[aprssig] Disgusted with APRS (HID's)

[Robert Bruninga]

Disgusted with what I see on APRS!

Tonight for the first time in a long while, I had some time
and just looked closely at the traffic on 144.39.  What I
saw was disgusting and depressing.  This is in the greater
Wash-DC/Baltimore area:

7 hops!   Four stations
6 hops!  10 stations
5 hops!  12 stations
HID's     47 per HOUR!!!!  Thats almost 1 per minute!

ARGH!!!!!      At least the last one is FIXABLE..

*** All APRS software is supposed to ***suppress**
HID by setting it to OFF during initialization of the
TNC during start up.  If YOUR software is not setting
HID to OFF, then we must get that APRS software 
fixed.  This is an abomination.  It is just useless QRM 
in most cases that should not be on the APRS channel 
at all!

TNC's with HID ON are putting out as many QRM packets
as THREE regular APRS stations because they do it 
every 10 minutes.  AND they do it to the full PATH
set into the TNC!

PLEASE.  Check your TNC.  If HID is ON, turn it off.
THEN check the TNC initialization files used with your
software and REPORT if it is not properly setting HID OFF.
Then lets get those authors to fix it and release new
software.

#2.  Each software does it differently, but check your
friends and other locals to see if they are sending HID
packets.  In APRSdos hit LIST-STATUS and look for ID's
marked as:TNC-ID:xxxxxxx.  Also APRSdos counts HID 
packets heard per hour on the HEARD page.  Towards
the end of the hour, check it and see how badly HID's are
abused in your area.  Or, say, if the count is 25 at 30
minutes past the hour, then that is 50 per hour.  

And this does NOT include dupes.  These are separate
stations sending HID's (along with usually 4 to 5 dupes)...

Even if your software doesnt capture ID's packets, 
since we are seeing about one a  minute, it doesnt
take long to just monitor the channel and see them!

Lets do a little ELMERING here...
Thanks.  Lets FIX 144.39!

de Wb4APR, Bob