I understand this thread is old. In fact I stumbled upon in because of the "BAMBAM" station that is operating under very poor ways..
I'm the owner of NICOLI (Nicolai Mountain) and various others APRS stations. But I see NICOLI was discussed by Jeff, so I'll address it.
So NICOLI operates in the most friendly of ways as a WIDE1 digi. It doesn't spew garbage beacons like BAMBAM or many of the other stations around. It beacons a position 1 time per 10 minutes, as is the legal requirement, AND does NOT use a path. I think that is very important. Because I have multiple igates within range, and is heard by many other igates, there is no reason to add a path.?
It also has 1, yes just 1 telemetry beacon that is sent 1 time, yes 1 time PER hour with a 1 hop path. This equals 7 beacons per hour, and only 1 hop in that duration. Pretty good compared to most that just clutter and congest the network beyond belief.
Another fun fact, NICOLI only uses 5 watts on a low gain antenna on top of the 30 foot tower.?
Why does it reach so far? Location location location.
Nicolai Mountain has an incredible path through the Gorge and into the east side almost across the entire station of Washington and Oregon at times.
Frequently my Trout Lake station is able to be heard on Nicolai under normal conditions. Everything about this digi is done with one thing in mind. Provide coverage to an area that isn't covered, reduce congestion, block as many digi beacons as possible that shouldn't be using a path. Unfortunately the unit has the maximum block slots filled up. So some junk gets through. Like BAMBAM....
I've been wanting to get a hold of KI7RUS because of BAMBAM. It's using a seriously bad path, and is able to be heard across the entire state of Washington and Oregon. I heard it coming across a digi in Idaho last week! It's outrageous. It's not even located at the location it beacons. It beacons too frequently for the weather and the telemetry. Which in his case is every 5 minutes. APRS.fi and APRSDirect only update at 10 minute intervals for weather and telemtry. So beaconing more often does nothing.
I hope to get a hold of that guy at some point, and I hope that he is understanding. All too often these guys are not.?
73
NA7Q
