Now that autumn is definitely here, it's a good time to look at the changes in the APRS landscape across the state. Next month, I'll do an end-of-year summary on this same topic.
While the metro still remains the major hub for traffic and gating capacity, some impressive developments have materialised over the past few years to challenge that situation. Southern MN used to be a digipeater-oriented network with few gateways, as was northern MN. Western MN was a void, with a few scattered digipeaters trying to cover a vast area. The few gateways that existed outside of the metro were either over-worked or under-utilised.
All of that has changed, however. New gateway/digi infrastructure around St. Cloud as the west in general, has allowed a vibrant and locally-created network to arise in cities and towns previously limited to APRS-IS operation. The south-west, too, gained a powerful TX gateway (MTLAKE) to supplement the shaky, RX-only gateway near Tyler. The Iron Range saw a "micro-network" spring up, anchored by a TX gateway in Ely, that moved coverage away from the shore of Lake Superior inland. Technician Class amateurs added new TX gateways around Bemidji and Cloquet that brought RF-based messaging to areas that never had that option before. And the return of the big Knife River gateway/digi twin pair created a new center of gravity in the state-wide network.
But let's look specifically at the more recent developments:
- N0GEF-7 near Annandale appeared as a TX gateway a few weeks ago. Previously, it had been intermittent and frequently "deaf". It has impressive TX coverage, and reaches the metro easily. On RX, it picks up the usual digipeaters one would expect in Paynesville, St. Cloud, and Green Isle. But it also gates a substantial amount of digipeated traffic from the metro due to the lack of packet collisions in its rural location. It further opens up the possibility of new digipeaters in places like Cokato, Delano, and Becker by providing a solid path to gateway. N0GEF-7 is paired with N0GEF-15, a digipeater with a history of questionable reliability. In general, the west needs gateways far more than it needs new digis, so this is a positive step forward.
- NY0I-1 in Paynesville has switched back to a TX gateway/digi. This moves gateway capacity further west than it has been in years. Aside from seeing more reliable gating of the Litchfield and Green Isle (KC0QNA-1) digipeaters, we now have a solid path to gateway for the Granite Falls digi, as well as direct coverage of the Willmar area. In addition, NY0I-1 has a solid hold on the Little Falls and St. Cloud digipeaters, making it nearly independent of the metro. Even better, it also picks up the MTLAKE TX I-Gate and Mankato N0PBA-1 digi, directly connecting operators within its coverage access to southern MN. Even with its western distance, NY0I-1 picks up a significant amount of digipeated metro traffic -- so it's not completely isolated. By leveraging the Litchfield KD0JOU-2 digi, RF-based messaging is now far more reliable in the area.
- KC0FXY-2, located south-east of Hastings, has returned to the air. This TX gateway handles a significant number of metro-area packets, probably due to its isolation and ability to avoid the packet collisions found in metro gateways. But it also gates traffic from eastern WI all the way to Chippewa Falls, and supplements the Faribault and Rochester digipeaters. Its location could potentially support needed digipeaters in Red Wing and Cannon Falls. KC0FXY-2 also employs TRACE on its transmissions, something that I thought had been abandoned decades ago.
- A small, local coverage RX-only gateway has been added in Rice (north of St. Cloud. KB0HGM-10 helps solidify coverage of MN-10.
- Although I've previously written about the new AD0MI-1 digipeater near Askov, it bears repeated mention here given the expansion of coverage it offers. While only operating for a month now, it's proven itself as a hub connecting the metro, Duluth, Brainerd, Paynesville, and the North Shore. Oh, and a substantial portion of Wisconsin, as well. If it were a TX gateway, it would have an impact on MN APRS coverage similar to the Knife River KC0MKS gateway. As it stands, it seems to reach a sufficient number of gateways to allow continuous coverage of I-35W from Forest Lake to Duluth itself -- exactly what we needed.
The losses
Since my last state-wide update, MN has endured some losses in its infrastructure.
- The St. Cloud area has lost W0SV-15. This was a TX gateway that had made that area a hub of gating capacity for a wide area, and promised to eliminate the reliance of the west's growth on the metro gateways.
- K0RQ-2, the TX I-Gate in Detroit Lakes, has been down for a few days now. This was a promising expansion of coverage that mostly relied upon Fargo becoming a west-central gating hub.
- KE0CRR-10, a digi in Isanti and part of the WINET effort, has faded away when it is most needed. Given the expansion offered by the new N0MQL-1 TX gateway and the new AD0MI-1 digi, this digipeater would (if it were in operation) provide reliable coverage to northern Anoka County and previously abandoned areas like Milaca and Mora.
- In North Branch, the KC0KUR-10 TX gateway has gone off-air for months now. This could have been the much-needed TX gateway to support the new AD0MI-1 digipeater, providing messaging capability to most of eastern MN.
- In Grand Forks, the promising expansion offered by K0UND-2 and W1CDN-1 has faded away. The RF links to North Dakota's struggling APRS network are now only ephemeral. And nothing has materialised in Crookston to bolster the Minnesota side of that connection.
The metro
The Burnsville digi N0KGK has finally faded away. We need a TX gateway in this area to cover the southern approaches to the metro and provide RF-based messaging to the south metro. Even a simple RX-only gateway in Richfield or Bloomington would make coverage more reliable for the south metro. A digipeater in Lakeville would also be very useful to allow greater access to the metro for the southern exurbs.
In the west metro, a modest TX gateway in Waconia or (even Victoria) would be a much-needed expansion of coverage beyond the baseline. The ability to send/receive messages would be a big boost to amateur EmComm efforts in Carver County. Further, the ability to reach the Green Isle digipeater with RF-based messages would be a significant step forward.
As far as the east metro, adding a simple TX gateway in Stillwater or Afton would expand metro coverage into eastern WI and bolster APRS coverage for marathons, bike rides, and SkyWarn activities. It would also provide the basis for our Wisconsin colleagues to add more digipeaters in the east.
As always, any bit of infrastructure to the north is sorely needed. Elk River especially would be a prime location for an RX-only gateway to cover the Big Lake digi and I-169. Even an HT in a windowsill (like my KD0TLS-7 station) would be a game-changer. When you have nothing, even a tiny improvement becomes important. A 5W digipeater in Blaine could bring RF messaging to a wide area. A 10W TX gateway in East Bethel could, in conjunction with the N0MQL-1 gateway, provide messaging and mobile coverage to most of Anoka County. As hams, we have a tendency to make the perfect the enemy of the good. But something is always better than nothing... and currently we have nothing.
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