[aprssig] The new N-N paradigm summary (fwd)

[Ryan Tourge]

If WIDEn-N works in your area... great! But on the east coast Bob's
plan will help us out alot.


On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 00:13:30 -0800, Cap Pennell <cap at cruzio.com> wrote:
> I'd simply like to register my opinion (before slipping off on a trip, so
> unfortunately I won't see any replies).  I think this is a short-sighted
> idealistic plan, in search of a problem.  That would be okay, and I haven't
> complained before now because it seemed like another harmless idea.  But now
> that it's become an idea to move away from WIDEn-N it has too much potential
> to cause excessive harm to our existing modern fully WIDEn-N capable VHF
> network in California (and throughout the Western US).  The existing full
> WIDEn-N network in California and adjacent states _is working_.  I've seen
> different problems on the East coast where not all the digis are WIDEn-N
> capable, but that's not the situation in the Western US.  The WIDEn-N
> network _works_ for hundreds of APRSers here.  It works _beyond_ the "ALOHA
> circle".  It works _with_ our high altitude WIDEn-N digis.  The "reduced
> throughput" problem on VHF is tolerable, and declining.  There really aren't
> many severe negative consequences of "reduced throughput due to packet
> collisions on VHF" except slow message ACKs for those keyboarding.  The VHF
> WIDEn-N APRS network is amazingly resilient!  Warnings of a VHF net "death
> spiral" have been greatly exaggerated.  More of our users are learning that
> simply WIDE2-2 is a good path for general use, and it works.  It's better
> than a path that includes any commas.  Using only WIDEn-N or TRACEn-N
> produces no dupes.  Kantronics TNCS do not do any dupe checking on packets
> other than with pure WIDEn-N and TRACEn-N paths.  RELAY or WIDE or TRACE
> aren't much needed, and digipath commas cause loss of dupe-checking in our
> Kantronics TNCs. Going back to RELAY,WIDE (or worse yet RELAY,WIDE,WIDE)
> would be a step backward in California.  For years, we've been educating
> local users that using only WIDE2-2 or TRACE2-2 will do the job for the VHF
> community of APRS users, especially considering very few places in
> California are more than 2 hops from an IGate.  This has slowly been paying
> off in our fully WIDEn-N capable network over the past few years,
> especially.  Most users have learned to avoid overly broad digipaths (if
> they've learned anything) by now.  Many have learned to avoid commas in
> their digipaths.  We're making good progress, and our VHF traffic load is
> _declining_, despite new stations appearing regularly.  The Western US,
> besides being more complete as a pure WIDEn-N network than the East, is just
> different topographically, too.  Interstates?  We have high digis
> overlooking the LA Basin that cover big stretches of 5 or more interstate
> freeways at once, and I-5's 800 miles in California can be covered by only a
> few WIDEn-N digi hops.
> 
> So, why lose (throw away) this progress we've worked so hard for so many
> years to produce?  Is there really some new "enforcement" plan or idea that
> is worth more than all the courteous effort that's already been expended in
> educating ourselves and our fellow hams on VHF?  I don't think so.  I know
> some feel frustrated with the slow effort of education, elmering, and some
> aren't much good at it.  But I think "nationally" throwing out WIDEn-N in
> favor of LINKn_N or equivalent is like throwing the baby out with the
> bathwater.
> 73, Cap KE6AFE
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> aprssig mailing list
> aprssig at lists.tapr.org
> https://lists.tapr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aprssig
> 


-- 
Ryan Tourge - K2RRT
email: k2rrt_at_tourge.net
lists:   k2rrt.lists_at_gmail.com
web:   http://k2rrt.tourge.net
I have 9 Gmail invites available