As of this afternoon, Sunday, April 8, 2018, the new Yaesu Fusion DR-2X is on the the air. It was a 1:1 swap with the old analog iCom repeater. The new repeater is set at the maximum 50 watts compared to the old at 35 watts.
The mode is AMS which stands for Automatic Mode Select. If you transmit on 444.900 using FM and a 151.4 Hz tone, the repeater will retransmit your signals on 444.800 using FM and a 151.4 Hz tone. If you use one of the Yaesu Fusion digital modes, your signal will be retransmitted in that same mode.
The net on Sunday evening following the install resulted in mixed reviews. In many places where previously there had been no issues, signals were now bad or non-existent. Some stations could not check in from places where the old repeater seemed to have full coverage.
We’ll continue to run the repeater as-is until the next maintenance window which will be after this coming weekend. If you are unable to use the repeater when in the Lansing – Leavenworth – Fort Leavenworth footprint, please drop us a line by filling out the Comment card.