OMG! OMG! OMG!... Nope that isn't an SOS!
With the loving help and support of my beautiful wife, I just bought a new Yaesu DR-2X Amateur Radio Repeater! Oh yeah! Sometimes dreams really do come true and it isn't even Christmas.
So this story goes back a few years and goes far beyond what you want and what you can have.
Following our move back to Idaho from Tulsa, I felt a re-kindled spirt and excitement about amateur radio I had lost. In Tulsa I bought a Yaesu VX-7R HT and took my Technician Exam so I could report storm conditions to the National Weather Service. I chased storms for around five years, and made plenty good use of that HT.
When our daughter graduated from college, Joanne and I moved back to north Idaho. As you can probably guess, the northern panhandle of Idaho doen't get too many tornadoes. I did contact the National Weather Service there and even attended another 'storm spotter course.' They were more concerned with flooding during spring run off and I beleive they had folks already checking water levels.
I ended up selling my handheld and never gave another thought to radio. A year or so later I bought a CB radio (I use to talk on the CB quite a bit and even had my license: KCB-9699.) at the local truck stop. There weren't too many folks using CB any more either! I thought for sure radio was a dying hobby. I think when the FCC no-longer required CB licenses, it killed the hobby. I asked the fella at the truck stop about the lack of folks talking on the radio and he sighed, "Well most of the truckers are talking on cell phones or HAM radios.)
As I recall it was on my birthday, my wife gave me a small heavy present. I can usually guess presents, but this one had me stumped. When I opened it, it was a Yaesu VX-6R handheld! "Is this like the one you had before?", she inquired. I was floored. "Yes honey," I replied. She told me she thought I would like it and that I needed a hobby. LOL, if only she knew!
I learned about how to use the local radio club's (KARS) repeater system, and started to check-in to the nightly Northwest Traffic Net. I had a great time, met some new friends and got excited about radio again.
I was getting tired of going outside every night to check-in to the Net, so I did what every Amateur Radio Operator should do... I bought another radio. This time, I got the Yaesu FT-991A and nice Yaesu power supply and the Yaesu ATAS-120 antenna. All wifey approved! Wow, I got a great wife! I got busy putting up the antenna, drilling holes in the walls and running coax. Needless to say, when I was done, I had a much better repeater connection and sound.
The issue that kept nagging at me, was I had a really nice radio, but wasn't making any long distance contacts. This is the gotcha of Amateur Radio for those with a Technician class license. I started going down to the weekly meeting other HAMs attended and was encouraged to get my General ticket. Yeah yeah... That didn't happen yet.
I did start to talk to the guys and gals about something I learned about Yaesu and their repeater systems. One of the repeaters the KARS club owned was capable of Yaesu Fusion. I had been reading up on my FT-991A and learned that it supported Fusion and had a feature called Wires-X. The Wires-X would let me talk around the world. Down the rabbit hole I go!
Now most of the folks at the doughnuts group and in-fact most of the folks doing HAM radio in north Idaho are "ICOM" radio owners. They are very loyal as well. When I asked if the repeater was capable of Wires-X, I was told, no, you should get into D-Star. I readup on Wires-X and fillay bought a Yaesu HRI-200, Yaesu's Wires-X interface. I later learned that the right radio to hook that guy upto is Yaesu's FTM-400. Oh boy, "Honey, I want to buy another radio." Wifey approved! Joanne was actually a fan of listening to the Northwest Traffic Net. She had even made friends with some of the girls at the club.
O.k., so I got a FTM-400, I got a HRI-200, I got it all setup and was talking on and running my own (Coeur Fusion) Wires-X room.
I loved it! I thought I would offer the HRI-200 to the club, as well as, my internet expertise, so others could join in on the Wires-X scene. This idea was quickly rejected by the club President and Treasures, even though I explained it wouldn't cost them a dime. In fact, it was met with (sad but true) down right hostility by some.
I never offered again, and quit going to dougnuts. I still loved the nightly Traffic Net; most everyone on the Net was "Awesome!"
I decided to take the dummy load off my FTM-400 and put up another antenna. "Honey I want to but up another antenna. If I do, other folks in the area will be able to access Wires-X." Boom! Wifey approved! So I ordered a nice Diamond Dual Band Antenna suitable for repeaters. My yard was looking more like an antenna farm now. I had the ATAS up, a CB base antenna, a scanner antenna and now yes, my Wires-X was accessible to most of Coeur d' Alene, Idaho!
Some folks heard the traffic and asked if I wanted to link it to a different nationally known room. There was another, who was a sad ham, and cursed me for taking up his favorite frequency. He proudly announced on his QRZ page that "some A$$hol3" used the national calling frequency and was stopping him and his friends from talking. What are these folks drinking?! I was not on the nationall calling frequency, and in fact was using a frequency recommended by Yaesu in the ARRL band Plan for experimental didital communications. O.k. enough salt.
In a perfect world, one of my dreams, I would own a repeater; get a space assigned by the area Repeater Coordinator, and then make the Wires-X magic happen!
I'm no magician, but my wife is a wish fairy! i was perusing the interweb when I found a flash sale on Yaesu's DR-2X Repeater. We live in North Dakota now; I have my own 40' tower and this region is Yaesu friendly. "Honey, I want to buy a repeater!"
I now own a Yaesu DR-2X repeater! Did I tell you what a great wife I have!