Was: [aprssig] APRS in Atlanta IS: more than IGate

[Mark Earle]

 >Now I'm no expert but distance isn't the name of the game here. Contrary 
to all
 >other forms of Ham Radio you DON'T want you signal to go far, you just 
want it
 >to make it to the next IGate. If the nearest IGate is only 2 hops away 
why send
 >your signal 5 or 6 hops away?

True, you don't try for "DX", and IF your goal is to get packets to an 
IGATE, use the shortest path possible that will achieve that goal.

But, goal for many is NOT merely to get a packet to the IGate.

The object is to get the packet, from the sender, to where it will do some 
good.

This is left to the SENDER to decide. Not the IGate Operator, nor the DIGI 
operator, etc. It's up to the person originating the packet to define what 
his/her needs are.

Now, granted, there are physical limits as to what can be done. No matter 
how I set my tracker, someone 1000 miles away is unlikely to see it 
strictly via RF. (Unless I run HF)

But often, the goal IS to be seen at some distance further than two hops. 
Or, the goal of the sender has nothing to do with getting the packet to an 
IGate.

Please remember that IGate'ing, and then Find-U and other services via 
the  Internet, are not necessarily the primary objective of many APRS users.

The suggested "New Paradigm" is not the solution at all. It is (im my 
opinion) a band-aid until better solutions can be developed. In some cases, 
the "New Paradigm" cripples the ability of people to use APRS to meet their 
goals/ objectives.

Granted, "something" had to be done - the "New Paradigm" is that something, 
and should hold us until we can do things like move packets between digis 
on a backbone channel, etc. That level of operation is going to take time, 
material, manpower, money, more radios, antennas, duplexers, etc. so, the 
"New Paradigm" saves us from melt-down, and deliberately limits APRS RF 
effective range, giving time to sort things out.


       ) )    de WA2MCT Mark
      ( (     Echolink 99190      Grid Square EL17HQ
       ) )    You will be assimilated... oooh, coffee!!
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