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aprsdigi

APRS digipeater — repeats packets so they reach further than one hop

  • Version recorded: 3.11.0
  • Categories: aprs, packet-nodes
  • Upstream: https://github.com/n2ygk/aprsdigi/
  • Install after: ax25-tools
  • Needs from the kernel: ax25 — checked against the running kernel at plan time; see kernel-ax25

What it does

Listens on one or more AX.25 ports and retransmits APRS packets according to their digipeater path, supporting the WIDEn-N convention, callsign substitution, cross-band and cross-port repeating, and duplicate suppression.

Why you would want it

APRS coverage is built from digipeaters. A station on a hill or a tall building fills a hole that mobile stations fall into, and this is the software that does it on Linux with the kernel AX.25 stack rather than inside a modem.

Before it will work

A configured AX.25 port, a radio that can transmit unattended, and a considered decision about your paths. Also a callsign, which every repeated packet carries as having passed through you.

How it installs

  • apt: aprsdigi

Known problems

Needs the kernel AX.25 stack, which Linux 7.1 removed (merge 64edfa65, 2026-04-24); on a 7.1 or newer kernel -- Kali rolling and Pop!_OS 24.04 on 7.1.5, measured 2026-09-04 -- the plan refuses or defers this unit by name. See ax25-tools and docs/reference/kernel-ax25.md. A badly configured digipeater is actively harmful to a local network: repeating everything, repeating too many hops, or failing to suppress duplicates floods a shared channel that everyone else needs. Learn the local convention before switching one on -- the WIDEn-N rules exist because the earlier free-for-all did not scale. Unattended transmission has licence implications in most jurisdictions and they are yours to know.

Keeping it current

  • probe: apt policy
  • strategy: apt_upgrade

Where to get help with the software itself

Alan Crosswell, N2YGK. GitHub issues at the URL above.

Source: catalog/packages/aprsdigi.yaml