your not sure ask!!!)

I also think that with the increasing amount of igates that have appeared
that 1 hop is nearly a certainty to reach at least 1 or more igates which
Owen has confirmed in his studies. Why 3 hops. Do you really want to see
traffic 300+km away on your D710 while mobile??

I have heard others say the they use APRS as a propagation tool. Well
that's not its purpose and nor should it be. If you want to look at
propagation on 2m use WSPR or use the beacons as that's what its designed
for.

Cheers

Dom
VK2HJ









On Sun, Oct 19, 2014 at 4:09 PM, Matt VK2RQ <matt.vk2rq at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> > On 19 Oct 2014, at 2:58 pm, Owen Duffy <owen at owenduffy.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> On 19/10/2014 9:42, Liz VK2XSE wrote:
> >> ... Unlike Owen, I would digipeat, because users of Kenwood 700 and
> >> 710 gear like to see who is travelling around at the same time as they
> >> are (maybe strike up a conversation on the voice repeater as well).
> > Interesting you mention that.
> >
> > It had occurred to me when I ask the question "why digipeat if also an
> > iGate".
>
> Remember that at its most basic level, APRS is designed to be a real time
> tactical communication tool to allow stations within a particular area to
> share information and track assets. Stations broadcast their position and
> other information of interest over connection less AX25 UI frames so that
> people nearby with a radio, TNC and computer can receive the information
> and summarise it on the computer screen. In order to increase coverage, a
> wide-area digipeater may be set up at a good location like of top of a
> hill, so that it can pick up those transmissions and send them out to
> everyone in the coverage area. Maybe there are some black spots in the
> coverage area, so you may set up some local "fill-in" digis to pick up
> transmissions in those black spots and retransmit them so the wide area
> repeater can hear and distribute them. In case you want to cover an even
> wider area area, you can set up another wide area digi in range of the
> first, with its own set of fill-in digis if needed. The
>  idea is that by switching on your radio, you can pick up all activity in
> the area, and get a local tactical view within 10mins, and an overall view
> of the whole area within 30mins.
>
> Note that nowhere here is Internet mentioned. Someone thought it would be
> a good idea to collect information heard in an area and report it on the
> Internet, so that all the information could be consolidated and accessed by
> anyone anywhere in the world. From this the concept of I-Gate was born. Any
> station which has an internet connection can be set up as an I-Gate,
> including a digipeater.
>
> So, are you operating a digipeater that is part of a coordinated strategy
> to provide update over RF to people in the local area? Then this is fine,
> and if you happen to have an internet connection available at that
> digipeater, then I-Gating is a good thing to do you keep people on the
> Intenet updated also. That is, a digipeater that  I-Gates as well is a good
> thing..  However, if you are setting up an I-Gate to collect packets and
> report them on internet, but the station that is not part of a coordinated
> attempt to provide updates to users via RF, then digipeating may simply
> cause congestion and be counter-productive. In this case, it is better that
> the I-Gate does not digipeat.
>
> 73, Matt VK2RQ
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