[aprssig] Questions about Callsigns Used in APRS

[Stephen H. Smith]

On 9/26/2016 10:38 AM, Robert Bruninga wrote:

>> Are cross-band digis which aren't I-gates much of a thing any more?
>
> Good question.  What's going on on 10.147 these days on APRS?

I still see stations (mostly fixed!) beaconing with "GATE" at the end of the 
path.   Most of these have been beaconing this way since the beginning of time 
with no changes.

The most noticeable change is the number of clueless newbies trying to beacon 
HF on a "WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1" path.  Apparently it's never occurred to them how 
meaningless the concept of a "local fill-in" digi is on 30M HF!

Actually the amount of traffic, good paths or bad, has been very low the last 
few months due to the horrible propagation associated with the most recent 
so-called solar max.  I was seeing far more activity, both on the classic AX.25 
packet APRS and the newer PSK63/MFSK16 APRS, 5-6-7 years ago than I am currently.

When I am on the road (as I will be later this week going to the American 
Forces Vietnam Network radio-TV reunion in Raleigh, NC), I normally beacon on 
on 30 meters, using both modes: classic AX.25 and the newer MFSK16 mode.

- AX.25 on the usual mark/space RF freqs of 10.149,200 / 10.149.400 MHz  Call 
is WA8LMF-2

- MFSK16 on 10.149.700 MHz center frequency.  Call is WA8LMF-63


Long-Range APRS on 30 Meters HF
    <http://wa8lmf.net/aprs/HF_APRS_Notes.htm>


__________________________________________________
Stephen H. Smith    wa8lmf (at) aol.com
Skype:        WA8LMF
EchoLink:  Node #  14400  [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]
Home Page:          http://wa8lmf.net

Live Off-The-Air APRS Activity Maps
    <http://wa8lmf.net/map>