[aprssig] WIDE7-7 in the PNW

[Keith VE7GDH]

Bob WB4APR wrote...

> I believe that is only a "recommendation" in the pacific
> northwest. I personally do not recommend that WIDE7-7
> EVER be used or recommended for anything period.

My understanding was that only an idiot would use WIDE7-7 unless there
was a real need for it. It's been a while since I have seen it used, but
I do from time to time see WIDE1-1,WIDE2-2 and other combinations that
yield even several hops more than that. If there was some emergency that
required going more than the recommended number of hops, SSn-N would be
a good candidate as it could stay in BC or WA etc. as the case was. Even
something like WA3-3,OR3-3 could be used to get from "here" down to
California if need be (assuming there enough digis with support for
SSn-N down in that direction) but certainly not for everyday use!

> Theoretically, such a path could saturate the entire west coast
> from Seattle to San Diego, Pacific Ocean to Colorado. I cannot
> imagine any viable use for such an abusive path. Since the entire
> pacific Northwest can be saturated with a packet as simple as
> WIDE4-4, I would hope that they would limit their recommendations
> for flooding emergencies to only that. But again, only my opinion
> from afar...

You are right... WIDE4-4 could potentially make it from "here" (not too
much north of Seattle) to at least northern California. For normal use,
I would consider that an abusive path too. It certainly shouldn't be
used in normal day-to-day use. It would have to be some kind of an 
unusual event, such as trying to deal with some kind of disaster 
situation. I would never recommend use of WIDE7-7 unless there were very 
exceptional circumstances, and even then wouldn't expect it to be overly 
successful in reaching that far. Hopefully we see more use of WIDE7-7 by 
idiots than we see "proper" use of it during disasters - hi!

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