Tony,   
      
   V>I have D-STAR and DMR.  No DMR infrastructure out here, until I put a MMDVM o   
   V>the air later this year, I've only experienced DMR on simplex.  I find DMR   
   V>sounds a little better than D-STAR, but both are perfectly fine for me.  Oh,   
   V>and my DMR radios cost me nothing, I won them as part of a promotion over a   
   V>year ago.  They're nice FM rigs too. :)   
      
     Due to antenna prohibitions where I live, I just operate D-Star (DV Dongle),   
   D-Rats, Echolink (single user setup), Packet Via Telnet (am still working to   
   get WinLink set up with the Outpost Packet program), and CQ100. But, it gets   
   me on the air nightly, and gives me something to do...since I can't go out at   
   night, due to parking issues at the apartment complex where I live.   
      
     Surprisingly, even on these VoIP modes, at times, it's hard to find sometone   
   to handle the job of Net Control. Everyone wants the glory, but no one wants   
   to do the work. I am Primary or Backup Net Control for 4 D-Star and 2 Echolink   
   Nets each week, and check into about 20 others. With the D-Star Nets, I   
   usually pass weather traffic for the region/area of the net. I have been   
   affectionately dubbed "The Jim Cantore Of D-Star". But, unlike Jim Cantore,   
   Storm Tracker at The Weather Channel...   
      
   1) I am not a meteorologist, but an amateur weather enthusiast. However, I   
   know enough to be dangerous.   
      
   2) I have a full head of hair (Cantore is a cueball)   
      
   3) I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night (hi hi).   
      
     With the weather traffic, I want to alert folks of potentially hazardous   
   weather...no matter if it's going to occur in the next 24 hours, or within the   
   next week. Our tornado season starts on March 1, and I'm not looking forward   
   to that. Some parts of the southeast U.S. have already seen tornadoes this   
   year.   
      
     The Memphis D-Star Group (Tennessee) and I believe the Philadelphia Amateur   
   Radio Association (Pennsylvania) provides support for D-Star, D-Rats, System   
   Fusion, DMR, and Mototurbo. It's another means of communication for ham radio   
   operators. I plan to go to the Huntsville, Alabama Hamfest in August, mainly   
   for the D-Star Forum, and to meet several D-Star Users.   
      
     Also, I talked to an elderly blind ham on CQ100 last week, VE4OO. He has   
   been a ham for over 70 years, and I'm not sure if he has been blind all his   
   life or not. But, since he's in an antenna restricted setup, as I am; he   
   wanted to know more about things like Packet Via Telnet, Echolink, D-Star (DV   
   Dongle), and D-Rats. So, I gave him my email, and hope to hear from him soon.   
   When I was telling him about, he was thrilled.   
      
     This also reminds me of the story where a ham radio operator took his laptop   
   computer, with a desktop mic and speakers, and a wi-fi card, to a hospital in   
   the Omaha, Nebraska area. Since he could not have RF gear, due to all the   
   medical equipment, he was able to use a laptop. Using Echolink (in single user   
   setup mode, so no RF occurred), he set up QSO's between hams in the U.S. and   
   in the U.K., with the patients as "third party traffic"...to take the patients   
   on "The Echolink Magic Carpet Ride", which helped to take the loneliness out   
   of their days.   
      
     I did a similar deal at a central Arkansas area high school, for their ham   
   radio club meeting. The kids were impressed, and I told them that "this way,   
   you don't have to worry about the cost of rigs, power supplies, SWR meters,   
   antennas, coaxial cable, towers, etc.".   
      
     On the blind hams, there are several in the central Arkansas area. But, the   
   thing that really amazes me is that they can program what I consider "a   
   complicated HT" in a matter of minutes. It used to be that you could program a   
   rig by just the manual...but nowadays, without the programming software and   
   cable, you'll never get the rig set up right. But, on more than one occasion,   
   I've seen a sighted ham get with one of the blind hams, telling him that he   
   had a problem with such and such rig. The blind ham said "Let me see   
   that"...he takes the HT, works his fingers around the keyboard for a few   
   minutes, and says "OK, Done"...and I'm going "WTH??!! There ain't no way he   
   could have that fixed!!".   
      
     Several years ago, before I had successful cataract surgery, I was   
      
   (Continued to next message)   
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