[aprssig] SSID for RF only Station with backup power

[Joel Maslak]

On Apr 9, 2007, at 10:32 AM, Bill Vodall WA7NWP wrote:

> I'm very close to bringing on line a full time RF only APRS station
> with indefinite backup power.   It's my belief that a station like
> this is getting back to the core essence of what APRS (and Amateur
> Radio) is all about.  As such, I think it would be valuable to
> differentiate these stations either with a unique SSID or map symbol
> ... or both.


Quite a few people agree with you regarding the backup power.  It's  
pretty common in the rocky mountains to have stations that are solar  
powered, primarily because they are in places where bringing in  
commercial power is not an option rather than the emergency comm  
aspect, but it's still good for emergency communication regardless.

That said, internet communication certainly has use in an emergency -  
sometimes someone 300 miles away does need to know where a particular  
asset is located, and HF isn't necessarily going to be reliable  
enough for that (especially with less and less HF stations enabling  
ECHO) - think the case where the receiving station is within the skip  
zone, etc.  We need to be very careful how we talk about extra  
capabilities - an RF-only system without grid power needs is  
definitely a huge asset to an area.  But so are even home IGates!