The KD7LRJ I-Gate is no longer running. I was unable to solve the problem of my machine putting hundreds of extra (sometimes duplicate, sometimes just WRONG) position reports on the Internet Stream. It would work for a while, then start going nuts. This is probably just a configuration issue related to the software I was using (Windows Vista, UI-VIEW32, etc.), but since there are other I-Gates in the area that are doing a very good job, figuring this out was not worth the effort. Instead, I'm going to turn the equipment over to the local ARES group and work with them to put it to good use.

I've switched radios (for now). The KD7LRJ digipeater/i-gate is now running on a Kenwood TM-G707A radio. I've had this radio for many (8?) years now and its doing great for APRS! I wired up a short 6-pin DIN plug to a DB-9 connector and to my amazement it worked the first time (not a very common occurrence for me :). I don't know if it will be any better than the old GE Phoenix SX I had been using, but at least now I will have the option of using a frequency that isn't already programmed into the radio should the need arise.

With this radio change, I have also changed the configuration of the digipeater somewhat. I decided that it was too messy using the TNC in a split personality mode (RF vs. Internet).  So now I'm back to the original way of having UI-View32 control the TNC completely. It runs in KISS mode and without control from the computer, it won't digipeat at all unless I manually change it back. I know that it is more likely to go down from time to time, but now that we have WA7FFM-1 back online (thanks Dave!), it won't be so bad. The CPU is backed up by a (relatively small) UPS, so short problems won't affect it. The radio is connected to plenty of backup power (about 72 hours with a 25% duty cycle at 50 watts or over 2 weeks on receive only) should the mains go down and I need to use it for voice operations.

I finally got the I-Gate back up and running. It's reading from the new (to me) KPC-3 and gating traffic to the Internet Stream (IS).

In order to try to make it more stable, there are two sides to things now. The digipeater side is running completely on the TNC as it has been for the past several months. I had to tweak UI-View a bit in order to make it leave the digipeater settings on the TNC alone while still being able to move traffic to the IS as LINDON instead of KD7LRJ. So the other half of the equation is the I-Gate side which shows up on the IS as KD7LRJ.

One benefit of running in this configuration is that if the computer behind the I-Gate portion goes away, the RF side continues happily without noticing any difference. This is much better than before when running in KISS mode where UI-View had complete control (which, undeniably, had a few benefits) and everything came to a grinding halt whenever anything on the computer had a problem.

I also moved the radio to a better antenna (8' vertical instead of a discone) and it now has about 150 AH @ 12 V of battery reserve backing it up. I'll be tracking its power consumption over the next little while to see how much it actually uses (using my handy Power Analyzer Pro).

These are the settings I use in my MT-AIO APRS tracker from Byonics. They work for me and how I use the tracker. Your needs may be different. The .TT3 settings file for use with the programming software can be downloaded from the link below.

These the primary settings (right switch position):

These are the secondary settings (left switch position):

Lately I've been driving around with it using the secondary settings above. Here's a good track to look at to see how these settings worked on a recent trip: http://aprs.fi/?call=KD7LRJ-6&dt=1236988800&mt=m&z=11&timerange=3600

No, I didn't lose any $ at the race track, two of my sons were attending a driving course: http://www.driversedge.com

Got my digipeater back on the air. More info in my blog.

Last night at the UCARES Interface meeting, I gave a presentation on APRS.  I listed a few URL's for people to try out.  I got one of them wrong (UI-View.org, not .com).  Here's the complete list:

• UI-View http://www.ui-view.org
• Find-U http://www.findu.com
• Byonics http://www.byonics.com
• This web site (you're already here)
• AGWPE http://www.elcom.gr/sv2agw/
• Using AGWPE http://www.patmedia.net/ralphmilnes/soundcardpacket/moreagwpe.htm

If I forgot any, call and let me know - I haven't downloaded the picture I took of the whiteboard yet and I'm going from memory (uh oh!).

Map of Utah County centered on the KD7LRJ digipeater. 

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