KD0TLS: metro APRS update 7/4

 It's still very early in the month to analyze traffic loads, but I wanted to note a few changes. 

• AE0RF-10, the RX-only gateway in Shakopee, has gone down. This gateway in the south-west metro usually handles digipeated traffic from KF0ZH. It remains down at this time.
• W0ETS-1, the new TX gateway in Burnsville, dropped off the map for a few days. It's now returned.
• The TX gateway in Minnetonka, K0GV-10, also went off-air for a few days. From what I can tell, it lost its internet connection. Now back in service to meet the amateur community's needs. 
• K0YTH-13, the increasingly unreliable digipeater in Robbinsdale, has been off-air for nearly a month now. The associated repeater (444.775) on the same site remains on-air. 
• The RX-only gateway in Apple Valley, N9MEC, has expanded its RX coverage somewhat. While once reaching most the metro, it has struggled in the past to pick up stations north of Burnsville. Lately, however, this gateway has reached as far as St. Paul proper. 

Generally speaking, our metro infrastructure coverage struggles to handle motorist traffic south of Lakeville. Coverage to the eastern approaches on I-94 remains spotty, but baseline. This is probably due to terrain. Adding a low-power digipeater near Hudson or Lakeville would be ideal, as gating capacity currently exists to service these stations. North-east approaches are adequate due to KG0E, but a small digipeater in Forest Lake would be helpful. 

 Coverage to the north remains lacking, due to a complete absence of infrastructure in Anoka County. Also, KE0CRR-10 in Isanti has been off-air for almost a week, making a bad situation even worse. 

Further afield: 

 The Hinckley digipeater K0YTH-11, has been off-air for 2.5 months. This has dramatically reduced coverage of I-35. Additionally, the RX-only gateway near Mille Lacs Lake, W0KGW-10, took a nap for nearly a week recently. 

 We really need an RX-only gateway somewhere between Sandstone and Willow River to provide some kind of redundancy, as well as to provide a path for any future digipeaters that may pop up here. 

 N0ANC-15 has appeared again in St. Augusta, south of St. Cloud. Previously operating under N0ANC-14, it was an RX-only I-Gate. Per conversation, I've learned that N0ANC-15 is now using a Microsat WX 3-in-1 TNC and is operating as a TX gateway. This station bridges a critical gap in APRS coverage, with no redundancies. An RX-only gateway in Sauk Rapids, Collegeville or even Duelm would expand coverage in the St. Cloud area. 

 Also interesting to note that N0ANC (Shannon) found that his AVRT-10+ did not handle APRS packets from Yaesu FTM-300 rigs properly. I'd been unaware of this situation, and can only wonder if Yaesu is employing some slight variation in the APRS format. 

Across the border into western Wisconsin, KC9NVV-3 has returned to service. This is a digipeater that mostly relies on metro gateways and supplements APRS coverage on I-35.