[aprssig] APRS help

[VE7GDH]

Rahn W7DOA wrote on Sept 27 2005

> I have a Kenwood TMD700A and I have put my basic settings in it
> like my callsign, the baud rate etc. The path is set to RELAY, WIDE.

Both aliases are obsolete. Try using WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 and see if it
works out for you. Many (hopefully most) digipeaters that used to respond
to RELAY have changed over to WIDE1-1 digipeaters. Both RELAY and
plain WIDE (not WIDEn-n) cause a lot of dupes and put a huge strain on
the frequency. If there are not any RELAY digis left near you, you will
not be digipeated period because the path is used sequentially. Even if
there was a RELAY digi, you wouldn't go any further unless there was
yet another obsolete digi nearby that responded to WIDE. Most "home
fill-in" digis are now set to respond to WIDE1-1. Most "high level"
digis are regular WIDEn-n digis and will respond to WIDE1-1 as
well as to WIDE2-1, so WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 will in effect give you
a two hop path which is acceptable in most locations.

A few uninhabited areas might need slightly longer paths. Just a note on
SSIDs... if you weren't familiar with them in the first place, you might not
have been aware that (e.g.) in WIDE2-2, the first "2" tells the WIDEn-n
digi that you want a two hop path. The second "2" gets decremented when
you go through a WIDEn-n digi. It would come out the other side as
WIDE2-1. When the "1" is decremented to zero, your beacon wouldn't
be digipeated any further. The suggested WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 should give
you a two hop path whether you go through a "home fill-in" digi first or
if you are heard directly by a real WIDEn-n digi. See
http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/aprs/fix14439.html.

> I also have a question about callsigns as the appear on APRS. I have
> seen regular callsigns, and I have seen callsigns followed by a dash and
> a number such as AJ3U-5. What is the following number for and should I
> have it on my callsign as well?

My recommendation would be to go with W7DOA-7. It isn't cast in stone and
SSIDs (secondary station identifier) aren't mandatory, but if you use -7, it
will help tell others that you are using a D700 and are capable of receiving
messages.

73 es cul - Keith VE7GDH
--
"I may be lost, but I know exactly where I am!"