[aprssig] Mobile Power Output

[kliegle at myfairpoint.net]

   Assuming you do live where QRZ.com says you live, the nearest digipeater/Igate is 1.5 miles away in SW Dallas (Oregon). So tracking in and around 'downtown' Dallas is easy peasy. 
There are six more Igates within 20 miles of your location, making it VERY hard NOT to be seen, even running QRP. I suggest starting at low power levels for a day or two's travels and
check the APRS.fi site.

   Remember, it's NOT about how good and PERFECT your bread crumb trail looks, i.e. TX'ing every minute or less. It's how reliably you are seen on the screen. It's a SHARED frequency, with dozens 
to hundreds of users.There is a finite number of max users, which decreases when users use long paths (multiple hops BEYOND local), too frequent transmits, poorly set TX audio, etc.

READ the following:
http://www.aprs.org/fix14439.html


 From my experience in an IGATE/DIGIPEATER rich environment, a SINGLE HOP path of WIDE2-1 works just fine. I transmit out via a path  of WIDE2-1 in all directions. If an IGATE hears me via DIRECT,
I will be posted on the various sites. At the same time, the numerous Digipeater within earshot hear my WIDE2-1, software subtracts one (1) and spits it out as a WIDE2 in all directions from high locations
usually. Within earshot of all those Digipeaters are SEVERAL more IGATEs, which ALSO upload their data to the servers. If all you are trying to do is be seen on Findu.com or APRS.fi, it ONLY take one
IGATE to update your current position. The rest is QRM to the network, IMHO.
  Via RF, I constantly see vehicles TX'ing QRV on xxxx Mhz, (usually a VHF or UHF simplex freq) but at 150 miles away from my location. There's no way to work them via simplex at that distance, again,
(IMHO) it's just QRM'ing the network with superfluous transmissions. This is time (bandwidth) our local digipeaters waste, reducing bandwidth for LOCAL users. Packet collisions and destroyed packets are a 
part of life on APRS, but with proper settings and common sense, we can all get along.

My radios in vehicles are Yaesu FT-8800's running APRS on one VFO and listening to VHF or UHF on the other. If I want to speak, I hit a little toggle switch on dash that kills the APRS tracker, push the button on the
voice VFO  and talk. Yes, whenever I TX an packet, I lose a few syllables on the voice side if somebody is talking. Using SmartBeaconing, the TX's are not too close together. Winding roads of NH can make SmartBeaconing
fire off too frequently, so only when course changes more than 30 degrees will it fire off.

OK  Flame suit on!

73 Kriss KA1GJU
SysOP of KA1GJU-3, W1WQM, UNCAN 




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