Fred N7FMH wrote (back on Aug 13)... > I going to start with this setup once the trip is done; > N7FMH-9,WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1. For now, once I am out of the > range of my PNRDVL fill-in, it won't be an issue.
Paths are used sequentially (with no regard to the T2's which can do pre-emptive digipeating) so as long as N7FMH-9 is within earshot, that will work. If you set N7FMH-9 up to respond to WIDE1-1 and run a path of WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 (or WIDE1-1,WIDE2-2 if you really need it) then it would "work" whether N7FMH-9 was within earshot or not. > This setup will keep all of the other fill-ins from lighting up as > well (all zero of them). :D True, but if your HT went somewhere else, using a generic path would make it compatible with the rest of the network without a specific digi being nearby. Still, if your vehicle with N7FMH-9 is always nearby, it should always work. > The use is really for showing someone on a Powerpoint slide the > effects of timed versus smart timing for the purpose of the network > benefits. Not everyone is easily convinced that SmartBeaconing is > good. Some will run timed just because it requires no thinking. By > having -7 and -9 running at the same time, the data reflects the same > route and travel time. And, the beacons are easily counted. I don't think it will be a very valid comparison in your area. You say that you can't always get to a high digi from the 40W tracker in your vehicle, and that it often needs help from a digi at your home QTH. Running the HT at a fixed rate will probably get more position reports to an IGate just because it is beaconing all of the time. The 40 W tracker using SmartBeaconing will only beacon when it needs to... every few minutes at highways speeds and one or several times when it turns a corner, and down at a 10-30 minute rate when it's sitting still. If there are no other APRS users around you, beaconing often won't have any adverse effect because no-one else is sharing the frequency with you. In areas with dense amateur populations and thus more APRS users, sharing the frequency becomes much more important. It sounds like what you really need is more APRS infrastructure around you. That might mean one more digi or several, and possibly an IGate if the nearest IGate is already several hops away. Regardless, test away! Presumably things like transmit delay and deviation aren't limiting your success. I said on Aug 13... >> I'll be watching! Good luck with the experimenting. I used the "prefix" filter and added p/N7FMH but haven't actually seen you move yet. You may have actually been on my map, but I was looking for a track and didn't see one. However, looking at... http://aprs.fi/?call=N7FMH-7 http://aprs.fi/?c=raw&call=N7FMH-7&limit=100 I see that N7FMH-7 made it to an IGate on Aug 15 at 20:52 about 27 times. Every time, N7FMH-9 was the first used digi. Five times, you were gated by N1IIC-3 without needing any other digis. The rest of the time you were also digi'd by KQ1L-1 before being gated except once you were digi'd by W1WQM before being gated. That could mean you only beaconed 27 times, or it could mean that you beaconed a whole bunch of times but were only digi'd by N7FMH-9 27 times. For comparison, N7FMH-9 was heard as recently as today and is currently on my map... http://aprs.fi/?call=N7FMH-9 http://aprs.fi/?c=raw&call=N7FMH-9&limit=1000 and was gated a whole bunch more times... apparently about 400 times since Aug 15. I'm guessing that your slow rate is 10 minutes. That's what I use, but I don't (currently) beacon after the engine is turned off. Studying the paths used will help show where the digis are around you. PS - you can shorten your beacons by e.g. only sending your email address every 10 transmissions. If it doesn't change, it isn't really needed every transmission. > I was close to your neck of the woods back in 1988. I visited Seattle > and drove back home up and around Olympic National Park. It sure is > pretty! We wanted to catch a ferry across to Vancouver but didn't have > the time. Maybe another time. I've got to admit that it's pretty nice around here. You won't find any lack of digis or IGates anywhere in the "Seattle - Vancouver - Salt Spring Island" triangle! 73 es cul - Keith VE7GDH -- "I may be lost, but I know exactly where I am!"
