[aprssig] Running an igate station

[Robert Bruninga]

Another good reason to properly mark all IGates with an "I" overlay
if full function and an "R" if receive only.  Visible knowledge
about the network is fundamantal to good operation.  Thanks, Bob

>>> steve at dimse.com 06/17/06 11:50 PM >>>

On Jun 17, 2006, at 11:23 PM, Stephen Brown Jr wrote:

> I want to run a full time Igate station here at my QTH in listen  
> only mode for now.

Receive only IGates are not encouraged because it is difficult to  
differentiate from a full IGate. People think about putting up an  
IGate when their data is not getting to the APRS IS. If an area has  
only a receive-only (or one-way) IGate, the data from RF does get to  
the internet. However, if in the future a ham comes along in the area  
that would otherwise have put up a two-way IGate, they have no way of  
determining the present coverage is receive only, and do not put up  
the more capable IGate. This is not hypothetical, this situation  
existed for quite a while in the early days of the APRS IS. The SF  
Bay area had one of the very first IGates, but when the two-way  
system was developed a year later, that IGate did not implement the  
new protocol. The RF network there was well developed, and that one  
IGate fed a very large area into the APRS IS, which had an inhibitory  
effect on others placing IGates online, so San Francisco (a hotbed of  
APRS activity when it was still rare) was one of the last major  
cities to get two-way IGate coverage.

If your area requires IGate coverage and you are unable to provide  
two way service, I'd recommend you get together with other local  
operators and see if someone else is willing and able to provide the  
complete service.

Steve K4HG

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