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I-Gate when internet available, Digipeater otherwise

 

Hi,

Not sure if this has been discussed before but I couldn't find any info.
Is there an option that would made Direwolf switch between the modes of operation based on the internet availability?

My setup would act like an I-Gate when the internet is available and when there is no connection, it would switch to a Digipeater.

Let me know if it's doable, other than creating scripts to monitor internet connection and switch the direwolf service between two different config files.

Thanks,
Razvan / YO6NAM
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Does that mean you do _not_ want your station to function as a digipeater when it is capable of I-gating? That seems a little odd, to have a part-time digipeater. Also, are you planning on having your I-gate be a transmit-capable gate, or RF receive-only? If the latter, then it seems to make even less sense to transmit RF if your Internet connection goes down for any reason. And does the area around your station actually _need_ another digipeater? And is your station (and antenna) located where it can provide adequate digipeater service?

Digipeating and I-gating are two totally different station behaviors/capabilities, and one should not be altered because something happened to the other.

Andrew, KA2DDO
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Razvan YO6NAM <yo6nam@...>
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2024 4:52:58 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: [direwolf] I-Gate when internet available, Digipeater otherwise

Hi,

Not sure if this has been discussed before but I couldn't find any info.
Is there an option that would made Direwolf switch between the modes of operation based on the internet availability?

My setup would act like an I-Gate when the internet is available and when there is no connection, it would switch to a Digipeater.

Let me know if it's doable, other than creating scripts to monitor internet connection and switch the direwolf service between two different config files.

Thanks,
Razvan / YO6NAM

 

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for your input.

Let me clarify how I've utilized the APRS network thus far:

  1. In locations without internet access, I've employed TinyTrack 4 devices solely as Digipeaters.
  2. At sites with internet connectivity, I've utilized WX3in1 Plus 2.0 devices as I-Gates, with Digipeater functionality available as a fallback.

With Direwolf, my intention is to deploy new installations primarily as I-Gates, but with the capability to revert to Digipeater mode if necessary. This flexibility is important because there may be instances where the internet connection is unavailable for several days or weeks.

When operating in I-Gate mode, I prefer the device not to perform Digipeater functions as it serves no purpose. However, in the event that it cannot forward messages to APRS-IS, I require it to relay them to the nearest I-Gate.

I'm uncertain about how Direwolf manages RF messages if both APRS-IS and Digipeater configurations are enabled simultaneously.

Thanks,
Razvan
 

direwolf, like many other APRS applications, can operate as a digipeater and IGate at the same time.

Andrew P. summed it up well: "Digipeating and I-gating are two totally different station behaviors/capabilities, and one should not be altered because something happened to the other."

A digipeater receives packets over RF and re transmits them on RF if they are eligible to be re-transmitted.

An IGate station receives packets on RF and forwards all of them to the APR-IS network.

A bidirectional IGate (highly recommended if legal in your country) also sends selected packets from APRS-IS to RF.?? The default, and most common, behavior is to send only APRS "messages" addressed to stations recently heard by the IGate over RF.

A station capable of being a digipeater and IGate would normally have both features enabled at the same time.

You might find these helpful:
Both are in ?

73,
John WB2OSZ
 

Hi John,

I know the basics of an APRS system, thanks for your information.

Can somebody confirm that if I enable both (IGate / Digipeater) on the same node, I'm not spamming the RF channel with the messages already gated to APRS-IS?
Would that be "A bidirectional IGate"?

Thank you,
Razvan

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