Tonight some members of the Calvert Amateur Radio
Association met on 146.580MHz to test out simplex
range of narrow mode C4FM as seen in the new Yaesu radios. Five
stations got into a round table discussion, all within about ten miles
of my station. I haven't purchased anything other than the FT-1DR
(handheld) so I'm only running 5 watts and am using a 2m j-pole antenna
up around 40 feet.
There is talk about turning the repeater into a fully functioning
digital repeater (obviously keeping the ability to utilize analog
transmissions as well). When that happens I'm sure my coverage area
will increase dramatically.