I'm a member of the Lucas County ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service). As part of a grant a few years ago, we perform quarterly testing of D-Star Radio Equipment at more than a dozen Hospitals in Northwest Ohio (Toledo area).
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| My station setup at St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo, Ohio |
Hams have a motto..."when all else fails....there's ham radio" - and that's what ARES is for. We can and desire to communicate even when other means are impossible (Internet outages, phone systems outages, cell tower outages, etc, etc, etc). ARES strives to fill that void with data, voice, and video communication capabilities.
Anyway, I've been so busy, that unfortunately, ham radio has taken a back seat - as do most hobbies when things get out of control with daily life. But this last Hospital Radio Drill - re-energized my D-Star thrill.
As a result of the drill, I re-fired up my D-Plus and D-Extra DVAP dongle and fore the life of me couldn't figure out why it would connect to a reflector or repeater, but I would hear no audio or replies from an CQ's.....