[aprssig] radio aprs vs internet aprs

[Tom Hayward]

On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 07:23, Mike Goldweber <mike at mikegoldweber.name> wrote:
> The next day I ran into the guy who organized and ran the communications.
> He told me that he got the message when he linked his system to the
> internet, but during the race he comm's trailer was not linked to the
> internet, which is why he did not receive my message immediately.

This statement is misleading. RF APRS and APRS-IS are both realtime
networks, and so data must be received immediately or not at all. The
only way he could have seen your message a day later is by referencing
an archived history of APRS-IS data (e.g., aprs.fi, findu, or his
personal log).

Think of APRS-IS as just another frequency, lets call it 2.4 GHz. He
was on 144.39 MHz and you were on 2.4 GHz, so normally you wouldn't be
able to communicate. I-gates exist to gate messages between networks.
If there was a properly configured I-gate in your area, your message
would have been passed from "2.4 GHz" to 144.39 MHz and your friend
would have received it. It sounds like your area does not have a
transmit-capable I-gate. I-gates are easy to operate once you collect
all the required equipment (antenna, 2m radio, TNC, computer, and
Internet connection). This may be a good project for you to pursue.

Tom KD7LXL