I have made the dive into D-Star and it has been very interesting so far. I don't have a D-Star repeater here locally that I can work ht rubber duck, but I do have a few that can be hit with a mobile antenna if I need to do so with my IC-91AD.
I had done a quick test last night just after dark on one of the local D-Star repeaters. There is the WB8CRS 146.880 repeater that is 21.27 air miles away with an antenna height of 735 ft. The other is the DStar repeater K8CLA "K8BIG B" on 444.000 that is 30 air miles away. The test that I done last night was with a NR770HNMO DIAMOND 144/440 Dualband mobile Antenna with 144 - 1-1/2l, 440 - 2-5/8l Element Phasing. Length 40.2". Gain: 144 - 3.0dBi, 440 - 5.5dBi. I got in full quiet on the K8CLA "K8BIG B" repeater with 1w with this antenna on the roof of my Caprice Classic in my driveway. I then tried the same test with the 146.880 and was not able to bring it up. I then tried it with 5w and did get in with a 5/3 signal report from the same station I was talking with on the other repeater. I have reached other repeaters on D-Star with a much better signal and wish I would have made the jump a few years ago. I have to say that from what I have seen a D-Star signal will travel further than a phone signal, all things being equal. Thanks and 73. Bob N3PUG --- In dstar_digital@yahoogroups.com, "Rob" <tango...@...> wrote: I have not yet gone to D-Star, but am thinking about it. My ARC had a presentation on the system, so I am somewhat interested. We have a D-Star repeater here locally. I have a home in Tennessee, but there are no local D-Star repeaters. There is one 30 or so miles away. I have reached other repeaters 80 miles away with 5 watts, so the distance may not be an issue. The radio that I would be putting in to service for D-Star is the IC-2200h. My basic question (after all of that) is: Will a D-Star signal travel further than a phone signal, all things being equal? Thanks and 73. Rob KJ4CBA
