[aprssig] APRS Network Consistent Operations

[Chris Kantarjiev]

Should I have titled this "A Modest Proposal"? :-)

> I look after an I-Gate and two (soon to be three APRS
> digi's) in my local area. I understand you not wanting to
> see where distant digi's are located, but I quite often
> travel away from home without any of my APRS gear and it's
> very handy being able to get on the 'net, and within seconds
> see if any of the equipment I look after is up or down. If
> my digi's weren't gated to the 'net, then I would have no
> idea that they were down and needed attention.

I think you missed my point, or didn't read my proposal quite
carefully enough:

> > Yes, digi operators would like to see their digi's call on
> > findu, so once every six hours or so, beacon with enough
> > hops to reach an igate.

I agree that it is useful (and gratifying) to see my digis on
findu. But, really, every four to six hours is enough.

> 
> > But, really, I don't need or want to see your digi advertised on my
> > mobile 500 miles away ... and I often see them from even farther away!
> 
> I think there's probably a happy medium between this extreme and  
> direct only. (:

Well, Jason, you're probably right :-) The current recommendation

	http://eng.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/aprs/digi-rates.txt

is for two hops max, every hour. But that seems to be too difficult
for some people to grasp since I'm regularly seeing five hop
(or worse) beacons...

73 de chris K6DBG