[MNAPRS] APRS UHF 446.175

[Doug Reed]

If I remember right, there was some mention of this exact subject of
2M 1200 vs 9600 UHF in that TAPR & APRS forums from Dayton. You'll have to
listen to it to be sure, but it comes down to acceptance and getting
enough people to switch so it works. I don't think you will achieve
critical mass acceptance until the cost of entry is on par or less
than it is for 2M now. But you can certainly join the "build it and
they will come" group and see what happens. That was kind of the
TwinsLAN position on DSTAR voice and data. So we have 5 or 6 DSTAR
data sites around the metro and a number of voice repeaters. I have to
admit the voice has more acceptance than the DSTAR data, but that's
the way it goes. Most hams prefer to talk, not type.....

There is certainly nothing wrong with moving special events to a
different frequency. I don't think anyone does it because it would
take coordination within the sponsoring group and the APRS users. But
packet is legal anywhere in the 2M band, so go for it. There was
something in the forum about setting +600KHz in the APRS TX to use
144.990 as an alternate, but I don't remember the context.

Your take on WIDE digi beacons matches mine. It should be designed for
mobiles, with a nod for home stations, but anyone over 100 miles away
should be looking at the Internet or not worried about it. If a mobile
is over 1 hour drive time away, what reason does he have to know about
other stations two hours away? It might be nice to know, but realistically,
things will change in that hour+ so you can't make too many plans
anyway.

That probably isn't the most popular opinion, but its mine. I'm mostly
interested in the basic infrastructure of the APRS system. Bob WB4APR
has a lot of frills to add, but I'll concentrate on the basics and let
someone else add the frilly lace.  :-)  With care, it will all work
together anyway....

73, Doug Reed, N0NAS.