Configuration Review and Real-World Reach

M1NER-1 is a 144.800 MHz APRS digipeater and iGate serving Cambridgeshire, East Anglia and the surrounding counties. The station runs Graywolf on a Raspberry Pi and provides APRS digipeating, APRS-IS gateway services and APRS object broadcasts including GB3WZ.

Since the beginning of October 2026, I’ve been migrating from Direwolf to Graywolf and tuning M1NER-1, my APRS digipeater and iGate located in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire (IO92WN).

This station runs along side my LoRa APRS igate and digipeater – M1NER-10

M1NER-1 Current Configuration

After reviewing packet logs, Graywolf settings and APRS network behaviour, I’ve settled on a fairly simple configuration:

Position Beacon

• Path: WIDE2-1
• Interval: 15 minutes
• Symbol: Digipeater
• Comment : M1NER-1 Digi ~ Graywolf ~ www.M1NER.co.uk

GB3WZ Repeater Object

The station also transmits an APRS object for GB3WZ, helping APRS users locate the repeater which is based near M1NER-1 in Whittlesey. This object is broadcasted every 15 minutes over RF.

Recent Optimisation

Whilst reviewing APRS.fi statistics, I noticed that the number of stations reported as hearing M1NER-1 directly looked lower than expected.

This triggered a full review of:

• Beacon path settings
• Graywolf configuration
• Audio levels
• APRS-IS behaviour
• Packet statistics
• Digipeater operation

Two changes were made:

Beacon Path

Changed from WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 to WIDE2-1

This aligns the beacon with current APRS infrastructure recommendations for fixed digi/iGate stations.

Transmit Audio Gain

Investigation suggested the transmit deviation may have been slightly low.

The station was still functioning correctly, but marginal stations could potentially have difficulty decoding packets at greater distances.

A transmit gain adjustment was therefore made and a seven-day observation period was started on the 30th October 2026

What the Logs Show

The Graywolf logs quickly demonstrated that the station is active and well connected.

My own beacons are consistently being received by neighbouring APRS infrastructure.

Confirmed Direct Hearers

The following stations have positively demonstrated reception of M1NER-1:

• MB7UPE (Washingley, just to the west of Peterborough)
• MB7UVH (Milton Keynes area)

Returned beacon packets show both stations hearing and forwarding M1NER-1 traffic reliably.

M1NER-1’s Regional APRS Coverage

Traffic regularly heard by M1NER-1 includes stations and digipeaters across:

Cambridgeshire

• MB7UPE
• MB7UPI
• MB7UBT
• M0ZPU-7
• MB7UJM

Northamptonshire

• MB7UCO
• MB7UFO
• MB7URH

Essex

• MB7UCE
• MB7UVH
• MB7UMN
• MB7USE
• MB7UCH
• MB7UWF

Norfolk and Suffolk

• MB7UKR
• MB7UTX
• G1WZM-15

Beyond East Anglia

Occasional traffic has also been received from more distant stations including:

• M0WOF-1 (Woofferton)
• ON0OST (Belgium)
• MB7UXY (County Durham)

M1NER-1 APRS Coverage and Reach from Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire

For more statistics for M1NER-1, take a look at its page on APRS.FI (M1NER-1)

Last configuration review: 31st October 2026 🎃

✔ Digipeater active
✔ APRS-IS connected
✔ GB3WZ object active
✔ Beacon path WIDE2-1