[aprssig] FINDU Weather Intermittency

[dick at kb7zva.com]

Absolutely no flames here. Over 5000 CWOP's aren't the bad guys. They are hobbyists 
and volunteers like us, that perform public service the same way we do. Should they have
their own network off the APRS-IS? That could be debated for ever... but the simple
answer is yes.

Consider only this... The CWOP program is a huge success, and they are very proud of
what they have accomplished. And, I am extremely proud of the fact that I was able to
help them get where they are at today. I had the first CWOP server in operation a long
time ago at the request of their program leadership. 

It grew about as much as the APRS-IS itself, just a little faster. Nobody really expected it
to happen... I assured the leadership that as the program grew I would continue support
by adding special input only servers at Tier 2. At the same time, Tier 2 grew to 37 global
servers. There was a problem... the Core for the APRS-IS basically remained the same.

So what happened?

Growth everywhere, but not at the Core. The business about Tier 2 vs. the Core is true.
So, I'll say it again... as before.

The Core should be treated as the HUB for all APRS-IS activity. Only allowing lower-level
servers NOT end-users. That means cooperation by everyone. A distributed network based 
on a single point of failure is our problem. 

Tier 2 represents 1500 end-users. About 2/3's of everything on the APRS-IS. We expect a
Core hub to be there as promised. 

The issue of the CWOP's will go away but the real problem will remain or even get worse
by reducing the Core to 2 servers. So what's to debate? If we keep allowing everyone to
abuse the Core, nothing is solved. There is a different between 1500 users on Tier 2 which
is actually 37 data streams to the core vs. those 1500 hitting the core direct.

The Tier 2 is based on end-users taking what they need... seldom requiring full-feeds. 

I am sincerely sorry to hear that 2 Core unit will be gone. I'm also sorry at the same
time to see my 'baby' turn into a fat pig. It's been a lot of fun working with them and
their infrastructure. Let's move on... 

Dick Stanich, KB7ZVA
Tier 2