[aprssig] Coverage holes in OK?

[Kris Kirby]

On Fri, 6 Jan 2012, Alex Carver wrote:
> I just drove cross country from FL to CA using the Florida Turnpike, 
> I-75 to Georgia, I-22/US-280/US-78 to Tennessee, then I-40 to 
> California (check my route on aprs.fi).  I had my D700 with me at 25 
> watts with a 3 minute beacon going out as WIDE1-1,WIDE-2-2 (covered 
> all areas so that I didn't have to fiddle with the radio en-route).  
> Looking at the map, there were some huge holes in Oklahoma.  I didn't 
> exactly expect that given the flatness of OK.  I was picked up very 
> well in Oklahoma City but didn't get digipeated or gated until I 
> reached Amarillo, TX.  East of Oklahoma City there was another large 
> hole between Oklahoma City and Ft. Smith, AR.
> 
> There are a couple other holes on the route but none quite as big as 
> Oklahoma City to Amarillo.
> 
> Note, I'm considering a hole as an area where I traveled 50 miles or 
> more without a single gate or digipeat (digipeat being the D700 saying 
> MY POS if it managed to hear its own packet).  All these areas were 
> quiet both in the car and on APRS-IS given the track data.  Other than 
> these hols coverage was pretty good even in remote places and small 
> towns (like Alexander City, AL).  Coverage in NM, AZ, and CA most 
> likely benefited from mountain top sites that could cover huge areas 
> easily.
> 

Nice track, I'll pass along the holes around Birmingham on to fellow 
amateurs. Fortunately, IGATES don't need transmitters, just a little bit 
of internet connectivity.

--
Kris Kirby, KE4AHR
Disinformation Analyst