On 2/28/2010 12:47 PM, Woodrick, Ed wrote:
You are correct, and that's what I was referring to . If you stay on a
single repeater, call sign forwarding should be immediate, since the
local software arbitrates the session.
Actually, that should read "single gateway". You can bounce between
repeaters on a single Gateway and the one copy of D-Plus will arbitrate
instead of relying on the much-too-slow national database updates. It's
a useful little hack to cover up the design flaw, thanks to Robin AA4RC.
And I'd have to say that using different call signs breaks call sign
routing even more, because your call sign is going to the last place a
radio transmitted, not the last place you transmitted.
If I used suffixes for each of my radios, then people would have to
try A then B then C then D then E then F then G.
I know everyone will be SHOCKED to hear that I agree with Ed on
something, but...
*Generally* suffixes are not worth using unless you have a regular need
to do callsign routing from yourself to yourself.
An example might be my home rig sitting on "WY0X H" and all the rest
of the rigs on "WY0X"... I can callsign route to my home rig and holler
(in voice) for my wife, KC0KTI. She can answer, and ID in voice without
having to mess with the radio in the slightest.
(In that specific scenario, I can even leave the rig in callsign
squelch, or group code squelch, and she won't hear anything until I
call... all useful features of D-STAR, but heck, my cell phone to her is
free, and she actually answers that... so... maybe not all that useful
unless the cell is dead, the home phone is dead, and I know she's in
earshot of the basement ham shack. It's a stretch to think we'll do it
all that often.)
Other reasons to use suffixes might be if you're constantly beaconing
DPRS data from multiple radios, and trying to keep their data separate
after it trickles up to the APRS server network, but how often someone
would be doing that -- while not at the rig (no control operator,
anyway... so why?) -- would be low... since beaconing such data on a
busy repeater would be impolite. And you'd need a repeater or some
other infrastructure to gateway the data over to the ARPS servers.
A third example of where suffixes might be useful... if you have people
calling that know your ID-1 (as mentioned here before I don't have one)
and it's in the shack or something, (similar to the "home" radio
scenario above), or maybe it's always a second radio in your mobile, and
they want to call you on 1.2 GHz ONLY, and make sure they don't go out
on VHF/UHF... AND... if you always use that suffix on the 1.2 GHz
radio... that scenario might warrant a suffix also.
(I call that last one, the "1.2 GHz secret squirrel society"... Yes,
there are people out there who think that way... and you can find 'em on
the last-heard lists anyway, and callsign route to them from VHF/UHF on
any Gateway, so it's really not a very big deal.)
So... I do have a suffix or two registered for times like those, but the
majority of the time I'll use the stock "WY0X" callsign from all rigs.
KISS principal. Suffixes are worth playing with a bit so you completely
understand them (if you have two rigs, it's easy to play around), but
for most day-to-day traffic, you won't need them, and they'll just make
it harder for someone else to find you, if they don't know what rigs you
have, what bands/modules you're typically on, etc.
So to re-state the executive summary: Generally, you only need suffixes
for operational reasons if you have a need to call from one of your rigs
to another of your rigs, or you need to track separate DPRS data
simultaneously. In other words... simultaneous operation of more than
one rig under your callsign. Which typically, is rare for most hams,
but maybe useful once in a while.
Nate WY0X
