[aprssig] Repeater Promotion and Useful Repeater Objects

[Joseph M. Durnal]

It seems that folks have decided that APRS is a great way to promote
their favorite repeater.  While that repeater might be the one that
you prefer or your club has on the air, it may not be the best
repeater for local contacts.

Before creating a repeater object, one should think about how useful
it will be to folks who are traveling through the area.  There are 3
repeater objects in on the map in my town, 147.06FDK and object I
created, 442.800+, and 146.895MD.  While each of these repeaters has
coverage in the area, of the three, only the 147.06FDK gets much use,
and is most likely the one where you'll find a local to talk to out of
the top 4 repeaters on the mountain.  Interestingly enough, the next 3
repeaters that see the most activity in the area (146.73, 444.800, &
448.125) are not the ones published in APRS.

Maybe it is just me but I think having three repeater objects within 4
miles is more confusing than helpful.  Should I delete the object for
the repeater is best suited to be an APRS object in the area and yield
that space to those who are simply promoting their own repeaters?  I
feel that either way, a disservice is done to APRS users traveling
through the area.

73 de Joseph Durnal NE3R