KD0TLS: APRS update 11/27/21

  There are a few developments that have arisen since the last update. The landscape is constantly changing, but the metro scene seems to be stabilizing. 

The only development of note since my last local update is that the Robbinsdale digipeater K0YTH-13 continues to struggle. It transmits a flurry of packets around 3:30 AM, and then goes dead until the next day. 

 Some strangeness for those who follow the local scene closely: the Medina gateway W0PZT-1 has appropriated my email address in a STATUS packet. As always, click on the image to enlarge it.

I'm not the contact for this station

 This is undoubtedly some glitch where W0PZT-1 picked up one of the STATUS packets from the KD0TLS-1 gateway and transmitted it (either RF or -IS) as its own. I've looked through a lot of the raw packets from the Medina station, but I haven't found when this happened. 

 I've never seen W0PZT-1 (or its previous incarnation, N0AGI-1) transmit a STATUS packet before this. I had always believed the station didn't have that capability. The solution is for whoever runs the W0PZT-1 gateway/digi to simply transmit an updated status message that will replace my email address. 

 I suppose I should clarify that I am not the contact person, trustee, operator, etc. for this gateway run by HCEM/AUXCOMM. I have never laid eyes on the station, and I have no access to it. It's hardly an insult to be associated with HCEM, but I'm afraid that I don't merit that distinction. 

Greater MN:

The big news is that the Isle gateway W0KGW-10 is back up and running. This RX-only gateway was once a major hub, gating mostly digipeater traffic from about a quarter of the State. This was back in the day when the Aitkin digipeater AITKIN was a powerhouse station, and before the WB0VGI-1 and KE0OPK-13 gateways to the south and north existed. It still pulls in digipeater traffic from distant digis up to the North Shore, make no mistake. It's just that there are alternatives now to handle that traffic, and that's a good thing. The new role is more of providing local coverage in an area with very little direct coverage. I'm hopeful that some enterprising amateurs around the Milaca/Ogilvie/Mora area would put up a digipeater to feed W0KGK-10 and provide some sorely-needed coverage. 

 

Up further north, the K9MLD-11 and COOKMN digipeaters (in Virginia and Cook, respectively) continue to struggle. They're only up for about an hour a day. To make matters worse, the Ely gateway ELYMN hasn't heard any traffic for five days now. It's still connected to the -IS, however. This is a fairly common thing that I've termed "going deaf". A simple reset, such as rebooting the computer/TNC or the transceiver, usually fixes things.

EDIT: Last night (11/27) the TX gateway in Soudan K0VRC-2 came back on-air around 8 PM. At nearly the same time, the K9MLD-11 digipeater near Virginia returned to operation. Again, at nearly the same time, the digipeater in Cook COOKMN flickered back to life. And the Ely TX gateway ELYMN seems to be stable and operating normally again.

 

On the North Shore, the NARC digipeater run by NA0RC in Knife River seems to have also "gone deaf". This is becoming a somewhat unreliable machine, though it has decent coverage along the North Shore when it's up. 

 

To the east, the Battle Lake digipeater KC0ZZQ-5 is down again. This entire East Central area has struggled for years due to the loss of gateways in Hoffman and Wadena. 

EDIT: KC0ZZQ-5 is transmitting again, but is hearing nothing. Just this morning (11/28), it went for a few hours without transmitting an ID at all. Seems fair to class this machine as "struggling", at least for now.

 

The KE0VUL-10 TX gateway in Gonvick (midway between Bemidji and Thief River Falls) has dialed back its ID rate to a considerate 20-minute cycle. This is an area that really needs a TX gateway for messaging, but mostly to gate the big Lengby digipeater. 

 

EDIT: The TX gateway N0AWA-2 in Badger went off-air at about 8 AM this morning (11/28).

EDIT: The Rochester TX gateway N0HZN went down yesterday afternoon (11/27). Looking at its raw packets, the station is using the unrecognized device code "GPS", causing its packets to be rejected by the -IS servers. It seems to be using UI-View, which APRS recognizes as "APU25N". In spite of being near two big and active digipeaters, it hasn't heard anything since yesterday afternoon.

That's it for this week. Hope you found it interesting.