[aprssig] RADIO paths in APRS Servers

[Steve Dimse]

On Aug 7, 2009, at 12:02 AM, Pete Loveall AE5PL Lists wrote:

> APRS servers and IGates do -not- strip the RF path on packets gated  
> from RF to APRS-IS.

But some of the other things he talks about are true. The path  
statement of a packet cannot tell you the RF path, nor can it tell you  
the Internet path. There are usually some pieces of information that  
can be gleaned, but the complete path rarely appears, and you can  
never rely on it. This is intentional. The focus of APRS is getting  
the data where it belongs; the RF and Internet networks are designed  
to accomplish the transport, not to provide a traceback.

This is the reason findU, the APRS IS, and the RF network provide  
limited information about propagation and network configuration. When  
you hear someone making claims for producing network maps or analysis,  
look closely at the assumptions being made, they are often not valid.

Steve K4HG