At 06:38 AM 4/8/2010, you wrote:
>James KD0AJZ wrote: "My problem is that D-Star is not all that far >from me but I cannot talk on it while I am at my home. However I can >walk yes, walk less than a block and talk all day on it." > >Sounds like a problem I've had with a nearby repeater. That >repeater's signal strength is good at my location, but I cannot get >through reliably, often only as R2D2. > >I've concluded I'm in an unlucky location where I experience >multipath, and DStar doesn't like multipath. (The repeater's >antenna is just on the other side of the tall hill or mountain, and >the top is between me and the antenna.) Mobile, I make the repeater >all over this area, but as I pull into my driveway, it goes R2D2. I had a similar problem, though in my case, it was caused by distance from the repeaters. > >Solution for me was to put up a HotSpot using a Mini Hotspot board >and the DVAR Hot Spot software and a spare analog radio. My DStar >HT has no problem working my HotSpot, which I typically connect to >the "local" repeater. I went down the same path. As the repeaters here link to a reflector by default (though it can be overridden by users), I connect to the reflector that most of the repeaters are on. >If I were you, I'd borrow a directional antenna (Elk Antennas has a >nice dual-band LPA) to see if the problem is simply signal >strength. If that doesn't fix it, you may be having multipath and >you may want to go the HotSpot, DVAP or DV Dongle route. That >would be cheaper than moving, I suspect. A directional antenna, if pointed in the right direction is also likely to help with multipath issues, by reducing the strength of reflections, relative to the main signal, when correctly aimed. 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
