[Xastir] System cost options

[Curt, WE7U]

On Tue, 26 Jun 2007, Tom Russo wrote:

> That depends on the local APRS infrastructure and how it's loaded.  That 300mW
> might be enough to hit a digipeater if your terrain is right and your
> infrastructure is built up enough.  Once it gets digipeated, the power of the
> original tracker is less important.  There is no infrastructure you can
> leverage with a Rino, and it's strictly line-of-sight between tracker and
> receiver.

Even if a few tests when the frequency is not extremely busy look
like the 300mW can get into digipeaters, if you are in hilly terrain
or if pretty much _anyone_ else transmits when you do, you're not
going to get into the digipeater.  For the most part, to have an
equal chance to get into the digi, most people need to run roughly
the same power levels.  Mobiles that are running 50W and good
antennas will easily capture the digipeater over you, and you won't
get heard.

I still stick by my 5-8W recommendation for portables.  FWIW I run a
1/4 wave whip on the roof of my Cherokee fed by a TM-261A mobile
radio set to medium power and have excellent results.  I don't tend
to bump it up to 50W anymore.

The rest of Tom's response was spot-on.  Just had to get my slight
disagreement stated above.

--
Curt, WE7U.   APRS Client Comparisons: http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
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