There are currently 18 reflector channels. REF001C is probably the only one with steady activity. W6DHS C and W0OMD C moved their link to the reflector when it was activated and others have joined on a full time basis. Since DHS and OMD had been linked for several months prior to the reflectors coming onboard, good relationships had developed between operators on these systems and those who had been callsign routing into them. The move to the reflector channel was meant to enable those stations who enjoyed talking with us to join in on a regular basis and have everyone hear each other. We chose channel C because we thought that channel A would be the channel of choice, but in D-Star, activity breeds more activity and channel C became the place where people connected.
There is no reason that any of the other reflector channels couldn't be used. I hope several of those channels develop the same level of activity as REF001C. In IRLP after 8 years, there are still only about 5 or 6 reflector channels that have steady activity out of hundreds of available channels. The reason for this is that it requires a threshold level of activity to attract the users to the channel. Some systems have to connect on a regular basis, monitor the reflector and be there to respond to callers. If you look at the most successful repeaters, you will find that they all have someone, often more than one someone, who listens faithfully and responds if no one else does. The successful IRLP reflector channels are all based around a busy local system, such as the Las Vegas reflector, or the WIN system, or WALA. If your group is a club, you need to do what the club members want. If you disconnect from the reflector for a time, you may soon be getting emails wanting you to connect again. If you have a lot of usage and someone who is always there to respond to calls, you may want to park on a different reflector channel and see if anyone joins you there. If your machine is a beneficent dictatorship, not a club, then you can do what you think is right. It's good we are having this discussion because no one channel's content is going to please everyone all the time and the obvious solution is to have more than one channel. Ernie W6KAP --- In [email protected], "Randy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Thanks for all of the replies! Unfortunately, with D-Star there are > not a whole lot of choices for people to "spin the knob" to something >
