iGate

Bridge RF packets to and from the APRS Internet System

An iGate (Internet Gateway) connects your local RF APRS network to the worldwide APRS-IS (APRS Internet System). Graywolf supports bidirectional gating — forwarding packets from RF to the internet and from the internet back to RF.

RF → APRS-IS (Connection)

Connection settings for the APRS-IS network

The first tab configures the APRS-IS connection used for both directions. When enabled, graywolf connects to an APRS-IS server and gates eligible RF-heard traffic up to the internet.

APRS-IS → RF

Server filter and IS→RF gating rules configured for a single station

The second tab controls what you receive from APRS-IS and what gets gated to RF. There are two layers of filtering:

• Server filter — a coarse, network-level filter sent to the APRS-IS server at login. It controls what traffic the server forwards to you, reducing bandwidth. Uses APRS-IS filter syntax (e.g., r/35.0/-106.0/100 for a 100 km radius, b/NW5W-12 for a single station). If left empty, no packets are received from APRS-IS.
• IS→RF gating rules — fine-grained, local rules that decide which received packets are actually transmitted on RF. If no rules are defined, nothing is gated.

Both layers are needed because APRS-IS filter syntax cannot express everything the gating rules can. For example, there is no server-side filter for “messages addressed to a specific callsign” — you would need to pull all messages (t/m) and filter locally with a Message Dest rule.

APRS-IS Server Filter

The APRS-IS Server Filter field is the filter string sent to the APRS-IS server at login. If left empty, no packets are received.

IS → RF Gating Rules

Rules are evaluated in Priority order (lower = first). The first matching rule decides whether the packet is allowed or denied. If no rule matches, the packet is denied.

Example: Gate a Single Station

To gate only packets from NW5W-12 to RF, set the APRS-IS Server Filter to b/NW5W-12 (so APRS-IS only sends you that station’s packets) and add a gating rule to allow them through:

APRS-IS Server Filter: b/NW5W-12

Type:     Callsign
Pattern:  NW5W-12
Action:   Allow
Priority: 100

Simulation Mode

Simulation mode lets you test your iGate configuration without actually connecting to APRS-IS or transmitting. Packets that would be gated are logged instead. Toggle it via POST /api/igate/simulation or the web UI.

Automatic Behaviors

The iGate automatically handles several edge cases:

• Deduplication — packets already seen on RF are not gated again
• Third-party suppression — packets that originated from APRS-IS (third-party format) are not re-gated
• Beacon exemption — your own beacons are not gated to APRS-IS via the iGate path
• Reconnection — the APRS-IS connection is automatically re-established if it drops

API Reference