APRS Settings in the Gisborne Area

Please make sure that your TXDelay is not excessive. Reduce it until digipeaters no longer repeat you reliably, and then bump it up slightly. Overly long TXDelay settings are a quick way to destroy network capability.

Mobile Stations

The recommended setting is:

  • WIDE1-1,WIDE2-2

That will use fill-in digipeaters around town, and still be repeated through the area's two high level digipeaters.

Fixed Stations

Fixed stations have more flexibility. You can simply use:

  • WIDE2-2

and everything should just work. Alternatively, you can take advantage of what you know about the path from your station and craft an explicit path that routes through ZL2AA-1, ZL2CC-9, or any other area digipeater in an optimal path for your station.

UI-View Users Note: UI-View combines the destination and the path into a single configuration setting that is confusingly called Unproto Address. You need to specify both the destination and the path there, so for the Gisborne area you will want the setting: APRS,WIDE2-2

Home Fill-In Digipeaters

To improve coverage for other stations in the area, it is great if you can leave your station on 24hr/day and set to digipeat WIDE1-1. If you leave your APRS software running it may implement the WIDEn-n paradigm, so set it to digipeat WIDE1-1. Your software will substitute your callsign in the digipeater field when it repeats another station. Nearly as good is to simply leave your TNC and rig on, and set your TNC MYALIAS: WIDE1-1.

ZL2AA-1

The Whakapunake digipeater now uses UIdigi to provide support for the WIDEn-N paradigm.

ZL2CC-9

There is a digipeater colocated with the 950 repeater that supports WIDEn-N.

Igate

Currently stations digipeated through GBD are being gated to the APRS-IS by ZL2IA. ZL2CC gates data to the internet on a part time basis.

  • Find out if any other 24 hr/day station in range of GBD would prefer to serve as Igate. One with local coverage of central Gisborne might be best.

  • Discuss gating some activity outside the region from Internet->RF.

Frequency

All activity in the area is currently on 144.650 MHz. Is it worth moving to the 144.575 MHz national APRS frequency? Is it even the national APRS frequency any more?

  • requires relicensing digipeater for frequency change
  • requires Whakapunake site visit
  • eliminates connected packet path
  • requires recrystalling or reprogramming all user rigs
  • improves coverage for the occasional transient user

Telemetry

  • Weather station(s)?
  • Repeater telemetry monitoring?

Digipeater Coverage

Here is a map that clearly shows the route Steve ZL2RI took to his station on Stage 4 of the Rally Hawkes Bay 2007. Great coverage thanks to the ZL2AA-1/GBD digipeater.

Steve ZL2RI travelled from Gisborne to help provide communications

Rally Hawkes Bay 2007 Log

ATV Slides on the possible Arowhana APRS Upload new attachment "APRS AROWHANA SITE 5.JP"

Brief minutes of a casual meeting by interested local APRS amateurs