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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/23/2019 3:22 PM, Matthew Chambers
via aprssig wrote:<br>
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<div>In theory how many hops should a packet with *ideal*
coverage and digi/igate setups need to find an igate? <br>
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<p>1) There IS NO way to say! It depends totally on how many
igates and digipeaters are in the area, and the nature of the
terrain. <br>
</p>
<p>In California, where digipeaters and igates are on 4-5-6 thousand
foot mountain tops, the great majority of packets reach the
Internet in only one digipeat, or even direct. In the
flatlands of the midwest, where it's a REALLY BIG DEAL to get a
fixed station antenna up 100 feet, the coverage of individual
igates and digis will be far far less. Even three digi-hops may
not reach an igate. Since the incidence of hams (who volunteer
to put up digipeaters and igates) tends to follow the density of
population in general, APRS coverage tends to be far better in
major population centers. In most of the mid-west, APRS coverage
tends to be islands of coverage around large and medium-sized
cities with large gaps in between.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>2) What you see on APRS.fi, findu.com or any other
Internet-based APRS display doesn't tell you anything except that
you reached the Internet. You may have reached other igates over
fewer hops, but if they REACH THE INTERNET later (slow Internet
connection, ???) you won't see any evidence of them. [The APRS
Internet System rejects duplicates of the same packet -- "first
man in wins!"] You CAN NOT study APRS RF propagation via
Internet results. <br>
</p>
<p><br>
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<div>I have my tracker set with proportional pathing thinking
I'd be helping with traffic congestion if that were ever a
problem here. But only the packets with Wide1-1,Wide2-2 paths
ever find an igate and I only know 1 or 2 of the hops since it
appears that most of the digis here are not inserting their
callsign into the path along the way. </div>
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<p>3) Digis inserting or not inserting their callsign has no
effect on the number of hops used. You have to look at the final
path used. Hops of the path used up are denoted in the string
with an asterisk. <br>
</p>
<p>If the final path looks like <br>
WIDE1-1*,WIDE2-2 then only one digi hop was used to reach
the igate<br>
WIDE1-1*,WIDE2-1 then two hops were used to reach the
igate<br>
WIDE1-1*,WIDE2-0* then all three potential hops were used
to reach the igate.<br>
(This last one may show as WIDE1-1*,WIDE2* instead, depending
on the software used.<br>
</p>
<p>regardless of how many calls were added to the path. </p>
<p><br>
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<div>I'm in Central Missouri and packets have to go to Louisburg
KS or Edwardsville IL before they get to an igate which means
it looks on APRS.fi like I'm driving as the crow flys to the
post office and walmart even though i'm certain I made some
hundred or so turns along the way. </div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>4) The straight line you see on APRS.fi DOES NOT denote your
track line. It only serves to call attention to the Internet entry
point for your transmission. The string of red dots connected by
cyan lines is your track line<br>
</p>
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<div>I'm contemplating turning off proportional pathing to see
if that makes a difference, </div>
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<p>5) "Proportional Pathing" is the alternating of long paths
occasionally, and short (or direct paths) frequently. The
primary purpose of APRS is NOT to be seen on the Internet. The
primary purpose is (or at least is supposed to be) to be seen
by stations on RF. Normally these would be relatively close to
you; i.e. in your city or county rather than in a city hundreds of
miles away. The assumption is that you need fewer (or no digi
hops; i.e. heard direct) to be seen by these users. These short
or direct paths can be repeated more frequently, without
congesting the channel for users at the other end of the state. <br>
</p>
<p>Turning off these short- or no-path beacons is NOT going to make
you reach distant cities on long paths any more reliably.<br>
</p>
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<div>and would more igates make a difference?</div>
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<p>6) YES!! Having one or more igates in your own local area
will ensure that even the single-hop short paths get heard and
passed to the Internet. <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<hr width="100%" size="2">
<p> Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com <br>
Skype: WA8LMF<br>
EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]<br>
Home Page: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wa8lmf.net">http://wa8lmf.net</a><br>
<br>
----- NEW! 60-Meter APRS! HF NVIS APRS Igate Now Operating
------<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14447/"><http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14447/></a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Live Off-The-Air APRS Activity Maps<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://wa8lmf.net/map"><http://wa8lmf.net/map></a><br>
<br>
Long-Range APRS on 30 Meters HF <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://wa8lmf.net/aprs/HF_APRS_Notes.htm"><http://wa8lmf.net/aprs/HF_APRS_Notes.htm></a><br>
<br>
<br>
</p>
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