At 12:15 PM 1/10/2010, Don Bowen wrote:
As for new questions, I travel between Southern California and the
Missouri Ozarks and Asheville, NC. Is is possible to scan for D-STAR
repeaters along the way or do you have to know of each one?
You could scan for D-STAR, but your better looking up the D-STAR repeaters
using the resources that Ed mentioned:
<http://www.DSTARInfo.com/repeaters/repeaters.htm>www.DSTARInfo.com/repeaters/repeaters.htm
or
<http://www.dstarusers.org/repeaters.php>http://www.dstarusers.org/repeaters.php
and programming your radio in advance. There are several reasons for this.
Scanning: When I'm on the road, I do scan all the band-plan repeater
frequencies. I'll hear any activity going on, analog or digital (though the
digital signals will just be "noise" until I tune them in on my D-STAR
radio and switch to DV mode. Recently I programmed my GRE scanner with
every band-plan channel on 10, 6, 2, 220, 440 and 900 MHz. Locally it
listens to the public-safety channels, but on the road it's a ham-finder.
But just scanning will miss the opportunity to scare up some activity on a
quiet D-STAR repeater. Having them programmed, and knowing where they are,
gives you the chance to make a local contact, or use the local repeater to
link back home.
Call Sign Programming: since D-STAR requires some call sign programming,
you're ahead of the game with repeaters on your route in memory and ready
to go. The radio memory holds the UR, RPT1 and RPT2 call signs that you'd
otherwise have to enter while driving (though a kerchunk will fill those
fields in on most repeaters).
Pre-programming is possible today because there aren't that many D-STAR
repeaters. Some day, it might be less manageable. I've tried to program the
frequencies of lots of analog repeaters I pass on my annual trip between
Raleigh and Dayton. It took hours using good software (but it was worth
it). A similar trip today passes less than a dozen D-STAR repeaters, so
it's quick.
73,
Gary KN4AQ
ARVN: Amateur Radio//Video News
Gary Pearce KN4AQ
508 Spencer Crest Ct.
Cary, NC 27513
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]
919-380-9944
www.ARVideoNews.com
