McMinn Co Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Club Shack
What is
KG4FZR-7?
KG4FZR-7 is an APRS station used by the McMinn Co Amateur Radio Club, Inc. It is computer controlled, and runs 24 hours a day (minus a few minutes, when it auto-reboots around 1AM). It has an output power of 25 watts. It effectively covers McMinn County.
What does the "digipeater" do?
It is also an APRS digipeater that responds to WIDE1-1. It acts as a "fill in" digipeater for the WIDEn-n system. No where in this area does an APRS station of any kind need to have a path greater than WIDE3-3. Suggested paths for base stations are WIDE2-2. Suggested paths for mobiles are WIDE1-1,WIDE2-2 or less.
It also responds to TNn-n, or commonly called "SSn-n" where "SS" is the 2 letter state abbreviation and the "n" is a number, and responds to stations using TNn-n up to TN7-7. This effectively keeps APRS paths within the state of Tennessee. Not all digi's respond to this.
What does the Internet Gateway do?
KG4FZR-7 is also a two way APRS Internet Gateway, or "Igate". It "gates" all traffic it hears to the Internet, unless the station's path includes "RFONLY" or "NOGATE" in it. Stations with those parameters in their paths are not gated.
It also gates messages for "local" stations that are nearby to KG4FZR-7 from the Internet to the RF side of APRS. The stations considered local are stations that have been heard by KG4FZR-7 directly, and not through a digipeater. KG4FZR-7 gates this type of traffic with an "RFONLY" path, i.e. the traffic DOES NOT go through any digipeater. This is similar in fashion to a "remote base" operation.
KG4FZR-7 Igate is also setup to gate "local" Internet only APRS stations beacons, messages, and objects from the Internet to RF with an "RFONLY" path, i.e. the traffic DOES NOT go through any digipeater. "Local" stations are those that are in the McMinn County Tennessee area, and are not being gated by any other Igate, to our knowledge.
KG4FZR-7 Igate also gates weather objects and messages that originate from the Morristown, TN National Weather Service office, and the Storms Prediction Center. This traffic is gated to RF the same as the above traffic, so that stations participating in SKYWARN have a added measure of receiving this data, and seeing it visually on their stations map.
Can I be added to the Igate?
If you are in the McMinn County area and are setting up an Internet only APRS station, and would like to be added to the KG4FZR-7 APRS Digi / Igate, send an email to kg4fzr@yahoo.com and tell us your setup, call sign, name, location, and phone number. We will look at the situation, and if you meet the criteria for gating, we will add you to the allowed list in the Igate. The criteria we use is based on data provided by APRS server sys ops and software authors, and suggestions widely known across the US for such practices. If your station is added to the KG4FZR-7 Igate, your station will appear to local stations with one RF hop from KG4FZR-7, but will not go through any digipeaters. This is standard practice for Igates.
Thanks for taking the time to learn about the MCARC / KG4FZR-7 APRS Station / Digipeater / Internet Gateway! Please view our other APRS resources at http://www.mcminnarc.com and click on "APRS".
KG4FZR-7 is an APRS station used by the McMinn Co Amateur Radio Club, Inc. It is computer controlled, and runs 24 hours a day (minus a few minutes, when it auto-reboots around 1AM). It has an output power of 25 watts. It effectively covers McMinn County.
What does the "digipeater" do?
It is also an APRS digipeater that responds to WIDE1-1. It acts as a "fill in" digipeater for the WIDEn-n system. No where in this area does an APRS station of any kind need to have a path greater than WIDE3-3. Suggested paths for base stations are WIDE2-2. Suggested paths for mobiles are WIDE1-1,WIDE2-2 or less.
It also responds to TNn-n, or commonly called "SSn-n" where "SS" is the 2 letter state abbreviation and the "n" is a number, and responds to stations using TNn-n up to TN7-7. This effectively keeps APRS paths within the state of Tennessee. Not all digi's respond to this.
What does the Internet Gateway do?
KG4FZR-7 is also a two way APRS Internet Gateway, or "Igate". It "gates" all traffic it hears to the Internet, unless the station's path includes "RFONLY" or "NOGATE" in it. Stations with those parameters in their paths are not gated.
It also gates messages for "local" stations that are nearby to KG4FZR-7 from the Internet to the RF side of APRS. The stations considered local are stations that have been heard by KG4FZR-7 directly, and not through a digipeater. KG4FZR-7 gates this type of traffic with an "RFONLY" path, i.e. the traffic DOES NOT go through any digipeater. This is similar in fashion to a "remote base" operation.
KG4FZR-7 Igate is also setup to gate "local" Internet only APRS stations beacons, messages, and objects from the Internet to RF with an "RFONLY" path, i.e. the traffic DOES NOT go through any digipeater. "Local" stations are those that are in the McMinn County Tennessee area, and are not being gated by any other Igate, to our knowledge.
KG4FZR-7 Igate also gates weather objects and messages that originate from the Morristown, TN National Weather Service office, and the Storms Prediction Center. This traffic is gated to RF the same as the above traffic, so that stations participating in SKYWARN have a added measure of receiving this data, and seeing it visually on their stations map.
Can I be added to the Igate?
If you are in the McMinn County area and are setting up an Internet only APRS station, and would like to be added to the KG4FZR-7 APRS Digi / Igate, send an email to kg4fzr@yahoo.com and tell us your setup, call sign, name, location, and phone number. We will look at the situation, and if you meet the criteria for gating, we will add you to the allowed list in the Igate. The criteria we use is based on data provided by APRS server sys ops and software authors, and suggestions widely known across the US for such practices. If your station is added to the KG4FZR-7 Igate, your station will appear to local stations with one RF hop from KG4FZR-7, but will not go through any digipeaters. This is standard practice for Igates.
Thanks for taking the time to learn about the MCARC / KG4FZR-7 APRS Station / Digipeater / Internet Gateway! Please view our other APRS resources at http://www.mcminnarc.com and click on "APRS".