[aprssig] WIDE2-1 vs WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 was WB2PAY etal

[kliegle at myfairpoint.net]

My take is... for the very few times you might NEED a fill in digipeater to get into the network, is it worth QRM'ing the rest of the users/network with wasted bandwidth while a WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 gets propagated? In my case more than 70 miles between my digi and the original packet source. Does it really matter if a few crumbs in a "bread trail" are mising on APRS.fi? Per Bob's web page, http://www.aprs.org/APRS-tactical.html , it's not supposed to be about vehicle tracking. 
  
  
 http://www.aprs.org/fix14439.html  States that APRS is for LOCAL communication, but time and time again I see folks driving around over 100 miles away saying QRV 146.520 or similar, and running the so called 'standardized' mobile path of W1-1,W2-1. Simplex range is typically less than 10 miles mobile to mobile (on flat terrain). Possible further from mobile to fixed station. 
  
 The one size fits all mobile path of W1-1,W2-1 may have been fine back during the change over to the new paridigim. But with the explosion of digipeaters in good locations, especially in New England, it's excessive. IMHO
  
 Is there a map somewhere of all fill-in digis only? It would be interesting to see just how many are really out there out there and their relation to other 'big gun' digi's. 
  
 I agree, that the default mobile path works in some area's between the left and right coasts...but where the bulk of the APRS activity exists (metropolitan areas and outlying areas) it's just QRM after the first hop. BTW, there are still digi's out there that don't handle the WIDE1-1 properly, adding yet another hop unecessarily. 
  
 Lastly, I urge users to actually monitor the local network sometime via RF and observe what's REALLY happening. Not just watching "Show All" on APRS.fi on an internet connection. My old color 386 laptop has been running APRSDOS for +15 years, and that old software runs fine on other 'slightly newer' laptops (that you have in your junk pile) just fine. Plus it has great tools to analyze the RF network, such as observing these WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 paths ping pong around on the network!
  
 What says you?
  
 73 de Kriss  KA1GJU-X    X=INT(9)