KD0TLS: challenges with KD0TLS-1

  I've been running a TX gateway out of my condo in Plymouth for a few years now. It's never been a "monster" or mega-solution station. Instead, it was conceived as a "proof of concept" station using readily available components. 

 The "brains" of the station consist of a Windows 10 tablet running APRSIS32. And this is where all of the problems begin and end. 

 The TNC is a Mobilinkd TNC3. This is no longer made or sold, in favor of the TNC4 -- which I've found to have connectivity issues over Bluetooth that the TNC3 doesn't have. The TNC4 pairs easily, but doesn't "connect" reliably or even frequently. This is an issue that I don't have with the TNC2 or TNC3, or even the old TNC1 I still have. Generally, when a Bluetooth device pairs, it connects. Not so with the TNC4. It pairs, but does not connect. It's like being able to start your car, but it won't actually move. 

 Mobilinkd "support" suggests "following the instructions" to pair the device. That works great, but the paired device can't be used for anything, because it won't "connect". But, yes, it is paired. That's the limit of the "support". It's little more than a shrug. I should note that the TNC4 works flawlessly with my Android devices. Obviously, the problem is with Windows, and it's equally obvious that Mobilinkd has no solution. Judging from my contacts with various Windows support forums, nobody has a solution.

 Still, my TNC3 works. It connects over BT to my Win 10 tablet, and transfers all of the RF traffic heard by the radio to the tablet. 

 The radio, as I've mentioned before, is a Leixen VV-898 transceiver. It's a 10W output model, though that seems to be discontinued in favor of the 25W model. The 25W model is only $72 (including a programming cable). Prior to that, I used a 10W TYT TC-8000 2M monoband HT. Both of these have very good RX, though the filtering is not great for situations where intermod is a problem. For the VV-898, I bought special cabling from hammadeparts.com to connect the radio to the Mobilinkd TNC3. 

 I don't need high power to reach several digipeaters and gateways across the metro. Frankly, a 5W HT, connected to an exterior antenna, would work just as well. The metro has a few examples of 5W stations making solid contributions to coverage. 

 In theory, I have everything I need for a reliable gateway. Given my location, midway between two powerful digipeaters, my signal is leveraged and amplified. Other gateways are faster than my BT TNC, and tend to get the bulk of the traffic. This is a situation where mere milliseconds determine which gateway sends the packet to the -IS, or just records a "duplicate". 

 None of that matters to me, because my simple gateway works. It handles traffic along low spots on I-169 (and other areas in Plymouth) that other gateways tend to miss. 

 Instead, virtually all of my challenges come from the tablet running APRSIS32. 

 There has been an endless parade of updates to Windows 10 over the past year. Each one requires the tablet to restart. In most cases, these restarts are done automatically, and I'm not present to restart the APRSIS32 software. So, the gateway remains down until I notice that it's no longer working. 

 Even worse, the tablet "freezes" when it hasn't been re-started in a while.  It seems, from a casual glance, to be working. A closer examination, however, reveals that it stopped working. No input of any kind is accepted. Of course, a hard boot is required. 

 All of this is a function of the Windows OS, rather than the APRS client software. If I happen to leave the browser open overnight -- perhaps to check the raw packets or propagation -- the tablet will freeze by morning. 

 For example, this morning I found the tablet was frozen. It had failed to gate any packets for six hours, even though the client software remained open. I had been watching the NWS for SKYWARN spotter updates during impending storms, but I failed to close the Edge browser before I went to bed. No amount of tapping would close anything. I had to shut down the tablet with a hard boot. 

 Browser issues aside, I've found that I need to reboot the tablet once a week just to keep it from hanging. This assumes that no updates to the OS happened during the week, of course. 

 I can understand why so many operators prefer Linux solutions for APRS. Any computer should be able to run for a solid week without freezing up. And it should be able to work with a Bluetooth device. I specifically chose a Win 10 tablet because I believed it would be simple to set up and maintain. 

 Perhaps older versions, such as XP, would be more stable. Right now, though, I can't recommend that anyone use a Windows device to run a gateway or digipeater. 

KD0TLS: MN APRS update 6/24/23

  This will be relatively brief, because I've been breaking up these updates into specific areas. There's a lot changing throughout the state these days. 

 North 

 We're getting a clearer idea of the coverage of the new digipeater near Wales, MN. N0MR is picking up stations in Canada, the northern half of Wisconsin, and into the interior of MN. Looks promising. I especially appreciate that it's handling RF packets from isolated I-Gates such as KB0BDN-10 near Grand Marais.

 WB0MPE-15 is one those interior digipeaters. Located in Silica (about 15 miles south of Hibbing), it's been using both the Mahtowa (MHTOWA) and Wales (N0MR) digipeaters to reach the Knife River (KNFRVR) gateway. WB0MPE-15 has been around for a couple of years now, but is mostly either "deaf" or off-air. When it works, it has surprisingly good "ears". Currently, it's picking up the usual Canadian digi/gateways, down to Tamarack, and over to the North Shore. It's a bit "noisy" by urban standards, but its infrequent operation hasn't made that a problem in the past. It has good power, and is able to reach Duluth, Brainerd and Askov easily. If this station stays up, a good share of the Iron Range that has lacked coverage for about a year now could get some baseline service. A gateway/digi in Grand Rapids could easily pick up the Silica digipeater, and expand coverage even further east. 

 K9MLD-11 near Virginia, MN continues its irregular operation. This digipeater often goes off-air for hours at a time, and sometimes for weeks. As I write this, it's been down for four hours and counting. It reaches and hears the Silica digi easily, and it also picks up the (deaf) digipeater in Cook, MN. This is another of those elements of the MN network that has potential to be very useful if it's properly maintained, but that potential is currently not being realized. EDIT: K9MLD-11 went down again on Saturday morning (6/24). 

 COOKMN, the digipeater near Cook, MN has moved from being off-air to transmitting an ID for several hours each day. It has heard no packets for nearly six months, however.

 In Lutsen, K9MLD-10 came back from the dead this week. This digipeater also seems to have problems, however. It's only picked up one mobile station, though its TX seems reasonably good and the station is picked up by the KNFRVR gateway.

  The K0VRC-2 gateway in Tower, MN is still down. Ostensibly, the operators were waiting for "warmer weather" to work on the antenna. Let's hope this crucial gateway comes back into service soon. 

 In Duluth, the Park Point digipeater PRKPNT has been down for about a week now. 

 Near Cloquet, the N0ZRD-10 digipeater is back in action. You can tell because it transmits every four minutes.

 East

  The KC9NVV-3 digipeater in Osceola, WI went deaf about two weeks ago. It stopped transmitting an RF ID on 6/22 (two days ago). This border digi handles a considerable amount of traffic from eastern MN, and easily reaches the metro. 

 For the clueless (and very vocal) people who react badly when I use the term "went deaf" or "gone deaf", I don't know how else to express the idea that digipeaters and gateways often remain connected to the servers or continue to transmit an RF ID even though they no longer re-transmit or gate any packets heard. A digipeater or gateway that hears no traffic is not really a digipeater or gateway; it's a beacon (at best). In virtually all cases, a reboot of the TNC/PC resolves this issue.

 KC0KUR-10 near Lindstrom, MN has been down for three days now. This gateway/digi has surprisingly good ears, but it usually doesn't stay on the air for an entire month. It provided very useful service for the recent bike ride/marathon events, however. EDIT: KC0KUR-10 re-established its connection to the -IS in the morning of 6/25, but has gated no packets since it went down on 6/21.

 The Isle, MN W0KGK-10 RX-only gateway has been down so long now that the -IS servers no longer remember that it ever even existed. That's a milestone of sorts.

 West 

  The big digipeater in Litchfield, KC0CAP-1, has been down for two months now. This station filled in a lot of the gaps in coverage, but it was taken down in favor of a repeater. The operator, KC0CAP (Dan), has said that it's possible it could return to service in the future. I'm not particularly hopeful on that score, however. 

 The good news is that the NY0I-1 gateway/digi in Paynesville has really stepped up. 

Current NY0I-1 coverage

 The addition of even a modest gateway/digi in Hutchinson would really firm up coverage, and provide a solid path to gateway for the Green Isle KC0QNA-1 digipeater. 

 South-west 

 MTNLAKE, the anchor TX gateway for the southwestern part of the state, has returned to the air. It's located in Mountain Lake, MN. The station seems to take regular breaks for a week or so, but it should be solid for a couple of months now if previous patterns hold. 

 In Tyler, MN the RX-only gateway KB0NLY-2 made an appearance over the past couple of days. It lost connection to the -IS servers in the early hours Saturday morning (6/24). As I've mentioned before, this station is very irregular in operation. 

 The KD0BXJ-3 gateway in Windom has "gone deaf" for well over a month now. It maintains an -IS connection, but gates no packets. When it worked, it had mostly local coverage.

 In Chandler, the KD0MC-2 digipeater has continued to put up impressive coverage. Possibly due to the more reliable gating provided by the return of the MTNLAKE gateway, the digipeater has logged RX east of Mankato and deep into Iowa. 

 South 

  Things don't usually change much in the southern part of the state, so I don't cover it very often. 

 It seems like the KD0TGF-1 gateway might be back, though only as an RX-only gateway. It's been deaf for a year now (at least), though still connected to the -IS. The stations it's picking up are weird and false -- over 6800 miles away. It bears watching, as it might return to service soon. 

 W0AZR-2 near Ellendale might be working again. This is a chronically-struggling digipeater I'd almost given up watching. Not only does it frequently go deaf for months on end, it transmits an ID at a ridiculous rate of every four minutes. For those infrequent intervals when it somehow does function, it has only about a five-mile coverage radius. Lately, it's picked up a few local packets, but that was over a week ago. 

 The Metro 

 No big changes since the last update. 

• N0QML-1, the up-and-coming TX gateway near Centerville, has "rebranded" to W0MHR-2. This is part of K0WLC's (Matt) new club -- Minnesota Ham Radio (hence the "MHR"). Nothing else has changed, and it still remains the only I-Gate in Anoka County. 
• K0BEN-10 has been down for a week now. This local-coverage TX gateway has filled in some dead spots in south Minneapolis and handled a considerable amount of RF-based messaging. I've notified the operator, K0BEN (Ben), but heard nothing back. 
• AE0KW-1 stopped transmitting yesterday evening (6/23). This is a fill-in digipeater located in Hopkins. It's been pretty reliable for the past few months, so it might just be temporary. EDIT: AE0KW-1 resumed transmission this afternoon (6/24), but has handled no packets since it went down.
• Not sure what's happening with N0UK-9. It was operating as a low-coverage digipeater for a while, but it's been deaf for about a week. Now it's transmitting an RF ID every minute. 
• N0KGK-3, the digipeater in Burnsville, has returned to service after being off-air for over a week. This station covers some significant gaps in the south, and I hope it stays active. 
• The digipeater in Big Lake is down again. BGLKWX hasn't been on-air since 6/14.
• N9MEC in Apple Valley has some impressive new coverage. For years now, it's been an RX-only I-Gate that has struggled to receive north of Burnsville. This month, it's transformed into a TX gateway that provides fill-in coverage for the entire metro, and reaches north into parts of Anoka County. Paired with the Burnsville N0KGK-3 digipeater, it seems like our problems with coverage in the south metro/exurbs might be solved. 

Current N9MEC coverage

Previous N9MEC coverage

KD0TLS: SW Minnesota APRS update 6/16/23

  A couple of months ago, I wrote a post on the APRS "scene" in southwestern MN. A few things have changed since then, and I have some additional information from a local in the area. 

 First, let's look at a map of the typical APRS infrastructure in the area: 

Southwestern MN APRS infrastructure

 As always, click on these images to enlarge them. 

 Currently, the big MTLAKE TX gateway in Mountain Lake is down. Per the operator (NG0E Jon), it should be restored in a week or less. While MTLAKE has excellent coverage, and offers the only RF-based messaging for the area, it goes off-air for a week or more about four times a year. 

EDIT: MTLAKE came back in service the evening of 6/20/23.

 That's why I was pleased when I saw the KD0BXJ-3 TX gateway come on-line back in April. Located in Windom, it seemed natural that it could provide some backup when MTLAKE inevitably took a break. Unfortunately, this Windom gateway ran into trouble a month ago and never recovered. It's still connected to the APRS-IS servers, but no longer gates any traffic. 

 So... there's still that RX-only gateway in Tyler, right? Nope. KB0NLY-2 has also been down for over a month now. And it doesn't even have an -IS connection, like KB0BXJ-3 does. But this is typical for the Tyler gateway. It's become very unreliable over the past few years. 

 There is no functional I-Gate in south-west MN at all right now. Digipeated packets from the Chandler, Tracy and Fairmont stations are gated in South Dakota, Faribault, and St. Cloud. 

 Still, what infrastructure that remains seems to working better than it has in the past, surprisingly. 

 The Fairmont digipeater, KC0KOZ-2, has struggled for at least two years now. It usually only handles stations within five miles of its location. This month, however, it's showing a 25-mile coverage radius, going along I-90 and south into Iowa. 

Fairmont digi coverage 6/16/23

 The area still needs a gateway in Blue Earth to cover more of I-90 (and serve as a backup), but KC0KOZ-2 seems to be doing reasonably well right now. 

 Perhaps impacted by the loss of the MTLAKE gateway, the W0DRK-2 digipeater near Tracy, MN seems to be handling less traffic than usual. It still has pretty powerful TX, though, and is capable of passing traffic (including messaging) to St. Cloud or even the metro. A modest RX-only gateway in Marshall could make this station significantly more valuable to the community.

Current W0DRK-2 coverage

 It was fairly exciting for me to see the coverage and traffic data from the Chandler, MN digipeater, however. KD0MC-2 is doing a heck of a job covering I-90 for travelers, and the surrounding areas, as well. 

Current KD0MC-2 coverage

 Bear in mind we are only midway through the month, so this map could still show further improvement than we see here. As you can see, solid coverage to the north ends at Marshall. This is yet another reason for having an I-Gate there, to consolidate coverage and provide some redundancy in the network. 

 The current map for the Chandler digi was so interesting that I dug up the contact for the station to find out if any improvements had been made. KD0BJW (Arl) got back to my email promptly, and had some interesting information to share. 

 First, both the Chandler and Tyler digipeaters are run by the same club -- the Murray County Amateur Radio Club (MCARC). It's refreshing to see a club take such strong interest in APRS, and to run two stations. It would be nice if the club in Worthington took MCARC's example to heart and set up a modest gateway to handle that local packet traffic. 

 Second, Arl said that nothing had changed on either of these two stations to his knowledge. This means that local APRS activity must be increasing considerably. With the Chandler digi having a solid hold on traffic from Faribault, Paynesville, Mankato, Granite Falls, and Green Isle, a local operator on RF within range of KD0MC-2 can do pretty well. RF-based messaging can reach about 1/4 of the state in EmComm situations -- or just having some fun on #aprsthursday. And that's direct comms, without a gateway. 

 Summary 

 I'm still hopeful that the infrastructure in southwestern MN will stabilize, and even grow. There seems to be a demand, and such a demand usually prompts local operators to establish their own small-scale gateways to better leverage the available infrastructure. 

 With the current array of hardware and software solutions, it's not particularly challenging to set up at least an RX-only APRS gateway. An old analog scanner can be run into an obsolete laptop running APRS client software or a sound-card modem, for example. A Mobilinkd TNC can plug into a spare HT or cheap Chinese mobile rig, and Bluetooth it to an old tablet/laptop. There are simple options beyond big towers and expensive TNCs. 

KD0TLS: APRS and the MS-150 marathon

  Last weekend, the MS-150 bike ride took place. A lot of amateurs took part in support operations, and APRS was used extensively to track vehicles and show locations of rest stops, etc. 

 I asked a few participants how well the APRS infrastructure performed, and I got a mixed review. In some regards, an event like this simulates an EmComm situation where mobile stations need to be co-ordinated and information disseminated across wide areas. 

 The most positive remarks concerned the APRS-IS end of things such as the objects created to represent way stations. Some people used the -IS exclusively for their mobile tracking, taking advantage of cellular coverage. Since the route for the event was adjacent to I-35, cellular data coverage was fairly reliable. 

 On the RF side, there was some criticism regarding coverage or reliability. This surprised me somewhat, since our RF infrastructure had improved since last year. Aside from baseline coverage, the KF0KFL-1 TX gateway had been added. Also, the TX gateway/digi W0MHR-2 and the KC0KUR-10 TX gateway were in operation, where they weren't last year at this time. And, of course, the big AD0MI-1 digipeater in Askov was not in existence last year at this time. 

 However, the big RX-only gateway in Isle, W0KGW-10, was down. This gateway seems to be down more frequently, and for longer than in the past. As it stands at the moment, it's been down for three weeks. While having it in operation would have supported the Askov digipeater, it's direct coverage of I-35 has never been spectacular, so it's likely only a minor factor. 

 There were at least two mobile digipeaters: N0UK-9 and WG0A-2, but I'm not sure if they were in operation all of the time. 

 From what I gather, the most common blind spots were between Forest Lake and Wyoming, and between Rush City and Hinckley. The area around Moose Lake was also mentioned. It wasn't exactly a case of no coverage, but instead spotty, unreliable coverage in these areas. 

 Possible solutions 

 In correspondence with WG0A (Brent) he suggested a few more portable digipeaters could be used, and he thought he could provide those next time. 

 I know that there are plans for a TX gateway, sponsored by the Gopher Radio Club, to go on-air near Rush City at some point. I'd expect that to be in operation by next year's event. That has potential to supplement the RX-only WB0VGI-1 gateway near Harris. 

 But these efforts are, sadly, just working on the margins. 

 Much of the heavy lifting can be done by the Askov digipeater, but we would still need site-specific support in the known blind spots. Digipeaters are helpful for those in a particular area to see local traffic. But if they don't reach a gateway, that traffic isn't visible to the wider group co-ordinating things. 

 One option that seems to be overlooked is HF APRS. If there are concerns about "real" amateur radio, a couple of NVIS field HF stations could make use of the metro HF APRS gateway (or create a temporary new gateway) to move VHF traffic across a wide area. This sounds like an interesting and challenging project that old-school hams could tackle.

  Otherwise, there are simpler VHF-based solutions. Assuming there is cellular data coverage in a place like, say, Hinckley, newer smart-phones can produce a wi-fi hotspot. A tablet (or laptop) running an APRS client (e.g. APRSIS32) could be connected to an HT to create a temporary I-Gate. A better solution would be for organizers to contact local hams in these blind spot areas to set up simple gateways using their home internet connection. Easier said than done, I know. 

 There may be a case to be made for those in local clubs to push the issue with their leadership. Leveraging the group resources, a portable gateway/digi could be put together very cheaply with hardware already in hand. An old laptop, a KPC-3 TNC, a tripod-mounted VHF antenna, and a spare HT are items that can be easily scrounged up and put into service for a couple of days. As I keep saying, something is always better than nothing.

Summary 

 We are fortunate to have an amateur community that is geared toward problem-solving and innovation. With a year to go, and the specific knowledge of the challenging areas, I'm confident that individual hams can come up with solutions. I'm less confident that clubs and EmComm organizations will see APRS coverage as a priority, however. This is unfortunate, because events like this are potential drills for emergency situations. Rather than relying on FM voice repeaters, all of the data can be efficiently collected and disseminated from one end of the route to the other by using APRS. 

 Our state network is constantly changing. By this time next year, there may be a home gateway near Moose Lake, or a digipeater in Hinckley. Who knows? 

KD0TLS: Duluth area APRS update 6/14/23

  As with the Brainerd update, I'm trying to break this effort up into bite-sized pieces rather than one massive post. 

 Much of the northern MN infrastructure has long relied on a "digipeater-heavy" model: many big digipeaters feeding very few gateways. Though things are starting to change, the situation in Duluth remains a prime example of that model. Several years ago, the gateway in Knife River (KNFRVR) was the anchor for all APRS traffic (though under a different name), including everything from Duluth. A few years ago, KB1YTR-1 appeared in Duluth proper, and the big digipeater in Tamarack went off-air, changing the landscape quite a bit.

 Before we get too deeply in to an analysis, let's look at a map of the current infrastructure for the area:

Current Duluth infrastructure

 As always, you can click on these maps to enlarge them. The map above doesn't include the new N0MR-11 digipeater near Wales, MN (about 18 miles to the north of Knife River), but this station is also beginning to interact with the Duluth infrastructure. Even more exciting, we are already seeing that N0MR-11 has a weak hold on the Bemidji W0RFP-1 TX gateway. This has potential to realize the dream of an RF link between the east and west sides of northern Minnesota. W0RFP-1 is increasingly busy and taking on a critical role as a hub for traffic. But that, perhaps, is a subject for another post. 

N0MR-11 current coverage

 Duluth itself is ringed by three big digipeaters: PROCTOR, DULUTH, and PRKPNT. The names indicate the location (e.g. PRKPNT is in Park Point outside of Duluth proper). This seems more like over-kill and less like redundancy, in my opinion. Further, all three of these digipeaters beacon at an inappropriate rate of less than ten minutes. Still, this trio hauls in packets from the surrounding areas, and connects Duluth to some of the wider infrastructure in the state. 

Current PRKPNT coverage

Current PROCTOR coverage

Current DULUTH coverage

 What makes this arrangement actually work is the KB1YTR-1 RX-only I-Gate. This is an extremely busy gateway, though much of that load has recently been shed to the KE0OPK-13 TX gateway near Cloquet. And more recently, the big KNFRVR digipeater has transformed into a TX gateway/digi. Both of these TX gateways reach Duluth, and provide RF-based messaging. 

 As I've mentioned before over the years, there's a need for a small-scale TX gateway in Duluth (or the immediate suburbs), or in Superior across the border, to handle the large amount of traffic. An inordinate share of this traffic comes from the digipeater ID packets, including big digipeaters in Wisconsin. Some of the noise-makers have gone off-air over the past few years, but it remains an issue. A small 5W TX I-Gate could easily leverage the surrounding digipeaters to provide reliable messaging service within the Duluth metro. 

 With Duluth as a hub, we can now look at the surrounding stations that feed into that hub and provide coverage to the approaches. 

 MHTOWA 

 In keeping with the theme of naming digipeaters with the nearby town, rather than a callsign, MHTOWA is located in Mahtowa. In theory, MHTOWA is the critical RF link connecting Duluth to the rest of the state -- such as Brainerd, Askov, and even the metro. The reality is that MHTOWA is kind of an "alligator" (big mouth, small ears) that transmits much better than it receives. Instead, it provides the service of more local coverage, extending the range of the Cloquet gateway further south. In keeping with that role, it dovetails nicely with the direct coverage of the KE0OPK-13 I-Gate and the Askov AD0MI-1 digipeater. The addition of even a modest TX gateway near Moose Lake would make it considerably more valuable to the network.

MHTOWA current coverage

 KE0OPK-13 

 This relatively modest TX I-Gate is taking on an increasingly important role. It covers the southern approaches to Duluth, handles digipeater traffic from Duluth, Mahtowa, and Solon (in WI), and provides messaging service. While I tend to refer to it as the "Cloquet" gateway, it's really several miles further south-west in Otter Creek. A small-scale digipeater in Cloquet itself would be a significant boost in coverage.

KE0OPK-13 current coverage

KNFRVR 

  The KNFRVR gateway has gone through several incarnations over the years. For a long time, it was an RX-only gateway with no digipeater capability under the KC0MKS callsign. It went off-air for several months and returned as a digipeater-only station with the KNFRVR name. Perhaps in support of recent marathon events, it switched over to operating as a TX gateway/digi last week or so. Currently, it's the dominant force in the area and could take over Duluth's status as a traffic hub in the future. And with the Ely-based micro-network slowly starting to rebuild -- thus far with the COOKMN and K9MLD-11 digipeaters -- it has potential to shape the growth of the Iron Range's infrastructure simply by providing gating capacity.

Current KNFRVR coverage

Summary 

 The region still seems to prefer digipeaters to gateways, for whatever reason. It also seems inclined toward big solutions, rather than easier-to-achieve small solutions. While some of the old North Shore digipeaters have faded away (Silver Bay and Lutsen come to mind), the addition of the new N0MR-11 digi is a promising sign that we may see coverage expanding further inland. Some kind of gateway expansion to the west of Duluth would be welcome, at least to cover the approaches and serve as a basis for future digipeaters. It seems unlikely that the big digipeaters in Tamarack or Aitkin will return. Rather than wait for big towers to open up, the path forward might be better served with more modest digipeaters in cabins or small-scale gateways in resorts. Certainly, clubs could promote the idea of small TX gateways in members' homes. Perhaps it could be a club project to pass around an RPi gateway (with HT as TX) to various members, each operating it for a month or so. 

 Local operators have proven they have the will to build repeater networks, and even WinLink gateways, across the Range. There is a lot of APRS infrastructure that's simply been allowed to fall into disuse, so perhaps the problem is lack of interest in APRS. The Soudan I-Gate (K0VRC-2) has been down for nearly a year, for example. It's a bit unfortunate, because the relative isolation of the Iron Range would be an almost perfect application of APRS for EmComm and dissemination of information. 

KD0TLS: Brainerd area update 6/12/23

  Instead of my regular state-wide update, I'm going to look at the Brainerd area and the changes there. So much has changed since late April that a full update would be a lot of work. 

First, a map of the area infrastructure for those unfamiliar with the landscape: 

Brainerd area APRS

 W0UJ in Brainerd has long been the anchor for infrastructure in the area, but it's had some ups and downs over the past few years. It's paired with a gateway/digi 20 miles away (near Staples, MN) under the callsign W0RC. The two seem to rise and fall together, though I'm not sure if the same people operate them both. 

Current W0UJ direct coverage

 Once a powerful TX gateway, W0UJ could leverage the (now defunct) AITKIN digipeater (in Aitkin, as you guessed) to be a hub of sorts for traffic. But, over the past few years, the Brainerd I-Gate has gone off-air several times and become an RX-only gateway. While W0RC could, in theory, serve as the RF TX of the pair, it really doesn't. As I write this, W0RC has been deaf for three days. Its role is largely as a digipeater that expands W0UJ's coverage somewhat to the west. A couple of months ago, when W0UJ was down, W0NY (to the south) served as a part-time gateway. But those days seem to be over, as W0NY has now become a web-only station that doesn't even exist on the APRS-IS servers. 

 There was a brief period last month when W0UJ was actually transmitting a beacon over RF. During that time, it proved the station could reach the AD0MI-1 digipeater in Askov, MN. So, potentially, W0UJ could still be a significant player in the RF end of APRS if chose to. 

 Isolation 

 The W0RC digipeater aside, the Brainerd area is actually isolated from the rest of the MN APRS network. It's outside of the coverage from the Little Falls (W0REA-11) digipeater, and barely falls into the coverage from AD0MI-1. Certainly, it's connected by the -IS to other I-Gates. 

Fill-in coverage from AD0MI-1

W0RC coverage

 This is a good case for digipeaters to support the Brainerd gateway, though I tend to think modest home RX-only I-Gates are a more practical solution. For example, an RX-only gateway in Garrison, Pequot Lakes/Breezy Point, or Aitkin would provide redundancy and expand coverage. These gateways could be used to support future small-scale digipeater expansions that might connect to Little Falls (and thus, the rest of the RF-based network). 

 Digipeated traffic 

 The W0UJ gateway has an excellent RX footprint, pulling in digipeated traffic from St. Cloud, Duluth, and even the metro. All of this makes a compelling case for a TX gateway, though. Operators in the Brainerd area would have access to a lot of traffic from across the state, if there were an RF outlet. Even a small, local TX gateway could probably do well with messaging. 

 A decent digipeater in Wadena could connect Brainerd over RF with Fargo. As it is, Brainerd is more of an -IS hub right now.