[aprssig] ideal paths?

[VE7GDH]

Ken KC9UMR wrote on 26/08/2005

> 1) what is the best path for a mobile given that I occasionally make
> long trips (St. Louis to Wichita or Chicago), but for the most part
> stick around the city?

The best path for MOST mobile stations will be WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1. See
http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/aprs/fix14439.html for more info on this. 
Instead of just recommending Bob's "fixit" page, I'm giving it a good read 
now!

> 2) what is the most accepted path for a Digi?

The best path for the digi itself will be WIDE2-2, but if it is something
like a KPC-3+ and properly programmed, some beacons will be direct, some
will be a one hop path, and some will have a two hop path. Another good
place to view some suggested settings is www.nwaprs.org.

> my other question is that of will having an old path cause problems??
> (will having "trace" in my path cause THAT many problems and keep
> me from being digipeated or something?)

If you are operating in an area where the digipeaters have been updated to
the "new" standard, using a path of TRACE, POTATO or DEADEND won't get you
digipeated at all. Your path must be compatible with the APRS network around
you. If all of the "home fill-in" digis drop support for RELAY and change
over to an alias of WIDE1-1, it will drastically reduce the load on the RF
network. Of course, the real WIDEn-n digis will have to drop for support for
RELAY as well. There is no dupe checking for RELAY. It is history. If users
are still using RELAY or WIDE or TRACE, and if the digis around you are
still supporting them, they the digis are harming the network.

The beauty of WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 for mobiles is that it will work with updated
"home fill-in" digis as well as WIDEn-n digis.

Questions like yours are great. You will get all kinds of responses. Others
that aren't quite sure about what changes they should be doing will read all
of the answers and follow the suggested links and start thinking about what
is best for the network. Together, we can make things better.

The "new" settings are the best we can do until NSR becomes a reality. NSR -
no source routing. No path specified at all. It sounds to me like there is a
real argument for installing a few smart NSR  digis in New Mexico.
Eventually, we won't be talking about paths at all... at least not ones
specifying the number of hops.

73 es cul - Keith VE7GDH
--
"I may be lost, but I know exactly where I am!"