<SOAPBOX> There are 318 Gateways registered with 243 reporting this morning. The 243 represent a conglomerate of different radio bands, A, B, and C, plus the 35 some odd JA repeaters that do not report to DSTARUSERS.ORG. Add to these repeaters various individuals and reflectors and there simply are not enough memories to store every repeater. Add to this my good fortune in having 6 different Gateways / repeater sites within range of my station.....Wooaaahhhhhh....
I have a combination of different radios as well, ID800s at the fixed stations, and a very nice IC2820 mobile and a couple of talkies... I tried to keep up with the mobile and the talkies, but this is simply not possible. I have sought a cheep linux based compact PC that would control the different radios and let the pc take care of the immediate setup, but there is no easy way to accomplish this task, so... I have my radios programmed using UR's, and RPTs to build a basic combination for the repeaters that I regularly access. In the UR's I have UNLINK, STATUS, several Reflectors and several links and I have the frequencies stored in BANKS. Bank A is for nearby FM stuff. Bank B is for the Temple, TX B and C repeaters, BANK C for Bruceville, Bank D for Waco and so forth. In each bank I have UNLINK, B STAT and C STAT (as applicable) B-REF1C, C-REF1C, ...... TPL B (CQCQCQ using RPT2 G) and on down the line. I also have my local TPL B and TPL C stored in the CALL 1 and CALL 2 preset channels so I can quickly check STAT and Invoke a link, and goto C1 or C2 to talk and UNLINK. There are also a hand full of UR's with the call signs of different folks I call from time to time. Ed is RIGHT on target with repeater calls in the UR (/GB7DX B) or the like to initiate calls. You have to knock before anyone will answer. Reflectors are GREAT and offer a simple way to make contacts via a meeting place (reflector). Users in our local area can link and unlink at will and this works for Central Texas. Also we are looking at using cron tables to invoke different reflectors on different days. If it Tuesday this must be London... My wish list would be for Robin or any of the folks participating in the open source stuff is to add a couple of short beeps to let folks know whether their repeater is linked or not. It is confusing at best to check STAT, then UNLINK, then go to a UR to return a call, particularly when the Calling Station doesn't tell whether they are calling through a reflector or direct. Knowing WHAT reflector or repeater is linked would also be very helpful. DSTAR works GREAT and obeys the rules BUT....many hams have difficulty using tone coded squelch on an FM repeater and DSTAR becomes frustrating to many would be operators due to it's complexity and arcane procedures. This is where a higher level computer program with a screen that can be seen while driving (the 2820 is almost impossible to read in bright sunlight while driving) would make the system much more user friendly. Again, DSTAR is in it's infancy and I am sure many new features are on the horizon. It is sad that complexity excludes many would be users. </SOAPBOX> 73, Steve NU5D --- In dstar_digital@yahoogroups.com, "Woodrick, Ed" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Here's what KJ4VO would say "Don't program your radio to respond to a call. Program your radio to make calls!"
