[Scan-DC] D-star Amateur radio

Thu Oct 26 15:49:02 EDT 2017

Steve, 
My first call was WN4ATN. Those were the days eh? Only CW, 5W, crystal controlled transmitters and HF only, long wire dipole antennas but, I enjoyed it soooo much! 
I agree with you on the little use of the local repeaters. Some are hardly used at all but the owners (mostly clubs) don't want to give up the frequencies! Many repeaters are quiet and I honestly think some are really off-line but they keep the frequencies. 
What I've observed is similar and I "mostly" agree with you however, now we have digital on the HF, VHF and UHF. I think it makes sense to adopt new technologies as they evolve. Of the digital modes around this area alone (DMR, P-25, Fusion, D-Star and the HF Digital) I would guess that DMR is the most popular, of course, I have nothing to measure the D-Star activity except the few repeaters that are D-Star. However, go to Georgia and D-Star is very alive and well! I'm not sure about fusion, seems that Yaesu's efforts to offer the repeaters at a deeply discounted price of $500 didn't work out like they would have liked to have. The few Fusion repeaters I know operate dual mode, so anyone can use the repeaters but few, if any, have WIRES in this area. I have a Fusion repeater that I'd like to put on 2M with WIRES but there are no VHF freq available, even if NB only. 
I think one thing that has led to the demise of HF and use of repeaters, especially from homes, are the HOA regulations. In my community we do have regulations concerning antennas so mine are hidden in trees and however I can hide them. If I could put up a tower I would put up a Rohn 45 at least 60' for my VHF / UHF and another maybe higher for HF. Unfortunately, I only operate HF portable because of the restrictions. 
My son-in-law works with Cisco product development and the ONLY reason that he got interested in amateur radio is because of digital modes and I think a lot of "techy" people are in similar boats. He is interested in MESH as well (lives outside of Raleigh, NC).
Also, look at hamfest. The BRAT used to be one of the best in the area and now it doesn't exist. Howard County and Manassas were also among the top local and now not so good. Even Dayton has suffered lower attendance and less vendors. In the nineties it was difficult to get a tailgate spot, in 2016 they did not sell out. This year I hear it was better (also smaller footprint) but very muddy. Hopefully I'll go to Orlando this year for the Hamcation. 
Oh well, enough rambling.
73, Paul

Paul - W4ATN
FM18qw
ARRL Life Member

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve [mailto:restonham at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2017 12:10
To: kd4iiw at yahoo.com
Cc: Paul at W4ATN.com; Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] D-star Amateur radio

Here’s a slightly different take on all these new modes and equipment.  As one who was first licensed (WN2TJE) at the end of the transition from AM to SSB on HF and AM to FM on VHF, the more modes that are available, the fewer the number of people that will use each of them until one standard is adopted or one becomes predominant.    If you’ve read about the adoption of a FM and TV broadcast standard, the same thing happened with the general public in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s.

I enjoy new modes when they make sense to adopt.  What I am seeing now is a fragmentation of the already low number of users on the VHF and UHF frequencies.   As far as I can tell on my frequent travels around the US, it’s already heard to find hams on 2M and 440 as a mobile.  And I don’t see many, especially once you’re out of the big cities, who are going to invest in equipment that’s of limited utility.  Even in the DC area, most FM repeaters are silent except during commuting hours.  Why would hams who have trouble finding QSOs now on FM buy equipment for a mode where there are few operators and even fewer repeaters?  

Yeah, I understand the lure of new modes and experimentation.  I still build the occasional through the hole board kit, but I don’t do surface mount.  I can no longer build or service any of the new HTs.  And, at the amount they cost, they are truly throw aways.  My Baofeng 2M/440 and 2M/220 HTs were less than $50 each, plus another $50 for programming software and a cable.  

Right now, I believe we are putting the cart before the horse.  If hams want D-Star, DMR or other modes (not just the manufacturers who want to sell more gear), repeaters to use the rigs on should be built first.  It’s like the 6M/2M/440 HT I owned for several years.  Had many great QSOs on 2 and 440,  however, during the entire time I had that rig, I worked only one ham on a 6M FM repeater and never heard another ham on the few 6M repeaters that exist here.  When I was a kid, I worked hundreds of hams on AM with my TX-62 xmtr and Lafayette rx.  Now, except during contests, it’s almost impossible to find anyone on 6M SSB or any mode.

Long story conclusion - it’s fun to try new technology, but, if we don’t use the modes and bands we have now, we will lose them.  Our bandwidth is extremely valuable to commercial interests and seeing them unused could result in their sale and repurposing.

73,

Steve, N4EUK

> On Oct 26, 2017, at 11:17, Kenneth Fowler via Scan-DC <scan-dc at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> 
> I'm going to give the tyt md-2017 a try. I owned a connect systems cs700 in the past. Hard to program. Picked up onefrom main trading company. Maybe we could try a qso.  Anyone else own this radio?
> 
> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
> 
>  On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 10:26 AM, Paul - W4ATN<Paul at W4ATN.com> wrote:   Ken,
> I have DMR and prefer it. I must admit that I got ticked off at ICOM and HRO and that is the only reason that I'm not a D-Star fan. I purchased a several hundred-dollar radio that did not come with a mobile mount and they wanted another $65 for the mount! My Motorola XPR-5550 mobile didn't cost as much as ICOM & HRO wanted for the ICOM mobile. I'm not sure how many D-Star repeaters there are in the metro area. I also have Fusion and eh. We have a repeater, 442.3000, in Annapolis that is Fusion but and I know of a couple more. Don’t know of any of the Fusion that are connected to WIRES. 
> There are quite a few DMR repeaters around and more coming online the problem now is not only are there 2 meter frequencies available but the 440s are gone or going as well. I think we need to have a plan to go to NB as other services have. 
> My 2 cents.
> 
> Paul - W4ATN
> FM18qw
> ARRL Life Member
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: scan-dc-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
> [mailto:scan-dc-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Kenneth Fowler 
> via Scan-DC
> Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2017 09:38
> To: Scan DC <scan-dc at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: [Scan-DC] D-star Amateur radio
> 
> It may be about time to upgrade to a digital ht. Is it more advantageous to go with D-star or another digital mode in dc. I've found that dmr radios hard to program but the n I've only used a cs700 it from connect systems. I know there are still many analog fm repeaters out there. 
> 
> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
> ______________________________________________________________
> Scan-DC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/scan-dc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email 
> list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> Scan-DC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/scan-dc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email 
> list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html