[aprssig] what is RELAY, WIDE, TRACE, etc?

[Earl Needham]

At 10:22 AM 8/2/2004, Jason Winningham wrote:

>On Aug 2, 2004, at 10:48 AM, Larry Cerney wrote:
>
>>But you ask about digi operators reigning in users.  We are all
>>users with no central control.  Getting on APRS isn't like signing up with
>>an ISP.  We all try to operate for the betterment of APRS.
>
>So let's say I'm in north Alabama and I routinely get traffic from 
>stations in Indiana, Kentucky, Florida, etc because they're using WIDE9-9.

         Can't do it, because you only get 7 hops.  However, to answer your 
question --

>   Do I let it go because we're all "just users", do I try a QRZ lookup 
> and contact that operator and educate him,

         That's what we've tried to do for years, however, there are 
certain ops out there that are going to do whatever they want regardless of 
how it impacts anyone else.

>  or do I try to configure my hypothetical digipeater so that I drop 
> packets with what I consider hostile paths?  I'm already seeing a lot of 
> Atlanta area traffic as compared to local traffic, probably because of a 
> couple of mountain-top digipeaters and stations with 3 hops.  On the 
> other hand, I see practically no traffic from the Nashville area even 
> when I drive around 840, so I wonder if it's because of terrain or if 
> APRS in that area has already reached critical mass and imploded.
>
>Thanks to all for the answers.  I've read DIGIS.TXT and some of the other 
>references, but most of what I read is "you should do this, not that".  I 
>can only assume that the difference in RELAY, WIDE, WIDEn-n is in the way 
>callsign substitution and traffic history for duplicate suppression is handled.

         The main difference in RELAY and WIDE is not the way they are 
originated, but in the way they are repeated.  The original premise is that 
EVERY APRS station digis on RELAY, and only wide-area digis digipeat on 
WIDE.  As for WIDEn-N, that states how many hops the packet "might" travel, 
depending on packet collisions, propagation, etc.

>I asked these questions mainly because I'm considering setting up a digi 
>at home (there are none in my area).  I really haven't found enough 
>information to make me feel confident I can set up the station the correct way.

         You might want to check with some other APRS ops in your area to 
see what they recommend.  However, at first glance, 
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/near.cgi?call=KG4WSV shows that KE4ROC-7 is 
less than half a mile from your position.  You're not able to use that digi?

         7 3
         Earl


Earl Needham, KD5XB, Clovis, New Mexico  DM84jk