[aprssig] Aprs in ny

[Sander Pool]

Hi,

the stock antenna on the D72 isn't the best, as is often the case. The 
steel and concrete jungle you are in doesn't help either plus there 
aren't that many igates for the type of terrain.

Looking at Manhattan on aprs.fi it's clear that most APRS clients are on 
the water. For some reason the site isn't drawing lines to the igates 
for me so I can't tell who received their packets.

You are in NYC so I'd say climb a tall building a ping a few packets 
from there to see where they end up. From the top of the Empire State 
you might be able to reach my igate W1SOP-2 :)

If you want your D72 to reach an igate you should get a better antenna. 
I use a cheap telescoping half wave from MFJ when I want maximum range. 
Works great. Not very handy of course so I use a dual band rubber duck 
and keep that half wave in my bag till I need it.

You may also find that a 5W HT is simply not up to the task you 
envisioned for it. You didn't say what your goal is besides reaching an 
igate so it's hard to recommend anything there.

Finally your D72 will only transmit packets if it's set to beacon and if 
either the position is hardcoded or the GPS has a lock. I keep my D72 in 
smart beacon mode. Turn beacon off and on again to force a packet to be 
sent.

73,

     Sander W1SOP

On 6/10/2012 8:00 AM, aprssig-request at tapr.org wrote:
> [aprssig] Aprs in ny