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.