[aprssig] APRS and dstar (MotoTrbo)

[lawrence labranche]

Hello,
   I only have a Kenwood TH-D72A. The reason I went for it, instead of the DStar is many. Do not get me wrong, the geek side of me like DStar. My influence on my decision is where I live. I live in Humboldt County, California. Population is about 120k. Land size is larger than Rhode Island. Elevation ranges from sea level to over 3k. There is no communication system that covers all of the county, except maybe HF. Trees at 200+ feet tall cut off Satellite. Cell coverage is not complete, even on the major highways. Internet is ok, nothing like you get in the metro areas. I am doing good with my 10meg down, 700k up. Friends and family typically get 1meg down, 250k up. The Far West Repeater Association covers a good deal of the county, with a little bit in to neighboring counties.

   There is only one or two DStar hotspots in our area. The FM repeater network uses 6 repeater sites, how many is going to be needed for digital? Who pays for it? Who provides the internet for it? What happens in the case of internet outage? We have lost most of communications up here six times due to fiber being cut. That is a lack of internet, LD phone, cell phones. Then you have ISP problems. I am trying to get digipeaters up at the repeater sites due to large gaps, with not much luck. How much luck do you think DStar, etc is going to work out? I just do not see digital being an advantage here.

KI6ZQY