‰  NOW 35 WPM  ‰
APRS AND OTHER NETWORKING OPERATIONS.  BUT HOW WILL D STAR FIT?  BEYOND
USER OPERATION, D STAR HAS INTRODUCED SOME NEW CHALLENGES TO THE WORLD OF
VHF AND UHF REPEATERS.  THE US AND OTHER COUNTRIES WITH SIGNIFICANT V/UHF
OPERATION HAVE BAND PLANS IN PLACE DEVELOPED FOR OUR CURRENT ANALOG
TECHNOLOGY 15 OR 20 KHZ CHANNEL STEPS ON 2 METERS, AND 25 KHZ CHANNEL STEPS
ON 70 CM.  IN ALL BUT THE MOST RURAL AREAS, THE 2 METER BAND IS FULLY
ALLOCATED.  THERES LITTLE OR NO ROOM FOR ADDITIONAL REPEATERS.  IN OUR
BIGGER METRO AREAS, THE 70 CM BAND IS ALSO FULL.  WHERE DO WE PUT NEW D
STAR REPEATERS?  HOW DO WE ACCOMMODATE THIS NEW MODE, AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
ITS MORE EFFICIENT USE OF SPECTRUM D STAR REPEATERS WORK FINE WITH 10 KHZ
CHANNEL STEPS, WHEREAS ANALOG FM REPEATERS WORK BETTER WITH 20 KHZ STEPS.
FREQUENCY COORDINATORS AND REPEATER COUNCILS ARE STRUGGLING WITH THIS
QUESTION NOW.  THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS.  THE HAMS WHO WANT TO RUN D STAR
REPEATERS NOW WONT BE CONTAINED.  SOME ARE TAKING DOWN ANALOG REPEATERS AND
REPLACING THEM WITH DIGITAL MACHINES, FOR THE TIME BEING WASTING SOME
SPECTRUM.  AND SOME ARE SQUEEZING INTO AREAS OF 2 METERS WHERE REPEATER
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OH1MLZ/334 OH3WS/344 PA3ABH/336 PA3CSR/335 PP5SZ/340 PY3BXW/357 RZ3AM/330
S51MA/341 SM3QJ/341 SM5CLE/338 SM6CTC/338 SM7MPM/335 SP5DIR/336 UN7JX/333
VE1AI/346 VE3EXY/330 VE6FR/333 W0BL/358 W0GG/333 W0HH/336 W0SBE/356
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