KD0TLS: Christmas Eve update 2021

  Is it a Christmas miracle? Probably not, but the Hopkins digipeater AE0KW-1 and the Welch (south-east of Hastings) KC0FKY-2 TX gateway/digi are both back on-air. Also, the RX-only gateway in Shakopee, AE0RF-10, is back in action. 

It might be nice, in the spirit of the season, to take a closer look at these "unsung heroes" of the local APRS community.

 I've mentioned AE0KW-1 before: a true "fill-in" digi in Hopkins that easily reaches the big local gateways and digipeaters. It transmits its ID at a very considerate rate using Mic-E compression. It has only about 180 packets under its belt this month, but it's gated packets from over 20 miles away. Obviously it has decent RX, but it faces stiff competition from a (welcome) plethora of other gateways in the metro.

AE0KW-1 coverage 12/21

While outside of the metro freeway loop, AE0RF-10 is an RX-only gateway with only a small direct coverage radius. But it leverages its proximity to the south-west metro's KF0ZH digipeater to reliably gate several hundred digipeated packets each month. Having an RX-only gateway near a digipeater is always a huge benefit to the community. The gateway relies on the superior RX of the digipeater, while providing a reliable path to gateway for everything the digi hears.

AE0RF-10 digipeated coverage 12/21

 While being located outside of the metro altogether, KC0FXY-2 is a conduit for traffic from its local area (and eastern WI, southern MN) to the metro. It has proven its ability to pick up packets from some of the metro gateways, and its TX capability allows it to handle messages from distant areas entirely over RF. Given Wisconsin's penchant for digipeaters, KC0FXY-2 provides an alternate path to gateway for several cross-border digis. The Faribault gateway N0QVC-1 provides only baseline coverage in this part of the state, so KC0FXY-2 adds reliability and redundancy to our APRS infrastructure.

KC0FXY-2 direct coverage 12/21

What these "unsung heroes" also represent are members of the amateur community with proven experience in APRS. They have hands-on expertise that elevates the knowledge pool of their respective local areas.

Let's look at some the stats for our surrounding areas. In many cases, these stations are providing coverage for operators (fixed and mobile) that otherwise would have only spotty access at best.

• KC0QNA-1 is a digipeater in Green Isle (SW of the metro). It's handled 1.3k packets this month and is easily heard in both the metro and Faribault. It also does a fair job of picking up the Mankato digipeater, creating an additional RF-only path connecting the state.
• While being located across the border in WI (Osceola), KC9NVV-3 is a digi that easily reaches some metro gateways. With a bit less than 700 packets this month, it still covers eastern WI out to Rice Lake and Menominee.
• Near Isanti, the KE0CRR-10 digipeater has around 15 miles of direct coverage and reaches a few metro gateways. It also routes traffic from the Hinckley K0YTH-11 digi to the metro's gateways. Not quite 800 packets handled this month.
• In Rockford, the K1LEO-10 TX gateway stands as a western outpost dedicated to supporting the under-served western exurbs and providing messaging capability. Not only does it reach the metro, it also handles the bulk of KC0LDH-1's all-too-frequent IDs out of Becker. Of 5.3k packets handled this month, "only" 2.8k of those are from the Becker digipeater. Reaching places like Buffalo, Montrose, and Waconia with direct coverage, this gateway would be a prime candidate to service any new digipeaters added to the west in the future.
• Outside of St. Cloud in St. Augusta, N0ANC-1 is an RX-only gateway that basically holds together the smattering of digipeaters that comprise north-central MN coverage. It provides direct coverage down to Annandale and Buffalo. It's shouldered a very impressive 22.5k packets this month.
• Near Litchfield, KC0CAP-1 is an RX-only gateway similar to AE0RF-10. Its primary job is to provide a reliable path to gateway for the big KD0JOU-2 digipeater, and not to provide local direct coverage. In this case, though, it also generates a substantial number of -IS based repeater objects. 1.7k packets handled this month, putting it over the 1k threshold of significance.

I'm glad that I got a chance to recognize some of these lesser-known elements of Minnesota's APRS infrastructure. They all have a niche in the amateur radio network, and they all make a contribution to the undoubted success of that network.