Loose Notes 2/27/16

  There are just a few developments over the past week, and I want to get them updated early. 

FM Repeaters 

• RepeaterBook is inquiring if the 146.820- (no tone?) repeater in Fergus Falls in on-air or not. If you can confirm either way, update the listing. 

• We have a new cross-band link in the metro! The VHF 145.290- (114.8 PL) repeater in New Brighton is now linked to the UHF 444.750+ (114.8 PL) repeater in Columbia Heights. In previous on-air conversations with K0FCC (Dan), he's said that his plan is to link three bands together. Judging by the listing for the (currently down) 224.500- (114.8 PL), it looks as if the intention is to add 1.25M to this linking scheme. 

• I'm not sure what's happened to the 443.250+ (DCS 023N) repeater in Dayton lately. It used to come back with an S7 or S8 signal, but now it's only S4. 

• I've been wondering in the 443.000+ (114.8 PL) SNP repeater in Chaska is ever going to come back on-air. This was an interesting UHF machine that came back S9, and had a working auto-patch, but it's been down for a couple of weeks now (at least). 

Satellite 

•  With AO-85 (Fox 1-A) already in orbit and working, the next "bird" is scheduled to launch some time in January of next year (2017). This would be another FM satellite, Fox 1-B. Plans are already being made for Fox 1-E, which will be an SSB (linear transponder) satellite. 

• Though it was launched in mid-2014, the FM satellite EO-80 still hasn't had been activated for amateur use. 

DMR 

• Well, I was wrong about a new DMR repeater going up in Prior Lake. N0AGI (Nagi) did get a new 50W repeater and duplexer, but it isn't going up on the Prior Lake site. Rumour has it that the new repeater is in search of a site in the south metro, though. Testing has gone well.

• We're now up to 88 DMR IDs in Minnesota. Several new operators have been added in Faribault now that the 442.175+ has been moved there. Also, new operators have popped up in Ham Lake, Blaine, White Bear Lake, Bloomington, New Hope, Buffalo, Willmar and even Duluth.

• I just welcomed WA0CQG (Carl) this morning to DMR as his first contact. He had a very good signal into the Minneapolis 442.425+ repeater from Bloomington. 

• In a QSO with K0LAV (Paul) on the MARA 444.800+, I learned that Paul is now on DMR with a full-powered rig. He's still trying to navigate the code-plug, but I'm very confident that he'll be able to access the Oakdale 443.425+ machine. The Dayton 442.850+ is probably a safe bet, too, from his location. You really only need to be able to get in to one repeater. 

• Also, in that same QSO, Paul reiterated his plan to put a VHF DMR repeater on the air. It wouldn't be linked to the UHF network, but would serve as a standalone 100W power-house for local coverage on TS1 (Time Slot 1). A selected few talk-groups would be accessible on TS2, and these would likely be state-wide in nature (i.e. covering a single state, rather than world-wide or regional). All DMR rigs are monoband, so keep this in mind when shopping for a rig. You'll need a second rig to access this VHF repeater along with the UHF network, though you won't need a second DMR ID. There was no mention made of the planned site for Paul's new repeater, though the stated power level and narrow-band digital nature of the mode should provide metro-wide coverage. 

• Discussions will soon be starting on a potential re-arrangement of time-slots on (at least) three local repeaters: the Dayton 442.850, Oakdale 443.425, and Minneapolis 442.425. Currently, the calling channels are all on TS1, and everything else is on TS2. As local traffic increases, TS2 is starting to get locked up. Start thinking about clever options to move TGs off of TS2, and what you would like to see carried on TS1. It's good to start discussing this now, rather than at some future point where we have a serious problem. You can also submit your ideas here on the blog.  

APRS 

• It seems that almost as soon as I mentioned the KD0KZE gateway coming back on-air, it went down again for the week. 

• Southern Minnesota's KG0QR-1 gateway has now handled more than 6.2k packets this month! It's handling digipeated packets from Windom to Winona, all the way up to Ramsey. 

• The Mora 147.240+ (146.2 PL) repeater now has an APRS icon, courtesy of N0DZQ. 

• With the nicer weather, we're seeing a lot more aircraft equipped with APRS. Please remember to adjust your N-path when you do this, so that you aren't using digipeaters. You really don't need multiple bounces at high altitudes, and you are only causing unnecessary congestion. WIDE 1-1 is a considerate adjustment.                               

APRS coverage maps for February

  As February ends, it's a good time to look at the coverage maps of a few digipeaters and gateways. Aprs.fi compiles the data of all packets heard. I'm only going to look at a few elements of the network, and I'm keeping the coverage maps limited to packets that are directly heard. Including packets that have been digipeated would, in most cases, make these maps very large. 

  First, let's look at the N0RUA-10 RX-only I-Gate in St. Paul. This machine has seen dramatic growth in it's received coverage in the past few months. 

N0RUA-10 2/16 coverage

   This gateway is covering the south-east and south-west metro, and into Minneapolis proper. It's the kind of "fill-in" coverage that contributes to the good redundancy of our local network. Even when a major I-Gate or digipeater fails, the multiple RX-only gateways really carry that load quite well. 

  Moving north, (outside of Wyoming, MN) there's a TX gateway just off of 35W. N0DZQ-10 has returned to the air recently and is covering the gap on I-35 quite nicely. Since this a TX gateway, it's also able to pass on messages to mobile stations.

N0DZQ-10 2/16 coverage

   This gateway also handles digipeated packets from St. Cloud to Hinckley and down to Minnetonka. 

  Moving down to the south-eastern part of the State, W0NE-1 is a TX gateway operating a handful of miles south of Winona. It frequently reaches the metro area, and it's gated over 61.6k packets this month alone. 

W0NE-1 2/16 coverage

   While this gateway directly hears traffic on I-90, into Winona and Bluff Country, it's real strength is in gating digipeated traffic. Much of the southern part of Minnesota is only covered by big digipeaters. This model relies on a relative few I-Gates to actually gate the bulk of the traffic, as well as generate messaging traffic. The terrain is very challenging in this part of Minnesota, and this is a great coverage map with that in mind. 

  On the south-western edge of the metro near Chaska, WB0ZKB-5 is a digipeater providing "fill-in" coverage. It feeds the N0AGI-5 gateway in Prior Lake

WB0ZKB-5 2/16 coverage

   Here we see a digipeater that handles packets for Highways 169 and 212, all the way to I-35 and the edge of the I-494 loop. It's a machine that's heard from Mankato down to Winona on a regular basis, providing a redundant link to the metro area. It's main role in the network is in filling gaps, and the packet load is relatively light.
 

   Last, but not least, is the KB0GTF-1 TX I-Gate near Bloomington. This gateway picked up a lot of the slack when W0YC-5 went off-air earlier this month. It handles digipeated traffic from St. Cloud to Rochester, and well into Wisconsin. More than 18.1k packets were handled by this gateway this month alone. 

KB0GTF 2/16 coverage

   A look at the map above shows that KB0GTF-1 directly hears stations across the metro. It can also generate messaging, and is in a great position to reach very powerful digipeaters to pass message traffic over a wide area. This machine has become a crucial part of the metro's redundancy. 

  So that's a look at five elements of the Minnesota APRS network. Each one has a different role, but they all support the goal of moving your packets to a gateway seamlessly -- even when the core elements fail.  

                                      

Loose Notes 2/12/16

  I'm just catching up on the developments over the past couple of weeks. Some interesting stuff has been going on, and a few minor developments are worthy of mention. 

FM Repeaters 

• Per K0UMM (Travis), the VHF SuperLink repeater on 147.015+ in Collegeville (near St. Cloud) is "sickly". Travis rang up the machine for a "noisy S1" from less than 13 miles away. More troubles for the crumbling SuperLink network. Even worse, he also noted that the 146.940- in Sauk Rapids is "off-air". No mention of these problems on the St. Cloud ARC's website, but it appears that they're raising money for a new repeater. No mention as to which repeater they are raising money to replace. 

• Near Albert Lea, the 146.880- (100.0 PL) wide-area two-metre repeater is back on the air. Also in that same area, the 443.525+ (100.0 PL) is reported as back on the air. 

• The 462.675+ GMRS repeater in Crystal is down. Per N0RVY (Steve), the transmitter has failed. No timetable for restoration at this point. 

DMR 

• The big news in the local DMR world is that N0AGI (Nagi) and N0BVE (Don) have moved the 442.175+ machine in Prior Lake to Faribault. More information can be found in Nagi's blog post on the subject. Don and Nagi were reportedly able to access the repeater continuously on the drive back to Prior Lake using an HT and an external mobile whip. The site in Faribault is much higher in elevation and the tower is higher than the (currently abandoned) site in Prior Lake. A Yagi is currently beaming the signal towards the metro, but that will switch over to an omni vertical in a few months. This move comes as a big surprise, but the Prior Lake site didn't really reach well north of the Minnesota River. It's possible that operators just south of the metro will have to upgrade their rigs and/or antennae once the repeater switches to a vertical -- especially as the leaves come in. 

APRS 

• W0YC-5, the major metro APRS gateway, was down for about two days last week. Fortunately, tropospheric conditions weren't overloading the metro with distant traffic, and we've gained adequate redundancy to handle these failures without collapsing. 

•  AE0MT-10 is back on the air as an RX-only I-Gate in Coon Rapids after an absence of just under two weeks.  

• Though the month of February is still young, two RX-only gateways have racked up impressive stats. KE0NA-11 in NE Minneapolis has gated over 1300 packets so far, while N0KFB in Mounds View has handled nearly 5000 in the same period. Both of these gateways are operated out of homes with rooftop antennae. It really can be done.             

Voice Alert: APRS tool for FM simplex

  There are quite a few local operators that don't really "get" APRS. They may have a vague understanding of what it is, but not what you can do with it. Aside from being a good entry point for the world of amateur FM packet, you can use APRS to send short messages, get an idea of your station's coverage, contribute to real-time VHF propagation maps, let other operators know which frequency you are on for a QSO, locate repeaters in unfamiliar areas, inform the local community of nets and meetings, and even get weather information. 

  Still, there's another feature of APRS that can help you explore two-metre FM simplex. Voice Alert has been around for a while, and is more of a commonly agreed-upon convention than it is a technology. You don't need a TNC, a computer, or an APRS/GPS enabled radio to take advantage of it, either. You just need a two-metre FM radio with PL tone and tone squelch capability -- which covers practically all 2M FM rigs nowadays.  

  Tune your 2M FM rig to 144.390 (no offsets, just simplex) and set your PL tone and tone squelch to 100.0 Hz. Without tone squelch, you'll hear a lot of squawking APRS traffic that doesn't help you. Without the 100.0 Hz PL tone, you won't be able to make contact with mobile APRS operators. Now just listen. 

   If you hear a squawk come through the speaker, you'll know that there's somebody within simplex range. It would be easier, of course, if you have aprs.fi open on a computer, tablet, or smart-phone because you could see the callsign of the operator in your vicinity. Then you could call them specifically. 

  Next, make your call. Wait for a quiet moment, rather than talking over the digital traffic. If you know the other operator's callsign, then say "Voice alert <other sign> from <your sign>". If you don't know the other callsign, just say "Voice alert from <your sign>". 

  It's important to use the word "voice alert" because the other person doesn't know if the voice they are hearing (yours) is on a repeater or on APRS simplex. If the other operator comes back to your sign, you should immediately suggest a QSY to an FM simplex frequency, such as 146.52. You can continue your QSO there, but don't stay on the APRS frequency (144.390) because you'll be interfering with the packet traffic. 

  Using Voice Alert largely guarantees that the other person is within simplex range. It's a great tool for mobile operation, because you know someone is listening and within range of you. You can also use it with a marginal home station (such as an HT) to experience FM simplex, because the stations come to you -- instead of you trying to reach long distances to reach them. 

  Two-metre FM simplex is usually the domain of higher-powered stations with excellent antennae, because there's no repeater involved to "magnify" your signal. But, if a station is close to you (as indicated by your reception of their APRS packet), then you can "make it work" with a less-than-ideal rig. 

  Be aware that the other station is most likely moving, and may soon be out of range. If you're mobile, however, you might find that you're both on a parallel course. Either way, you've got a shot at an FM simplex contact that you weren't otherwise aware of. 

  Don't use Voice Alert on a home RF beacon, especially one that's running unattended and/or at high power. In other words, don't set up a 100.0 Hz PL tone on your beacon. If you aren't monitoring the APRS frequency for calls, or if you're transmitting further than you can receive QRP FM simplex, then you're just making noise on the APRS channel. 

  Voice Alert is yet another reason to run APRS in your mobile installation. It just might make you a simplex contact that you would have missed.         

Loose Notes 1/24/16

  I've been unable to access my outdoor antennae until recently, due to the cold weather. The door to the balcony froze shut, which meant that I couldn't set up any of my Yagi beams or swap my exterior whip for other bands. Fortunately, the whip that was outside when the cold snap hit was reasonably good on 2M, and I've been able to operate my 5W APRS beacon. Other than that, I've been limited to indoor antennae until this past Friday... so mostly it's been DMR or local UHF for me. On top of that, the battery for my Nexus 7 tablet is at the end of its useful life, and that's what makes my APRS beacon work. It now takes two days to charge it for every one day of use. A replacement is on the way, and I'll have my beacon back on the air soon.

Satellite

• Those six Chinese SSB satellites (XW-2A - XW-2F) are still having trouble. 2B and 2D only have their CW beacon working, and nobody's heard from 2E in weeks. XW-2A generally has a good morning and evening pass locally, with about half of the 4-5 daily passes being too low for anything but an "egg-beater" antenna with a good horizon to work. XW-2C doesn't have many high passes (mostly below 30 degrees), but you'll have about four passes a day (about ten minutes each) if you can work with the lower angle. Remember, these are not FM satellites -- SSB, CW, RTTY, or PSK only. 

 

DMR

• The third local DMR repeater (443.425+) is scheduled to go on-air today (1/24) sometime before noon. N0YNT (Matt) has said that he expects a straightforward installation. The site in Oakdale has hosted an analogue UHF repeater on that frequency for several years, so he basically just has to swap the analogue machine for the digital. Hopefully, there are enough DMR operators with updated code-plugs out that way to test the new repeater's coverage. 

• Per an on-air QSO with K0LAV (Paul), I've learned that a two-metre DMR repeater might be coming on the scene this year. Paul envisions a more limited array of talk-group options than the current UHF network, and a dedicated time-slot for local operation. With TS1 devoted solely to local traffic, TS2 would offer three state-wide TGs: Virginia, Pennsylvania, and D.C. Since all DMR rigs are monoband, you'd need a second radio to access both networks, but there's a significant faction of local operators that don't much care for UHF and this could be just the development to spur wider adoption of the mode. There are currently no plans to link this VHF DMR repeater with the other local UHF DMR repeaters.

• Minnesota has been gaining new DMR operators fairly quickly, judging by the additions to the DMR-MARC database. It seems as if we are adding at least two a week, as far as IDs go. Getting a DMR ID is one of the first steps to getting on the air, so this is a decent indicator of the mode's adoption. Code-plugs for several different models and makes are available, and you'll need the programming software and a cable to program your radio and add your ID to the code-plug.  

• The local DMR network (K4USD) has added a few new regional talk-groups recently: Mid-Atlantic, South-west, Mountain, and Southern Plains. These are all PTT TGs, meaning that you need to key up on the talk-group first to get the repeater to connect to it. A few new state-wide talk-groups were also added a couple of weeks ago: Maryland, D.C, and Pennsylvania. Make sure that your radio has the most current code-plug so that you can access these new (PTT) state-wide TGs. 

• We can always use help maintaining code-plugs. With three repeaters now, and more different models than ever being supported, it's a big job to keep all of the code-plugs up-to-date. Essentially, you would need to add any new TG to the contacts, create a channel (just copy and paste an existing channel and edit it), add the channel to an existing scan list and zone, and do this for all three repeaters (copy/paste, and edit the frequency). You can also add any new DMR IDs to the contact list (name, callsign, ID). If this is too "technical" for you, then help out your fellow operators with programming their radios to get them on the air or keep their radio updated. 

 

APRS 

• I've noticed that some of the old reliable digipeaters and gateways have stopped working and no longer receive. The KG0QR-1 gateway in southern MN hasn't received any packets in well over a month, and no longer transmits. It's basically just an icon maintained over the internet. The WR0P digipeater near Cambridge is now just an RF beacon, and hasn't received any packets in nearly a year. In the north metro, the TX I-Gate KD0RVY-1 hasn't received nor transmitted anything in three months. The N0DZQ-10 TX gateway has also just been nothing more than an icon for the past three weeks. 

• The WB0MPE-7 digipeater outside of Rochester is now back on the air. Now if we can just get a gateway set up in the Rochester area, things would look a lot better to the south. 

• The N0HOY-10 digipeater is back on the air, after a few days of down-time.

• The (sorely-needed) RX-only gateway west of Hibbing, K8IRC, has gone dark. Northern MN is another area with a lot of digipeaters and few gateways. The Hibbing N0AGX-12 TX gateway has handled over 23K packets so far this month, and the Knife River KC0MKS-1 I-Gate has handled over 34K. Up in the far NE corner of the State, the KB0BDN-10 gateway has handled over 10K packets. Somebody in Duluth, Grand Rapids, or Bemidji really needs to step up and operate an RX-only Raspberry Pi gateway to reduce the load. You can't just keep throwing digipeaters on the air without something to actually gate the packets. There are four digipeaters around Duluth alone, and not a single I-Gate. 

• By comparison, the W0YC-5 gateway in Minneapolis, with a much greater population density, handles over 37K packets a month. The N0AGI-5 gateway handles over 27K packets each month. Even the N0FKB RX-only gateway gates over 10K packets. We gate our own traffic. That's as it should be.

FM repeaters 

• The MARA 444.800+ (114.8 PL) is back on the air, after being down for a couple of weeks. Per K0LAV (Paul), the board connections on the old Micor repeater had become oxidised. A little TLC in the form of spraying De-Oxit brought the machine back to life earlier today (1/24). 

• The 146.730- (114.8 PL) in Forest Lake is also back on the air, courtesy of K0LAV. The repeater itself needed replacement in this case. Currently, the AllStar service hasn't been restored, but there's a possibility of this machine being linked to the 146.610- (141.3 PL) in Isle in the future using AllStar. 

• I've been watching the new 444.875+ (114.8 PL) repeater in Spring Lake Park for a while now. N8AGJ (Rock) set this up at his home, and coverage appears to be spotty and favouring the west and south-west. It comes in quite well here in Plymouth (about ten miles away), but operators in nearby Mounds View (for example) have had difficulty getting in. My impression is that the machine transmits better than it receives. It takes at least ten watts for me to "ker-chunk" it, but it comes back S9. If you can access the .875, consider posting a propagation report to RepeaterBook to give the local amateur community a better idea of this new machine's real-world coverage. 

• The 442.175+ (114.8 PL) Fusion repeater in Prior Lake is switching over to digital-only operation this week-end. It's nice that there's a sufficient System Fusion user base in the metro to make something like this viable, and it seems to be the vision for the future, at least locally. We could use a few more analogue repeaters with WIRES-X (HRI-200) implemented to continue to give analogue users access to the growing SF network as the trend to digital-only goes forward. I'm no Fusion expert, but I understand that supporting the hybrid (analogue and digital) model puts significant limitations on the digital potential of Fusion repeaters. The 223.900- and 145.230- repeaters currently "translate" analogue traffic to SF digital format. KE0NA (Dave) is looking at an RPi solution that would allow operation of the HRI-200 (WIRES-X) box without the necessity of a dedicated PC, and this could be an easy way for several more analogue repeaters to help ease the switch to digital-only Fusion in the metro. 

• I'm not exactly sure of the details, and the club website is devoid of any mention, but it seems as if the TCFMC 444.100+ repeater has some kind of a remote base connected to the internet. I've been hearing operators from the East Coast on the "dot one" morning roundtable, along with vague mentions of the capability. Apparently this remote base also provides access to HF, too. I've been unofficially invited to "stay the hell off" all of the TCFMC repeaters for years now, due to (honest and accurate) blog posts putting the TCFMC in an unflattering light, so I'm unable to confirm or glean any more information about this development. Still, it sounds like an excellent and novel idea. It's even better because the TCFMC EchoLink node hasn't been logged on for years now, so this remote base (or whatever it really is) is the only way to open up the club's resources to the rest of the world.

Loose Notes 1/16/16

  It's another week, and I'm summarising what's been going on in the metro amateur radio scene.  

FM Repeaters and DMR

• The 444.725+ (127.3 PL) in Dayton is no longer on the air, having been replaced by the 443.250+ (D023N DPL) Fusion repeater at that same site. 

• AD0MI (Pete) graciously explained the unusual linking arrangement of the new 443.250 machine to me this week. This NW metro UHF SF machine is linked by WIRES-X to several other repeaters to provide very wide coverage across bands. Not only is the UHF .250 linked to the power-house 444.525+ in Mounds View, it's also linked to another Fusion repeater in Zimmerman (444.450+) to provide rural access to the metro activity. What I didn't understand, though, was how the (currently analogue) 145.230- and 223.900- repeaters also functioned in this digital linking scheme. Pete cleared this up as follows: 

  If you transmit in FM into the 223.900 or 145.230, it will come out on 223.900 and 145.230 in FM, and on the .250, 450, and 525 in Fusion Digital.  If you transmit on the .250, .450, or .525 in Fusion digital, it will come out in digital on the other digital machines, and in FM on the .900 and .230.  If you transmit into the .250, .450, or .525 in FM, it remains local to that repeater only.  

•  So it would seem that UHF System Fusion operators in the rural north-west would be able to access metro 2M, 1.25M, and UHF repeaters through the Zimmerman 444.450+ machine. Metro analogue operators can communicate with System Fusion users through the 1.25M 223.900- or the 2M 145.230- repeaters, and participate in the Fusion-only nets. 

 

• The new 442.850+ DMR repeater went on-air in Dayton last week-end. It's an exciting development, as it expands the mode into the west and north-west metro. Local operators have been excited about the great coverage of this new machine, and have been testing it out. KE0NA (Dave) was one of the first to access it, though he had to use a beam to make the 17-mile trip from NE Minneapolis. I found that I was able to get in to the new repeater from ten miles away using an HT with a rubber duck at low power (one watt) indoors, and was able to get into it reliably around Plymouth using the same HT at 5W as a mobile with an external dual-band whip. KC0CAP (Dan) reports that he can get in to the repeater with an HT mobile from around Maple Plain (13 miles). The narrow-band digital nature of the mode allows signals that would be unreadable on analogue to be completely clear. As time goes on, we'll get a clearer picture of the practical coverage area of the new .850, but it looks impressive right now. 

• For those in the east metro, a new DMR repeater will go on-air in a few weeks that promises to cover St. Paul and as far north as Hugo. N0YNT (Matt) will soon be replacing his (currently down) UHF analogue repeater on 443.425+ with a DMR machine in Oakdale. Code-plugs have already been updated to accommodate the new addition to the network, so make sure that you get your radio updated in advance. This means that DMR will very soon have metro-wide coverage, as all three repeaters are linked. 

• Further down the road (perhaps in Spring) N0AGI (Nagi) is making plans to set up a power-house DMR repeater in Prior Lake that should bring the south metro into the network with quite reliable coverage, even using low power levels. It should easily reach to both 35W and 169, meaning that all major approaches to the metro will be covered by linked DMR access.

• Many local operators are contemplating taking advantage of the low prices on DMR HTs -- such as the TYT MD-380 -- to get into the rapidly-growing DMR network. Home operation with an HT within the metro is completely practical and reliable if you have an exterior antenna. Generally, if you can hear one of the DMR repeaters with your analogue radio at an S2 or S3 level, then 5W into an exterior whip, 1/4-wave ground-plane, or J-pole should allow you access to the network. I use an indoor three-element Yagi mounted on a photographic tripod. Mobile operation with an HT and exterior whip is fairly practical, with the limitation mostly being terrain and the quirkiness of UHF coverage in general. Portable operation with a rubber duck is certainly possible, but unreliable in a lot of areas -- as is the case with analogue UHF operation in those circumstances. 

• Also regarding DMR, I've been exploring the Hytera Reflector (TG 4639, TS2) on our local network. It's a link to the (otherwise incompatible) Hytera DMR network that allows world-wide contacts. Apparently, there's also some kind of RTL dongle that will allow internet (non-RF) access to the Hytera network. The Hytera Reflector seems to allow these operators limited access to the broader DMR network. Check your code-plug to make sure that this talk-group is included. 

• Those of you testing your coverage should be aware of the net-watch page for our local network. This will allow you to see your relative signal strength (RSSI) and percentage of packet loss. Judging by what I've been seeing, a signal of -122 dBm (with the smaller negative number indicating a stronger signal) will allow you access with very little packet loss. Packet loss of over 7% is generally not intelligible. When your signal is weak, packets will be lost and your transmission will be somewhat garbled and broken. Packet loss of less than 1% is almost unnoticeable.

APRS 

•  The big metro digipeater N0HOY-10 is back on the air, after being down most of the week. With its excellent site, it commonly re-transmits packets from the Faribault and Rochester digipeaters and other machines outside of the metro. 

• I'm not sure what's happened with the N0RUA-10 RX-only gateway, but it's suddenly expanding its coverage remarkably: 

       

• The new RPi gateway in Coon Rapids, AE0MT-10, has only been in business for a week. Still, it's covering Hwy 10 from 610 to Anoka pretty well.

• N0QHM-1 in Bloomington has disappeared after establishing itself as quite capable of handling the fill-in role in the south metro. EDIT: It looks as if N0QHM-1 is back on the air!

• The big Rochester digipeater WB0MPE-7 has gone down for about a week now, leaving W0MXW-3 with a heavier load than ever. 

• AE0RF-10 wasn't expected to stay on the air into the cold weather, but the RPi RX-only gateway in downtown Minneapolis is still gating packets in a challenging environment. 

• A new APRS icon has popped up for a 2M repeater in the western exurbs near Litchfield. 146.685- (71.9 PL) seems to be the W0CRC machine in Darwin, only with a different PL tone (previously 146.2). This machine was once linked to the Hutchinson 147.375+ (146.2 PL) using EchoLink, but these two nodes are most often down.

• Speaking of APRS icons for repeaters, N0AGI (Nagi) was kind enough to set up an icon for the new UHF DMR repeater in Dayton. Nagi also maintains icons for most of the repeaters in the HandiHam network.                

APRS update 1/9/16

  A few new APRS gateways have joined the local network recently. First, AE0RF (Justin) has got his AE0RF-10 RX-only gateway back in the game. It's already gating packets in the challenging RF environment of downtown Minneapolis. Second, AE0MT (Mike) has very recently brought a solar powered Raspberry Pi (RPi) receive-only gateway online in Coon Rapids. AE0MT-10 is providing local coverage of Hwy 10, and we'll get a better idea of its wider coverage as time goes on. Third, N0QHM (Jim) has his gateway and digipeater back on the air in Bloomington. N0QHM-1 covers a lot of the south metro on a fill-in basis, out to 35E and down to Burnsville. This is an area of relatively heavy packet traffic, and a gateway is needed there for redundancy of coverage. 

  The big N0HOY-10 digipeater in Arden Hills is currently down. This is a great example of why we need these local-coverage gateways.

  N0BVE (Don) provided a real-time test of APRS coverage recently, and it was interesting. Don drove from Minnetonka down to south-eastern MN with a 5W HT and a 5/8-wave whip, and he let me know ahead of time so that I could watch how his packets were handled. One of my concerns has been that our current network is built for higher-powered mobiles, so Don's trip with a 5W mobile station was interesting to me. 

  In town, of course, coverage was great. His HT was SmartBeaconing, so there were plenty of data points. As he got on to Hwy 52 near Inver Grove Heights, though, coverage became fairly sporadic. There's a need for an RX-only I-Gate (or even a low-power digipeater) somewhere between Inver Grove Heights and Hampton on Hwy 52. Operators with more power might have little difficulty in that area, but what we have now isn't reliable for gating packets with low power. 

  As Don approached Hampton, the W0MXW-3 digipeater in Rochester took over the bulk of Don's packets. This digipeater was over fifty miles away, and it was passing on packets from a 5W mobile! The KC0REO-10 gateway in Owatonna ended up actually gating those packets. 

  Once you get into southern Minnesota, there are a lot more digipeaters than there are gateways. If there was more traffic, I think that the three gateways for the area would really struggle. Still, there were no areas of sporadic coverage for the remainder of Don's trip.

  In Rochester, Don got off Hwy 52 and on to I-90. The two Rochester digipeaters (W0MXW-3 and WB0MPE-7) took over fully, and passed packets to N0OWT-3 in Winona. Further east, the Wisconsin digipeater N9QIP-9 and the W0NE-1 gateway were an efficient team. Even down in the river valley at Onalaska, N0EXE-3 digipeated Don's packets to W0NE-1. 

  I was impressed with this model. It wouldn't work in the metro, because the few gateways would get overloaded, but it does a fine job handling low-powered mobile packets. South of I-90, however, the terrain gets very challenging and it's doubtful coverage would be so continuous. But I'd see the priority as covering the interstate, and the APRS network probably could handle low-powered mobiles all the way to Albert Lea along the interstate. 

  The only weak point in the trip was in the south-east exurbs. I know that I've heard of operators with portable APRS radios in Eagan having trouble getting their packets gated. This seems to be "low-hanging fruit" that a RPi RX-only gateway could easily resolve.                             

Loose Notes 12/13/15

  Not much this week, folks. I've had some nice chats on the air and I'm familiarising myself with my new UHF DMR mobile before it goes in the car. Other than that... 

• The 444.725+ (127.3 PL) repeater is back on the air in Dayton. My impression is that this is serving as a backup until the new 443.250+ machine is put into service. Nice of Pete and Steve to think of us poor schmucks on the edge of metro UHF coverage. 

• The new 224.540- TCRC 1.25M repeater in Burnsville is down. I'm unable to raise it using a beam or high power. On the other hand, I've noticed increased FM simplex activity on the 1.25M band lately. 

• It looks as if the Bloomington APRS gateway K0UWC has folded for the time being. 

• Down in Faribault, the 444.700+ (100.0 PL) Fusion repeater is now set up with a WIRES-X node (11454). If we could get some linking established, we'd have nearly-continuous mobile Fusion coverage all the way into the metro.  

•  This blog has been getting a (relatively) huge amount of Russian, South Korean, and Canadian traffic lately. The number of Russian readers is now larger than those in the U.S. I guess that there's a big foreign market for ham radio heresy and local Minneapolis/St. Paul minutiae.   

Loose Notes 11/27/15

  There are a few interesting things going on, and I've been on the air enough to find out about them. So, let's just get right to it. 

Local Repeaters 

• Per N0YNT (Matt), he and NH7CY (Jason) are doing a site survey in Dayton for a new DMR repeater. Jason has had a third (30W) machine sitting around looking for a site, and I strongly suspect that this is the same one that currently hosts the 444.450+ (D023N) Fusion repeater. A new listing has shown up on RepeaterBook for a DMR repeater in testing on 442.850+, and it's sited in Dayton under the callsign KA0KMJ (John). Connecting the dots, I'd guess that the site survey went well and we can look forward to another DMR repeater coming on the air before very long.

• And it seems as if the 444.450+ repeater is currently down. Thanks to N0NCO (Joe) for confirming it. EDIT: Per AD0MI in the comments, this repeater is actually on-air, but apparently not reaching into the metro from it's new site and with its current configuration.

• Speaking of KA0KMJ, the 444.450+, and the Dayton site, I missed mentioning that the 444.450 machine has changed hands. The .450 Fusion repeater is now operated (officially) by AD0MI (Pete) KE0ATF (Steve). Judging by the performance of the 444.450 repeater, the site's coverage is very good to the north, and about average in every other direction. I've been able to get in to the .450 fairly well from 15 miles south using an indoor whip, so I'd expect that the DMR 442.825 repeater will have similar coverage. Meanwhile, the 444.450 machine is slated to move north to Zimmerman and be replaced by a 70W Fusion repeater on 443.250+ (D023N) at the same Dayton site. 

• The 444.975+ (114.8 PL) repeater in Ramsey has apparently switched over to System Fusion and sports an (actually working) EchoLink node (9975) under K0MSP-L. I'm unable to bring this repeater up from 15 miles away, even though it's very close to the Dayton site, so I can't confirm if it's on-air or not. Either way, it looks as if the north-west metro has some serious System Fusion coverage going on. EDIT: Using a seven-element Yagi and 20W, I was able to "ker-chunk" the .975 machine for a noisy S4. So I can confirm that it's on the air.

•  The Minneapolis 145.370- (107.2 PL) has changed it's tone squelch over to 107.2 from 118.8 Hz. I never understood why that machine had a different PL tone for receive anyway. Update your radios accordingly. 

• There's a new UHF repeater in testing on 443.875+ (114.8 PL), sited in Spring Lake Park. There are already several UHF machines within a half-dozen miles of the site, so I hope that some niche is being appealed to or some linking going on. We have a whole lot of "under-utilised" UHF capacity out there as it is.  

• RepeaterBook is wondering if the UHF 442.525+ D-Star repeater in Anoka is on the air or not. Also wondering if the 442.925+ Fusion machine in Crown is "on-air". If you know the answer, update the listing. I don't have a D-Star rig, and I've not been able to bring up the .925 in Crown for years -- but it's about 28 miles away from me. 

• There's a new UHF Fusion repeater in Mankato that's just come on the air on 442.825+ (136.5 PL). It looks like it's the first Fusion repeater, and the fourth UHF repeater, in a town that only has one VHF repeater to brag about. Count me as the first to suggest that this new repeater would link very nicely with the 442.175+ (114.8 PL) Fusion repeater in Prior Lake for more continuous UHF coverage of the challenging terrain in that area. 

• The MARA 444.800+ (114.8 PL) was down for a bit, but is now back on the air. 

DMR 

• I've worked up a new code-plug for the Connect Systems CS-750 and CS-800 radios. KC0BBK (Galen) picked up a CS-800 mobile rig to get more power than his TYT MD-380 could give him, and I naively thought that I could just convert the CS-700 code-plug for him. Not so. The CS-700 isn't made any more, and the software for the CS-750 and CS-800 isn't compatible with the old code-plugs. It had to be done, so I overhauled the entire thing. It now runs DMR on the Minneapolis 442.425, the St. Paul 442.025, and the Ellendale 442.025 repeaters. In addition, it's set up to work every UHF analogue repeater in the State (plus a few on the borders). It looks as if I finished it just in time to re-work it again for the new 442.850 repeater. That's how it goes, I guess. If you've been considering the CS-750 HT ($239) or the 45W CS-800 mobile ($280), know that you'll have a nice code-plug to get you on the air right away. 

•  The new 442.850+ DMR repeater will probably occupy a lot of the spare time of the two guys that manage the entire metro DMR network: NH7CY (Jason) and N0YNT (Matt). Still, there are plans to move the 442.025+ (currently down) to the St. Paul campus -- which should result in a big increase in east metro coverage. And, there's been talk of changing the frequency pair that the 442.425+ repeater currently operates on to deal with the de-sensing caused by the proximity to the central MARA receive site. This would undoubtedly require a fair amount of work to accomplish, but -- if successful -- it would mean that weaker signals could access the repeater. This would have the effect of expanding coverage significantly. There's a lot of potential for major improvements in the metro DMR scene, but it'll take time to develop. The addition of a third repeater at a decent site should mean continuous coverage at 5W for a lot of the metro. A 30W repeater isn't exactly a power-house, but that's what is providing the current coverage, and it has a very good range for UHF. Realistically, somebody will probably come across a spare UHF PA at some point, besides. And RX pre-amps aren't a daunting expense, either.

• I've also heard rumours of the St. Cloud-based DARC considering the addition of a modest DMR repeater to their stable of digital machines. If this pans out, and the Ellendale 442.025+ ever comes on-air, we could have an actual network that would make the MN State-wide talk-group (TG 3127) viable. 

• I picked up a battery eliminator for my CS-700 DMR HT, and it's made operation a lot easier for me. I plug it in to a cheap 2A power supply that came with an electric pump for an air mattress, and I no longer have to worry about the battery dying during a QSO or making sure that a backup battery is charged at all times. And I can leave the radio monitoring without concern for running down the charge, or use it in my car. It was Jerry Wanger, of Connect systems, who told me about it. I contacted him to suggest that CS offer some kind of external power solution for their HTs, and he pointed me to EBay. $25 is about twice what something like this costs for other radios, but it doesn't get hot like the cheap eliminators do, either. If you own (or plan to get) a CS-700 or CS-750 HT, I'd recommend picking one of these up. The power cable comes out of the side, so the radio can still stand up when plugged in. You can leave your radio scanning and avoid coming up with a dead battery when you need to talk on it. 

• Just wanted to add that Bridgecom makes a $200 DMR monoband HT with a 2000 mAh battery. There are no local code-plugs available for this brand, so it's definitely a "roll your own" proposition.

 

APRS 

• The N0QHM-1 TX I-Gate has been in operation long enough to get a fairly good idea of its direct coverage. Records of gated packets show that the gateway directly receives packets through Edina, Bloomington, and Burnsville. Coverage drops off the south right where N9MEC takes over, which works out well. From there, the N0AGI-5 gateway and the Faribault digipeater take over. It's interesting that the coverage of the N0QHM-1 machine doesn't improve much when you include digipeaters, so this makes it a nice local coverage solution. 

• Another new RX-only I-Gate just came on-air in the past few days. K0UWC is operating in Bloomington, and is already gating packets. It's still too early to make definitive statements about its coverage, but it looks as if it mostly fills in the south-west. 

• And it looks as if the short-lived N0GEF-7 I-Gate is down for the count.

Satellite 

• Things still aren't looking great for the new Chinese SSB satellites. XW-2A, B, C, and D are still only operating as CW beacons. XW-2E hasn't been heard from in days. Only XW-2F (435.34 up, 145.99 down) seems to be actually working as a transponder. The metro gets three or four decent passes from this satellite every day.

• The Fox 1-A (AO-85) FM satellite is now officially in service for amateur use and out of testing. The results aren't exactly breathtaking. AMSAT lists a number of caveats about AO-85 here. Basically, the audio level sounds low (due to filtering), but the signal from the satellite is strong. The transmitter drifts, and the receiver has a hard time detecting the 67.0 Hz PL tone used to activate the repeater. When AMSAT has to remind hams that the primary purpose of the satellite isn't amateur radio, that's a discouraging sign. With such a good downlink signal, it would be worth your while to listen to 145.980 using your standard antenna. Good local passes (up to fifteen minutes long!) happen twice a day in the early morning between 5 and 8 AM. Check here to find out exact times for your location and choose AO-85 from the drop-down. Don't forget to subtract five hours to adjust for UTC. Good listening!                                         

APRS update 11/25/15

  It's been at least a somewhat interesting week on the radio for me. I've been running an APRS station continuously for days at a time on RF to get an idea of how reliable my modest setup is, and also to see how these packets are handled. I've mentioned my APRS station before, but I'll summarise it again so that people can get an idea of how little it takes to run one. 

  I use a PuXing PX-777 VHF monoband HT connected to a standard mobile whip mag-mounted on my balcony. The HT is plugged in to a Mobilinkd TNC2 KISS modem using a Kenwood-style cable. Using Bluetooth, the TNC2 connects to an "old" (pre-2013) Nexus 7 tablet that's running APRSDroid. 

  Any HT that can operate on VHF (144.390) can be used. You probably have one (or several) already. The TNC2 (which I've mentioned before) costs about $80 and has an internal battery that (I've proven) will last over two days on a charge. While just about any Android device should run APRSDroid, a refurbished Nexus 7 can easily be had for under $100. Remember, you don't need cell coverage or even wi-fi to run an RF APRS station. The tablet/phone merely serves as the "brains", rather than as a connection. Used Android phones and tablets can be picked up pretty cheap. You will need to get a passcode for APRSDRoid for RF operation, which involves sending them a scanned copy of your amateur licence (similar to what EchoLink requires). 

  There are, of course, many other ways to set up an APRS station. I'm just outlining my bare-bones arrangement to show that, outside of the TNC2, you probably have what you need already. 

  I was sceptical that 5W could get my packets in to the local network, especially from Plymouth. I'm on the fringe of coverage, with nothing (within ten miles) to the west, north, or south. The K0TYH-13 digipeater is only five miles away, however. My expectation was that I'd be completely reliant upon this machine, and that my packets would be lost if it was busy at the time my signal was sent. 

  My expectations weren't entirely correct. While it's true that the majority of my packets were handled by K0YTH-13 over the course of several days, a whole lot of them went directly to gateways, such as W0YC-5 (fifteen miles away). A few even made it to N0AGI-5 in Prior Lake. And the Arden Hills N0HOY-10 digipeater picked up most of them, too. None of them were lost.

  In an on-air QSO with N0KFB (Dan), I discussed the coverage issue. Dan runs the N0KFB-11 RX-only gateway, which was the first of its kind a few years back, and which relies heavily on the local digipeaters to feed it. Dan suggested that I try reducing my power. The low power setting on the PX-777 is only one watt, and that seems ridiculously puny to even reach five miles into the K0YTH-13 machine. Still, Dan is a smart guy, so I gave it a try. 

  Using just one watt into the same antenna (which was a tri-band mobile whip), I still got about 80% of my packets gated. The Robbinsdale digipeater was the key, of course, but a few packets made it to W0YC-5 -- to my great surprise. A better antenna (such as a monoband 2M whip) would probably improve those odds. 

  I've always assumed that most local operators are running 50W on APRS. Dan was unsure of his actual output power, but guessed at 10 to 12W. In my mobile use, I've found 5W to be unreliable; some packets would get in, but at least half would be lost. Of course, it depends on terrain and obstacles, but the better performance at home is undoubtedly due to my antenna being 30+ feet above the ground. I have a 10W (nominally 8W) TC-8000 HT, and I'd like to see if the few extra watts would get me above 50% success. 

Coverage examined:

  When I first got my licence three years ago, the metro APRS infrastructure was quite different. It was highly centralised, depending on the W0YC-5 gateway at the University and Robbinsdale K0YTH-13 digipeater. Looking at the network now, it's hard to believe how rapidly things have changed. Digipeaters (e.g. KF0ZH and K0JDD-1) sprang up on the metro fringes to bring packets into the central gateway. RX-only gateways, merely humble affairs, were pressed into service by a few individuals to improve local coverage and take the load off the central W0YC-5 gateway. Then, the big N0AGI-5 digipeater/gateway was added in Prior Lake, and the N0HOY-10 digipeater went up in Arden Hills, and more RX-only gateways (and even TX-gateways) joined the network. 

  A few digipeaters came and went: W0REW-2, WB0GVI-8, and K0GV come to mind. A whole lot of gateways appeared, then disappeared, and a few re-appear from time-to time. 

  The ready availability of Raspberry Pi (RPi) boards, and the popularisation of software such as Xastir and DireWolf, have inspired a lot of local operators to experiment with various APRS solutions. The local knowledge base has deepened and expanded incredibly in just a few years. Even those who set up and abandoned gateways and digipeaters retain the knowledge and ability to re-establish those elements of the local infrastructure if need arises. 

  It's not just the metro that's seen a revitalisation of the APRS network. New gateways have appeared in the digipeater-heavy northern MN and also in the south. Old machines that would have been abandoned in the past are now maintained, and even improved. More definitely still needs to be done to cover rural highways and State parks, but things are moving in the right direction and the old barriers to entry have been dissolved. 

  Let's take a look at two local RX-only gateways to observe how they perform different functions to improve coverage. 

First, this is a map of the stations heard directly by the N0KFB gateway:  
 

N0KFB direct reception of packets

   This map includes November 2015 packets that the gateway has received without the help of a digipeater. Now, let's look at a map of the same period when we include digipeated packets: 

Digipeated packets gated by N0FKB

As you can see, it's a huge area. There are a lot of outlying areas that I didn't include in this map just to keep it relatively small. The point here is that the N0FKB gateway doesn't provide local coverage. Instead, it gates packets fed to it by powerful digipeaters. This takes the load off the major N0AGI-5 and W0YC-5 gateways, which would otherwise struggle. 

  Now let's look at the KB0HQD-10 RX-only gateway in St. Paul. First, a map of the packets directly heard (without digipeaters) by this gateway this month: 

KB0HQD-10 direct coverage

 As you can see, KB0HQD-10 provides substantial local coverage for St. Paul without relying on digipeaters. It can handle that area by itself, even if other digipeaters and gateways fail. 

  The map hardly changes at all when we include digipeated packets: 

KB0HQD-10 coverage including digipeated packets

   Neither of these gateway models is superior to the other. They both manage their own niche and contribute to metro coverage. They both provide redundancy to the local network. This is important when the centralised elements fail, such as W0YC-5 did last month or K0YTH-13 did last year. 

  The centralised model has served the metro well, but we also need local coverage for redundancy, to help manage the load, and to keep local packets from being needlessly digipeated. While local coverage has improved dramatically over the past couple of years, many of these gateways (both transmitting and RX-only) tend to come and go on the whim of the individuals operating them. That's fine, but I feel that there's a role here for clubs to operate very simple gateways that stick around for more than a month or two. When AE0RF (Justin) told me that the Richfield Radio Club was considering implementing an RX-only gateway at their repeater site, I was excited because it was likely to be something less-than-ephemeral. 

  I think that there's a consensus emerging as to local coverage. We're no longer looking at bigger and higher digipeaters as a solution, and instead agreeing that gateways are the way forward. These gateways can be run out single-story homes with ground-planes, high-rises using indoor antennae, or apartments with outdoor whips. Towers and 50W rigs with commercial antennae aren't going to happen, but small-scale local coverage is highly sustainable and very practical. Even in the rural areas, I feel that we're better off with five local RX-only gateways than we are with one mega-digipeater. Mix in a few transmitting gateways running five or ten watts here and there, and coverage expands dramatically. We'll always need the big digipeaters to cover wide areas, but we also need the local gateways to actually gate their packets and manage their loads in an efficient manner. 

  This isn't a major financial, technical, nor logistical challenge. If my 5W station can reach W0YC-5 fifteen miles away, a transmitting I-Gate can cover a ten-mile radius (with less than 100% reliability, granted) using nothing more expensive than a second-hand BaoFeng and a rooftop 1/4-wave ground-plane. 

  More reliable networks tend to increase the number of users, but that's a good thing. And it means that we can manage an increased load better with dispersed local gateways. APRS can then start to live up to its full potential, providing local information to travellers, passing messages from remote areas, allowing hams to find local repeaters and simplex operators, and even letting HF operators know which band or frequency you're on by checking aprs.fi.

    

Loose Notes 11/14/15

   It's been another week, and I'm ready to tell you what I've found out over the course of the week. 

• The TCRC's 224.540- (100.0 PL) 1.25M repeater is back on the air! KE0NA (Dave) and I gave it a test spin on Friday night (11/14), and it's working well. I was able to work the repeater with 10W into a tri-band whip on my balcony for an S8/S9 signal from here in Plymouth, and Dave got a similar signal in NE Minneapolis. Word on the street is that the TCRC bought a brand-new Bridgecom BCR-220 repeater. The BCR-220 is a relatively new product in a market where gear for the 1.25M band can be hard to come by -- even old stuff. For about $1000, you get a 30W repeater (including power supply, free programming, and battery backup). It even has a built-in CW ID, so you don't need a controller for basic operation. I know that the TCRC had a 75W PA for their previous repeater, but I'm unaware if that's being used or if the new machine is running on its own 30W output. With the challenges that the 147.210 has been facing, this very likely makes the 224.540 machine the TCRC's most reliable and widest-coverage repeater. 

• N0YNT (Matt) and N0GOI (Terry) fixed the antenna at the Falcon Heights remote receive site for the 145.170- (100.0 PL) St. Paul repeater. Hopefully, it will pay off with improved coverage. I have a hard time reaching the .170 with my marginal antennae. 

• Per N0MWM (Mike), Connect Systems (CSI) is now (once again) selling the TYT MD-380 DMR HT for only $130 (including programming cable). KE0NA (Dave) has a code-plug for this radio here. You won't find a cheaper way to get into DMR (and the international network of repeaters) than this deal. 

• Per N0BVE (Don), his 443.000+ (100.0 PL) SNP repeater now has an auto-patch. It uses DTMF tones to bring the patch up (*) and down (#). Many years before I was licensed, I would hear hams on my scanner using auto-patches. I've never used one myself. The auto-patch has a five-minute limit, per an on-air QSO with KD0VSU (Randy). The repeater itself is at Don's home in Minnetonka, and it has a problem where the TX power drops down dramatically after it's used for a few minutes. It also seems to have a relatively brief time-out, so be aware of those facts if you use it.

• I'm not sure of all of the details, but it looks as if a System Fusion repeater on 443.250+ (023N DPL) will be replacing the current Fusion repeater on 444.450+ (023N DPL) in a couple of months. The .450 will be moving north to Zimmerman, and will be linked back to the metro with WIRES-X. The new .250 repeater will run 70W and be linked to the Zimmerman Fusion machine for continuous coverage. I guess that the NW suburbs won't be losing any UHF coverage after all.

 

APRS  

  A few things are happening with the local packet scene: 

• The AE0RF-10 RX-only gateway is no longer on the air, but AE0RF (Justin) is proposing that the Richfield Amateur Radio Club set up a similar RX-only gateway at their repeater site. This seems like a great potential development to me, because these gateways managed by individuals tend to come and go. The metro needs reliable redundancy in the network. It's really good to have people experimenting with gateways and digipeaters, because they have the know-how to put those nodes back into action when need arises. But we really need some elements of the network that are solid and don't disappear on a whim, because when the major gateways fail (like W0YC-5 did this summer) something needs to be there to fill the gap. 

•  It looks as if N0QHM -1 is back in Bloomington, only this time with a transmitting I-Gate instead of the previous RX-only node. In its short lifetime, it's already covering the south metro free-ways nicely. 

• The W0LKA-2 digipeater near Roseau has hung in there, and it remains the northern-most part of Minnesota's APRS network. On the other end of the State, KG0QR-1 has lasted a few weeks as a transmitting gateway with direct local coverage, but also gating other southern Minnesota digipeaters. 

• Minnesota still needs "something" (RX-only gateways, digipeaters, TX I-Gates) in Morris, Alexandria, Wadena, Park Rapids, Bemidji, and Detroit Lakes. Maybe you can help. 

• It looks as if N0RUA (Tony) is experimenting with a RX-only gateway in the Highland neighbourhood of St. Paul. It would be great to get the mobile packets from the surrounding freeways gated before they get tossed around by the local digipeaters. EDIT: It looks like Tony got N0RUA-10 to actually gate packets in RX-only mode.

• The big N0AGI-5 gateway/digipeater has moved from Minnetonka back to its old home in Prior Lake. Per N0AGI (Nagi), the time spent at N0BVE's (Don) tower was an "experiment", and he now has an RX pre-amp on the gateway to increase his (already substantial) coverage. 

 

Well, that's pretty much it. I'm going to set up my new Arrow satellite antenna for some 2M SSB/CW "action" and I'll be on FM tonight.