humptybump
Well Known Member
It was a near perfect day to sneek out at lunch for some flight training ... And to test the new iGate. When I returned and looked at the path data, as I happy to see a good track but confused why nearly all of my packets routed 7 miles north only to then route 10 miles south to my iGate. More than 80% of my packets were routed through a digipeaters and then back to my own iGate.
So, I went back to look at APRS 101 and what WIDE2-1 meant for packet routing.
Simply put, WIDE2-1 says you get just one repeat of you packet. The reason aircraft in my area have not had good coverage was not that our trackers were not being received; they were. The problem was the digipeaters in this area could not get to an iGate with just one hop.
So, I'm disappointed that my iGate does not receive many direct packets but happy its doing it's job of connecting the radio packet network with the IP network.
So, if you are flying with a tracker, WIDE2-1 is definitely the preferred setting. And if you find a dead spot in your area where your packets only appear once you've gained some altitude, consider adding your own iGate. You probably don't need much of an outdoor antenna since all you really need to do is be able to receive a good local digipeater.
So, I went back to look at APRS 101 and what WIDE2-1 meant for packet routing.
Simply put, WIDE2-1 says you get just one repeat of you packet. The reason aircraft in my area have not had good coverage was not that our trackers were not being received; they were. The problem was the digipeaters in this area could not get to an iGate with just one hop.
So, I'm disappointed that my iGate does not receive many direct packets but happy its doing it's job of connecting the radio packet network with the IP network.
So, if you are flying with a tracker, WIDE2-1 is definitely the preferred setting. And if you find a dead spot in your area where your packets only appear once you've gained some altitude, consider adding your own iGate. You probably don't need much of an outdoor antenna since all you really need to do is be able to receive a good local digipeater.
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