[aprssig] USA Map of new n-N paradigm

[Larry Cerney]

Hi Bob, et al;

Are there any cities in those vast Plains States that are being
overloaded by WIDEn-N and will want to firewall WIDEn-N just 
around their cities but leave it WIDEn-N the rest of the state?
Denver comes to mind. 
[Larry Cerney] I just did some checking and it appears that we must have one
of the best APRS environments in the country.  I ran two programs I have to
sniff out what's happening in APRS around me.  The first I ran was Lee's
fine UI-ALOHA add-on.  It shows my ALOHA circle to be 320 miles.  That
covers ALL of Colorado and parts of KS, OK, TX, NM, AZ, UT, WY, SD, and NE.
There are many holes in the coverage to be sure, but the Wides we have here,
and there are only a handful on the Front Range of the Rockies, are great.
Most are on mountaintops above 10,000 feet.  West of the Divide we may have
another 12 to 15 Wides also on mountaintops covering the rest of the state.
The 60 stations that UI-ALOHA used in its calculations included about 10
stations with the farthest station being 515 miles away that added 147
packets to the count.  We do get QRM from stations outside the area and I do
pay attention to them.  I sent a gentleman in Lubbuck, TX a letter referring
him to your "How to fix Digipeating" and suggesting that his digi didn't
need Wide7-7. 

The second program I ran was APRSNetSpy, by Rick, N0KKZ, which analyzes and
counts packets heard in the area.  I ran it a couple of days ago and was
seeing only 15 to 20 packets a minute, far below the 60 that would choke an
APRS network. 

But remember, that once we stop the HIGH POPULATION
areas from using WIDEn-N, then those packets wont get
to you, so once they are cut-off by a firewall, 
[Larry Cerney] With the APRS environment such as it is here in Denver,
Colorado I don't see a need for "Firewalling" around the cities.  Maybe some
day in the future, but WIDEn-N seems to be working just fine.
then the vast plains might be able to support WIDEn-N just fine?

Bob

[Larry Cerney] 73.....
Larry
K0ANI in Beautiful Denver Colorado