[aprssig] Identifying TX Igates

[Tom Russo]

On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 11:39:22AM -0400, we recorded a bogon-computron collision of the <bruninga at usna.edu> flavor, containing:
> 

[...] on having a visible symbol for transmitting igates[...]
> Maybe we need to have a 3rd symbol, a "T" Overlay so that operators of
> serious two-way IGates and indicate their dedicated intent to provide good
> APRS-IS local service.  These guys will take the trouble to indicate a TX
> Igate.  When we see one of those, we have proof-positive that the IGate
> includes a two-way TX capability.
> 
> We could even go one step farther.  We could indicate the NUMBER OF HOPS
> that the IGate uses by default for IS-to-RF packets.  This could help us
> better manage overlapping IGate coverage...  So how about this plan:
> 
> I& - is an IGate, but is ambiguous with respect to transmitting
> R& - means it is definitely an RX only IGate
> T& - Means it is definitely a TX IGate with one hop path only
> 2& - means it is a TX igate clobbering two hops in all directions
> 3& - means it is a TX SPAM GENERATOR , (or a legitimate special case)
> Etc..
> 
> Should we do this???

All of the discussion on this turned out to be about detecting these things.
What about the proposal for a change in symbol?

I am putting a new IGate on the air *tomorrow afternoon*.  This installation
is the long-overdue replacement of a club igate that has been off the air for 
years, and whose absence has sparked a number of local hams to set up 
receive-only igates all over the place so their one-way trackers can show up 
on teh intarwebz.  It will be a bidirectional igate, as it should be.  It will 
put out a repeater object for the repeater that's in the same building, and 
whose antenna is on the same tower.   

My home igate, which is poorly sited but which has been the only 2-way igate
within a hundred miles, will probably stay on the air, but be adjusted so
it is no longer a 2-hop igate (which it needed to be in order to serve the
purpose as a message gateway for the huge area it covered, and the horrid
coverage it has).

So, since I am doing this tomorrow, I'd like to know:  should I set its symbol 
to T& or should I just stick with the tried-and-true I&?

-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY   SAR502   DM64ux          http://www.swcp.com/~russo/
Tijeras, NM  QRPL#1592 K2#398  SOC#236        http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?DDTNM
 "One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide
 stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork." - Edward Abbey