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I am on the air

It is fun to enjoy how this solution quietly does it work. Since mine starting working last Saturday afternoon it has posted about 11,000 packets to the web. Although my antenna isn't properly placed I have been getting a few directly heard packets from as far away as Auburn, AL... 163 miles away. Enjoy watching it evolve and work its magic. I like you appreciate the opportunity Glen provided us with, to give back to the APRS community instead of flying around and just using the system.

BTW, I have posted packets from Enterprise, Daleville, Newton, and Elba this week..... I guess you'll be handling those from now on. :)
 
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I periodically compare what my iGate local logs show vs what is showing on aprs.fi. This gives my and idea of benefit I am providing to the network. While I receive about 2000 messages a day, I only show about 600 on the internet. That tells me that the other 1500 are being received well by other stations. Still, 600/day is a lot of dropped packets if the iGate were not at 53VG.

I know we will be seeing more of these iGates come on line over the next few weeks !
 
IGate

Glen,
Thank you for stopping by last week to show me how to install your baby:). I passed the Tech exam this morning so I anticipate bringing another iGate online next time I'm off work.
Marvin
 
. . .BTW, I have posted packets from Enterprise, Daleville, Newton, and Elba this week..... I guess you'll be handling those from now on. :)

Not just yet. I have a better antenna on the way. The rubber duckie does great for airborne traffic, but pretty much useless for anything else.

Glen, how do I pull a log to see all of the received packets? I have only had three to make it to the internet.
 
Glen,
Thank you for stopping by last week to show me how to install your baby:). I passed the Tech exam this morning so I anticipate bringing another iGate online next time I'm off work.
Marvin

Congrats on passing the exam!

However, no license is needed to run an iGate because it doesn't transmit....so go ahead and plug it in. :)
 
Licensed I-Gate

I concur that anyone setting up an I-gate under most circumstances should have an amateur radio license. Although its not strictly required for a receive-only I-Gate, anything passed to an I-Gate has the potential of being retransmitted by the (rare) bidirectional I-Gate, creating a situation in which they unwittingly cause transmissions to occur. It is however, very clear that there are many "un-licensed" I-gates used for applications like weather stations, or gating Marine and Aircraft anti-collision data to the APRS-IS ( The web) for special activities. On the other hand, if APRS has an area of the country that is a "black hole" for coverage, and we can find a volunteer with an always-on internet connection in that area, it should not be hard to recruit a willing volunteer to act as that station's "Control Operator" to keep things nice and legal. I really love the idea that so many aviators are setting up their own I-gates. This could eventually lead to adopting a frequency apart from the National APRS frequency, allowing aviators to broadcast transmissions at a rate that would have the ground-pounding APRS operators screaming for bloody vengeance!

73,

Allen AF6OF
VHS/Byonics
 
There is NO regulation supporting the position that a receive-only iGate operator must have a license. Consequently, the use of the word should takes us into the realm of personal opinion.

A license is not required for receiving transmissions, and interfacing with the internet via a receive-only APRS iGate where no over-the-air transmissions will occur is not governed by ham radio regulations.

"Making" regulations where none exist will take us down roads we don't want to travel. Those of us in the experimental aviation community should appreciate this treachery more than most.
 
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I wish we hadn't derailed the OP. I've deleted my unrelated posts above.

Congratulations to all the new iGate owners !
 
I-Gates software

Glen,

I am not familiar with the software you are using, but I am assuming it also has a digipeater function built in too? Thanks for getting all those boxes you could get together into the hands of the people who will use them, it really helps to have a guy like you helping out the infrastructure. I hope you can find a cheap Linux SBC to keep up the good work!

Allen
 
Allen (and all iGate Factory recipients),

The iGates I built are capable of being a digipeater but are missing one cable (the mic / PTT). The software is "digipeater capable".

If anyone wants to make their iGate a digipeater, I'll work with them on the cable and configuration.

I hope you can find a cheap Linux SBC to keep up the good work
I do have a new design I'll work up this winter. I also just scored three more XO-1 laptops !
 
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Glen,

Maybe this should be a new thread, don't want to detract from Alton's original post. I wouldn't want to impose on anyone's privacy, but it would be interesting to know where these iGates end up and their impact. I am amazed that after 9 days operating, it appears that mine has feed 14000 packets to APRS.fi and heard almost 5000 directly. I feel good that my setup seems to be giving much more than taking from the system.
 
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