This may be a little off the usual digital mode related topics. Today I was thinking about VHF/UHF FM voice repeaters and the trouble repeater owners go to when maintaining a repeater site. Typically the location is a high hill , atop a large tower, lots of hard line, elaborate lightning protection, expensive and fussy duplexers, etc etc. While I am sure it is fun to own such a system, it must occasionally be quite a "chore". The chore is sometimes made worse by the fact that repeater sites are often the result of begging cellular tower operators for a bit of room for the hams, then losing the right of access every time the cell site changes ownership (often very frequently).
So, in my day-dreaming today, I was thinking that surely modern technology could come up with some innovation that would eliminate the need to secure high sites atop 500 foot towers. I began to think how 2M or 70cm radios could perhaps be re-invented with better (smarter) cross-band or within-band repeat functions. Where , based on some ALE concepts , K3UK calling a local ham on 2M could have the simplex signal picked-up by a station within simplex range and repeated to the desired destination station based on known LQA-type tables . Or, like APRS, some signals are picked up and echoed (repeated) based on number of "hops" than can be expected between originating and destination station. Maybe "QST" or "CQ" calls would get picked and repeated by the equivalent of "node" stations versus a call between two stations ? Of course mobile operations would pose a more difficult challenge .... back to the drawing board.... but this mega station on a hill idea surely has to be reinvented sometime. Andy K3UK
