It's been a couple of months since my last state-wide update. There have been a lot of changes since then. I've hit on most of the changes in the metro in a separate post, but I'll wrap up a few minor metro changes first, before I get to the state-wide scenario.
Metro
- The RX-only gateway in the north-west metro, KG0E, seems to have gone down. In its place is a mobile station gating packets outside the usual area. This may be some kind of aprs.fi breakdown, but it bears watching.
- W3JF, the big gateway/digi in Brooklyn Park, remains "non-operational". It continues to maintain a connection to the APRS-IS servers, but hasn't heard a packet in over two weeks. No RF ID packets sent during that period, either.
- Near the MSP airport, WG0A-2 has appeared as a gateway/digipeater. It has a connection to the -IS servers, but isn't really gating much. If it does ever take off, it should be valuable in covering the dead spots that K0BEN-10 is trying to eliminate.
- The RX-only I-Gate AE0RF-10 has reappeared in Shakopee. While the direct coverage of this gateway has always been limited, it does a great job of gating digipeated packets from the big KF0ZH digipeater nearby. With RF-based messaging increasing lately, it's reassuring to know that we have redundant coverage for messages being funneled in from the south-west exurbs.
- While only a few metro gateways report message traffic in their capability stats, those that do report that information show 200+ RF-based messages each week. Much of this can probably be attributed to #aprsthursday activity.
State-wide
- The on-again, off-again digipeater in Battle Lake, KC0ZZQ-5, has been "on" more than "off" lately. It's been down for several hours as I write this, but it's been in operation full-time for nearly a week.
- In the area around Wadena, N0JLD has appeared as a TX gateway. Operating out of Deer Creek, it's handled a lot of the IDs from the KC0ZZQ-5 digi. It's also provided direct coverage out to Wadena and New York Mills, though it seems to have stopped operating early this morning. This is an area that could really use the coverage, so I hope it becomes permanent.
- In the St. Cloud area, WJ0U-10 has faded away as its various incarnations so often do. But a new TX gateway/digi has popped up near St. Augusta yesterday evening. KF0LQY-1 hasn't handled a lot of traffic yet, and it's premature to make any statements about its potential coverage, but it does reach the Paynesville gateway (NY0I-1). With RF-based messaging becoming more popular all of the time, another TX gateway in the area would be welcome. The entire St. Cloud area has become an independent hub for central MN traffic, and this takes the load off the metro infrastructure.
- To the north of St. Cloud, in the town of Rice, a small-scale RX-only gateway has been operating for a few months now. KB0HGM-1 is an RTLSDR gateway, and it probably operates indoors. It hasn't gated any packets from surrounding digipeaters, and it seems to have direct coverage of less than a mile. While stations like these don't contribute to the wider network coverage, they represent individual hams experimenting with APRS and expanding the knowledge pool. As such, they deserve recognition.
- In Brainerd, the W0UJ gateway has returned to service, though only as an RX-only gateway. Its sister I-Gate/digi, W0RC, is back as well. It doesn't really transmit hardly at all, however. It's interesting that neither shows any message traffic handled.
- As most APRS operators to the west probably know, NY0I-1 went down in mid-January. This TX gateway has returned to the air, and has resumed its wide coverage. It even solidly picks up traffic from the South Dakota border.
- In south-western MN, KB0NLY-2 is back in operation. This RX-only gateway became irregular a couple of years ago, often dropping out of service for months at a time. So far, it seems steady. It's handled over 10k digipeated packets from areas like IA and SD -- as well as MN. It's nice to see it back, though its direct coverage has been limited to digipeaters thus far.
- KF0ARE-2 has been MIA in Duluth for over a month now. While it was nice to have a TX gateway in Duluth, this station has always been part-time.
- Northern MN has seen some traumatic losses. Aside from the long-time absence of the WALES digipeater (in Wales, of course), K9MLD-10 (Lutsen) and MAPLEH (Maple Hill) have been down for well over a month. In addition, the ELYMN (Ely) gateway has been down for about as long. And the digipeaters in Cook, Virginia, etc. have also disappeared. The Iron Range no longer has any APRS infrastructure, other than the RX-only gateway east of Grand Marais (KB0BDN). Even the Canadian gateway in Fort Frances (near International Falls) has closed up shop. The digi in Knife River (KNFRVR) covers the North Shore only as far as Two Harbors. The gateway in Tower has been down for eight months.
- The Warroad digipeater, N0AWA-6, has been down for nearly a week now.
- The twin digipeater to the Thief River Falls AE5E-7 gateway, AE5E-5, has been down for months now.
- Still no digipeater in Milaca. The MGRC must be busy with the hamfest these days.
Wisconsin
While not Minnesota, I should mention that a new digipeater has gone up in Spooner. SPNR hasn't been on-air long enough to see if it will reach any stations on our side of the border. N9MEC in Apple Valley has gated a few packets from it already. There's also a new gateway/digi about 30 miles north of Madison. I mention it only because it's rare to see new gateways in Wisconsin at all.
Conclusion
The collapse of the APRS infrastructure in northern MN has been a slow, whimpering death. Digipeaters would drop off the scene for weeks at a time, only to return in a week or so. Then they would vanish for months at a time, only to reappear for mere days. This has been an area that favors large-scale solutions for the most part, and it hasn't worked well. It's always better to have something than nothing.
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