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Proper Alias Setting

 
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N9DKO  



Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 5:22 pm    Post subject: Proper Alias Setting Reply with quote

i've been working on the wide digi setup here today. the UI-VIEW/APRS software had been running on my dell laptop but i wanted to move it to an older Windows 98SE PC primarily because when we travel we take the laptop with us which means the digi would have to go dark. eventually the whole shebang will be set up with emergency power as well.

so i now have it running on my Win98SE pentium 166. i know that's a somewhat slower machine than is recommended but it seems to be doing OK. any comments on that?

my real question has to do with the proper ALIAS setting. i'm trying to understand just how all of this works. i don't want to just mimic other stations, i want to be able to pass on what i'm learning to others in my radio club.

when i was originally setting up the digi i found some very useful information at this web site: http://www.cordeoc.ca/EOC-images3/UI-view32-NewParadigm%20Digi%20Settings%20Feb06.pdf. but i don't understand the recommended alias list. wouldn't listing WIDE6-6,WIDE6-5 on down to WIDE 4-1 in the ALIAS list cause packets sent to those addresses to be forwarded? and why stop at WIDE4-1? if the ALIAS list is right shouldn't i also add WIDE3-3 thru WIDE3-1?

73
rich, n9dko
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KK9H  



Joined: 29 Jun 2004
Posts: 40
Location: Northfield, IL

PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 4:51 pm    Post subject: Alias list Reply with quote

Hi Rich,

I also use UI-View at my home station, eventhough I don't use it for digipeater operation, I do think I can explain why you would put WIDE6-6 down to WIDE4-1 into your alias list. When WB4APR created his "New Paradigm" for national digipeater operation, part of that concept is to minimize the propagation of unusually high paths. Paths of WIDE3-3 and less are considered to be acceptable for most areas. Larger paths are considered to be abusive.

By entering all the combinations from WIDE6-6 down to WIDE4-1 you are programming your station to remove the potential for any additional hops from paths with any of those in them. UI-View will take those high hop paths and strip them of their ability to be digipeated again beyond your station. They will not be propagated any further and will be trapped by your station. Paths of WIDE3-3 or less will go right through your station normally and on to the next digipeater to be propagated until their final number has counted down to zero.

If you can, take a look at WB4APR's web page and look up his "New Paradigm" for digipeaters. I suspect that his explanation will be more elegant than mine. I hope this helps.

Don KK9H
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N9DKO  



Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

morning, don...and happy thanksgiving.

i do understand the concept of only transmitting packets to a local area and that's what i want to do. but i thought the ALIAS list in UI-View contained the list of 'addresses' that were to be digipeated, not trapped. if that's the case then why insert my own call in the alias list? the HELP file in UI-View indicates that the calls in the ALIAS list ARE the alias'es that WILL be digipeated. ?????

'73,
rich, n9dko
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N9ZZK  



Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 8:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Rich,
If you insert your alias, a station using your alias in their path will be digipeated by your station. This web page will explain the mechanics of trapping excessive paths.

http://wa8lmf.net/DigiPaths/index.htm

73
Art, N9ZZK
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N9DKO  



Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

morning, art.

yup..i understand that the inclusion of my call into the ALIAS list WILL result in packets having my call in their transmitted path digipeated. that was what was confusing me since WIDE6-6,WIDE6-5...WIDE4-1 were also in the ALIAS list. any call (and, to my older KAM TNC, wide n-N is seen as a call) in the ALIAS list will be digipeated. according to the webpage info (thanks very much for that!) the smarter TNC's will either truncate WIDE6-6,WIDE6-5...WIDE4-1 down to something more realistic or ignore them altogether. right? if that's the case then wouldn't NOT placing WIDE6-6,WIDE6-5...WIDE4-1 into my ALIAS list in the first place be another way of dealing with the problem? after all, if i don't 'hear' it i can't digi it.

according to the new paradigm, if a mobile user places RELAY as the first 'call' in his path AND no fill-in or wide digis are listening for RELAY then his packet ain't going anywhere. by the same logic if that same mobile user places WIDE6-6 or anything above WIDE2-2 into his outbound path AND no fill-in or wide digi is listening for those 'calls' his packets also won't be going anywhere. the only difference i can see is IF a 'smart' wide-area digi IS set to truncate a WIDE6-6,WIDE6-5...WIDE4-1 packet down to, lets say, a WIDE2-2 then the mobile user's packet WILL be digi'ed, just not as far as he was hoping.

so, by having WIDE6-6,WIDE6-5...WIDE4-1 in my ALIAS path i'm allowing for the POSSIBILITY that those excessively long paths might be used by a user. since i have a dumb TNC i'm gonna pass those packets and hope that the next wide digi is 'smart' and will either truncate or eliminate. do i have that right? i'm not really 'trapping' those long paths (trapping as in catching but not releasing).

IF i have this right AND because i don't have a 'smart' TNC then it would seem more beneficial for the network for me NOT to have WIDE6-6,WIDE6-5...WIDE4-1 in my alias list in the first place. agree?

'73,
rich, n9dko
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N9ZZK  



Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You are correct rich,
if you do not have a "smart tnc", then you would not want to place those abusive path statements in your alias list. Best to just use it as a fill-in digi by placing WIDE1-1. With that, it will digi on WIDE1-1 but it will not decrement the values at all. If a fill-in digi isn't needed in the area, then only put your callsign in as an alias.
Art
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N9DKO  



Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

morning again, art.

i'm glad that the fog is lifting and that i have a better understanding of paths, aliases, etc.

i posted a message on this board a few weeks ago announcing that my APRS station was on the air and wondering how best to utilize it...as a fill-in or as a wide-area. had a reply from don, KK9H, that, in the absence of KA9SCF-15 my station would be useful as a wide2-2. i said then, and i'm saying now, i want my station to be used in the best possible manner whether as a fill-in or wide digi.

i sincerely appreciate all of the help from you and don. hope you both had a good thanksgiving holiday.

'73,
rich, n9dko
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