[aprssig] Lotsa ears, big mouth concept.

[Robert Bruninga]

>> It almost sounds like you are trying to 
>> replace the principal of having fill-in 
>> digis that respond to WIDE1-1 at low 
>> elevations and high WIDEn-N digis...
> 
> This idea was born dead.

Not so fast.  It was the only way in the USA to allow the
construction of FILL-IN digis using the hundreds of thousands of
existing available TNC's already in hand and not require the use
of a $280 specialized new-N APRS TNC.

> Our scheme, where everybody uses WIDE2-2, 
> and fill-in-digis respond only to packets 
> from a certain geographical region, works far better.

Yes, it is slightly better because the length of each packet is
shorter without having to carry the initial WIDE1-1.  And it is
the best solution, if people are willing to buy all-new hardware
for fill-in digis.  It is good to hear that your country is able
to do this.

We should be able to slowly migrate that direction now that many
innexpensive new-N TNC digipeaters are available.  But for
years, users will still have to use the path of WIDE1-1 until
ALL digipeaters are converted if they want the best chance of
getting digipeaterd..

Bob, Wb4APR