[aprssig] APRS Email methods WAS: APRS Demo

[Steve Noskowicz]

Herb,
   Comments below, then APRSLink questions (since you use it).  I think I'll assemble an APRS Email Cliff's Notes.


--- Herb Gerhardt  wrote:
> There are two methods of doing email on APRS.  
> The first is the normal EMAIL

   a.k.a. the Sproul Bros , rutgers.  I now see that you can also do this via a satellite, by including it in your path, using the bird's frequency and then, planning/prayng for a pass.


>... replies, I believe are restricted only to registered users of an APRS program. 

   I was not aware that *any* replies were allowed.  Can someone amplify?



> The other way is to use the APRSLink system.  That allows you to send...
> and also allows that person to reply ...
>  It is my understanding that an I-Gate will send the message out
> via the specified path by the originator.  

   This uses the WINLink 2000 system.   
   You *must* send a beacon from the "same location" that you send the APRSLink email from.  "SAME" in the sense that you must be able to hear the packets from that IGate.  
   This beacon, I believe, can be just about any time before you send the email.  It appears that WINLink monitors the APRS-IS stream and remembers all calls sending beacons, so you can send a beacon days before the email as long as it is from the same area.  Acording to the note on Findu; "These positions are reported by the WinLink amateur radio network and stored on the findu.com APRS database."  
  I never sent one from my mobile, yet it showed up on the findu WINLink cgi.  It is purged from Findu after 10 days, but I don't know if, or when it is purged from Winlink system:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/winlink.cgi?K9DCI-9
 I haven't had that unit on for more than 10 days, so now, it's gone.  Try your call.


Now the Q:
> The APRSLink system is the one I now use to send and receive email messages
> from my APRS radios.  It works very well for me in all of the areas I have
> tried it in.

   The APRLink document is a bit lacking in some details.
  I finally got a complete APRSLink email through, but it appears to be very slow in some ways.  It may be my local digi's delayed packet problem, but it took several minutes for me to get acks for each line.  It also took several minutes between the lines that WLNK-1 sent back in response to my "P" command.  Does this sound normal or unusual, Herb?

  I gotta' find out why the K9ESV digi hates me !!  I'm 5 miles away and it takes minutes for me to get my "echo"!


-- 
73, Steve, K9DCI-7 if you want to see my APRSLink message tests on Findu.

I guess the Findu server move went well.  It's running fine all week.