Re: Introduction
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Hi Jay, You said "I didn't bother with enabling digipeat as there are no other digipeaters to send packets to or receive them from." Digipeaters are not only to talk to other digipeaters. Digipeaters are meant to repeat end user packets (mobiles/HTs) to a larger area. I can't imagine why you would not want to do that, especially since you are the only digipeater in the area. I know there are a lot of APRS Elmers here but it is really an APRS specific topic, more so than a direwolf topic. Have fun! 73 Danny, K5CG HH 550-0609 SKCC 14257 From: "JayMot DW7GDL via groups.io" <jaymot123@...> To: "direwolf" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2024 3:45:33 AM Subject: [direwolf] Introduction I don't know whether it's common in groups.io to introduce yourself before posting for help, but it is in most online support forums so here goes: I'm Jay, DW7GDL, an ex-pat living in Cebu, Philippines. I got my first ever ham radio license last August and have recently become interested in APRS as an additional means of communication. As we have no digipeaters or igates in this part of the country I took a spare radio, a Retevis RT95, a Raspberry Pi 3B+ and a Digirig Mobile with appropriate cables, installed direwolf on the Pi, configured it as a systemd service, and configured it as an igate with pbeacons to announce its presence both on RF and to APRS-IS, obeacons to announce my club's 2m and 70cm repeaters to any visiting hams who use APRS, and a cbeacon to send my callsign in CW every 10 minutes to meet legal station ID requirements. I didn't bother with enabling digipeat as there are no other digipeaters to send packets to or receive them from.? There are only a few pockets of APRS activity in the country, mainly in the Manila area, in Central Luzon and in Negros Occidental province east of me, with a wee bit in parts of Mindanao Island also (the big island in the south of the country.) Having experienced supertyphoon Rai, known locally as Odette, in December 2021 and having no means of communications (or running water or electricity) for weeks afterward I've become somewhat of a prepper and am interested in promoting APRS as an additional means of emergency communications when the cell phone system is down due to lack of power. Most Filipinos prefer to send SMS text messages vs. making phone calls , plus there are additional used for APRS: WX beacons, obeacons advising visiting hams new to the area of local repeaters, locations of i.e. hospitals, ATMs, places to eat, hotels, etc, beacons announcing club meetings or special events so they could drop in and meet some local hams, and so on to give them a "situational awareness" of things, events and places in the local area via their radios. I figured if I set up at least an igate that also sent some of these beacons I might be able to get APRS going in this part of the country too. 73, mabuhay! |
Danny K5CG