[aprssig] More digis are changing to the new paradigm

[Keith - VE7GDH]

Earl KD5XB wrote on July 04, 2005

<snip>

> I'm not sure I like this -- for YEARS I have been out on the end of a long 
> string of digis, and I don't see much unless people use longer paths. It's 
> very frustrating that so many people want to "jump on the bandwagon" 
> EVERYWHERE and fix problems that only exist in the big cities. I'm 
> seriously considering moving all my APRS equipment over to PropNet 
> instead. I mean, if I only see 13 stations, then what's the point?

This isn't meant as a criticism, but why are you "in APRS"? Usually, someone participates in a hobby or a particular aspect of a hobby because they think that it is either fun, interesting, a learning experience, or in some way useful to themselves or to others or to their community. What is APRS to you, and what your expectations of it?

Trying to look at it from your perspective, if I were the only station on the map and didn't see any other activity around me, maybe I would have trouble seeing the point of "why do it"? However, there is activity around you. Although there will always people that won't get involved in anything related to ham radio unless it is done solely via RF, I honestly think that the APRS-IS is an integral part of APRS now. I see that you are running UI-View32 at KD5XB-2 and something else at KD5XB-9 (TNC? and quite some distance away in TX). If you have an Internet connection, you could connect your UI-View32 station to an APRS server and "see" stations from as far away as you wanted to. While there will always be exceptions to the "WIDE2-2" rule, you have to agree that if there is any amount of traffic at all on RF, the longer the path, there more chance of collisions and the more chances there are of being clobbered or clobbering someone else. I just don't see rating the success or usefulness of APRS based solely on seeing "more stations on the map, but only if heard via RF" - if that is what you are saying. I also think that the closer we get to having (almost) everyone adopt a two-hop path, the better off we will be until such time as NSR (no source routing) becomes a reality, or perhaps a combination of NSR most of the time but special paths if needed.

I'm not trying to talk you into quitting APRS and I wouldn't try to persuade you to stick around against your will if you decide to spend your time on other aspects of the hobby. I just don't quite see eye to eye with "what's the point" if you only see 13 stations on the map.

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