On 3/8/2015 4:40 AM, Eugene Lee via ARECS-List wrote:
Yaesu is currently doing a "Club Special" for their DR-1X repeater.
[...]
I don't have much money at the moment but I'm considering just getting one for the sake of having current model equipment at such a stupidly low price.
[...] Thoughts? Not to be negative, but I can't see this being a good use of your resources for a number of reasons. Nothing but my opinions here so take it with a grain of salt. There are a number of challenges to putting up and maintaining a repeater, starting with the problem that it is difficult to get a coordinated frequency to put a repeater on because the available frequencies are in-use by a glut of mostly unused repeaters. Even if the repeater is down for an extended period of time, people don't give back the frequency pair because it's hard to get, they might want to use it again someday, etc. My take on Yaesu after owning an VX-8DR and an FT-857d is that Yaesu's strength is providing fairly good value and functionality as far as the analog radio side goes. However when it comes to things digital, such as firmware, software, protocols for programming and computer control, Yaesu just doesn't "get it". For example: Yaesu implemented APRS on the VX-8, FTM-350, but they left out a lot of key functionality that would have made it really useful, so at best it is just sort of a neat thing to play with. My impressions of Yaesu are obviously pre-System Fusion and things could have changed. However my impression of Yaesu's proprietary digital attempt is that it is a non-starter for most of the US. Regarding digital modes, While I haven't looked at it in detail, the DMR world is starting to look promising for amateur radio. Particularly when compared to the proprietary, single vendor offerings from the big three Japanese radio manufacturers. There seems to at least be some interoperability between manufacturers including several Chinese sources. I will probably pick up a DMR handheld in the next year or so. If you are interested in repeaters, given your interests, it would be a lot more educational to build a repeater from components with your own programmable controller. I'd be willing to bet that there are a bunch of open source projects for building repeater controllers using an RPi or BBB. Note: Many repeaters are built out of re-purposed commercial gear. AFAICT, The RF parts haven't really gotten any better recently. It's the controllers that are in need of modernization to enable new functionality. Have you talked to Charles about the digital projects he was working on using some old Motorola gear and RPis to make digital nodes that could be deployed throughout the city? Or, you could take the $500 and get yourself both a HackRF (blue) and an AirSpy for lots of radio fun. Just some opinionated thoughts, hope this helps, --Rob _______________________________________________ Radio mailing list [email protected] https://list.hackmanhattan.com/listinfo/radio
