I am a new member of the group, and new to D-STAR. We don't have a repeater in the Daytona Beach area, but several ham friends of mine have radios, and I decided to get one anyway. The way I see it, if enough of us get radios, a repeater will be put up. Since I'm blind, I have a couple questions about my radio of choice. I am getting the Icom IC-80AD. I know the radio will beep if you have key beeps enabled. Does the radio beep differently when selecting power levels? ON my Kenwood radios, a low beep indicates high power, and the other power levels are signaled by high beeps. Using the programming software, can you program the VFO on both bands? What I would like to do is set the VFO to a certain frequency, PL tone etc. I know I could use the keypad to set the frequency, but it looks like you need to go in to the menu to set PL tones. If I knew exactly what keys to press, I could set the tones, but need a starting point. Not all repeaters broadcast the tone, so tone scan won't always work. If I know a D-STAR repeater is on a frequency, but I don't know the call sign, will my radio figure it out if I put it on the frequency? I can always go on the computer, an put in the gateway callsign if there is one Are there any tips anyone can give me about this radio?
-- Matt Roberts Port Orange Florida 407-415-5333 Skype: blindbiker Amateur Radio N9GMR IRLP Node 4515 Echolink 45153 Your life experience is what you create! You can be do or have anything you want! Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network. Visit www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.
