I have nothing against adding features as a matter of fact this feature addition will add both a 400 and FT 2 to my collection ,prevously i considered a 400 and HRI but it had not enough return on the investment ( i live in a digital dessert , 90 minutes in any direction has digital but not in the middle ) and there was no benefit to our ad hoq hotspot network , the lowered prices, additional features now make becoming active as mode/ node worth while and a new adventurous rabbit hole to check out , i do know of a few places who bought in heavy to fusion and wires and are having a ball with it , however I was all to aware of the going nowhere original wires launch over 30 years ago and the version 1 repeater YSM debacle( i had friends who both owned and tried to service the repeaters to make the investment worth while ) it never did we have a YSM version 1 machine locally that is functioning and locked into analog mode only because of the huge problems and inability of it as digital.
So like I say this addition will give it a home in my collection ,i have like four radios in every room of my house and all the boxes and manuals I have bought since I sat for my ticket in 1990 .
I am hoping this will be the catalyst to get this mode burning again ,strongly this time ,because it now has something unique, in the digital landscape sure you can do lots of stuff on dstar as long as you have two radios to devote to it ,neither of my dstar have the hotspot ability (1 is the IC 92A that was a mega bucks radio that other than a few interchangeable pieces as the IC 91 was a horrible investment that sits in its box with all of its accessories unused,2 is my Kenwood 74 A I was a beta tester on that beast ,it and my FT 1 go everywhere with me with me ,soon it will become the FT 2) my go everywhere mobile is the 710 that i will swap out to a 400 nicely , i havent had a yaesu mobile daily driver since my 8900 its still a great rig but has no digital features at all ,beconing APRS was an upgrade !
And I am perfectly on track with you ,there is a whole segment of hams like me who don't go for low end radios (dual band mono banders is a sin in my book) I buy radios with features and abilities I have no plan on using so if i get bored I don't have to buy a new radio to get something new to do ,i can mess with what I have , that's how I got into APRS, and my first 710 became an Igate back up echolink node ,so here's to a nice new flagship coming out and not another low end rig.
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