Dad is a ham, and I passed the tech a little while ago.
He spends most of the year in Maine. He's well into the 80's and I worry about him and Mom. He recently had 2 strokes, and refuses to sit at home.
The cell coverage is TERRIBLE, and theyre pretty active, so the house phone many times is a no go.
The closest DMR repeater (W1EMA) from his qth is about 11 miles by air. He's at about 70' asl, the repeater...if it's actually at where it says, is at about 210' asl. One or two peaks of around 200' are between him and it.
I've spoken to people who know a LOT more about this stuff , and they believe an HT should be able to hit the machine.
If it was a UHF repeater, I'd just give him one of my spare's to try it out, but it's VHF. I dont own a VHF DMR unit.
I have no idea what kind of a setup W1EMA is running, but I just found a coverage map and it looks like it shouldn't be a problem.
I'm thinking worst case, if I build him an OS J-pole and if he puts it in a window facing the repeater it shouldn't be a problem.
I know it's up to the individual installation, and the variables (terrain etc etc) I'm just trying to get a general consensus.
What say the tribe?

PS: Their house has a metal roof.....Also installing a regular antenna is pretty much out of the question.

I've found that my UHF DMR signal seems far stronger than my normal UHF FM signal.  I'm betting it's the compression and other smart people words.

I'd bet it'd work especially with an external antenna.
$99 and not a horrible rig (Not /\/\ either so no need to come with that)

not sure street $ but I should have of these in a few weeks to test.  Full power with J-pole gives you a certain contact!  MTC will be dealer-there is a contact button for them on the site if you have questions!

Depends on how close he is to the edge of the peaks, if he is in the shadow of that it probably won't reach, DMR can be in the noise floor and still get thru. We have commercial DMR running at shop for a school district. The buses can get back from locations that the analog system at the same location on the tower couldn't. I would go out there, take your walkie and do a radio check. If he could get an out door yagi pointed at the repeater, that "might" help it.

I am at 220 feet on an analog system for myself, we get portable coverage 15-20 miles out normally (UHF), but running a pre-amp on the repeater and all are 4 watt with 6 inch whips, though stubby's seem to not be impacted that much except on super fringe signals.

Good luck with your father.

I am not a ham so I may not be of any value on that post, just a 2 way radio sales guy.

Reach out to the local hams. Someone would probably drive over to your father's place to make a field test.

Thanks guys.
Yea, I don't think building a 440 yagi would be a problem.
Biggest hurdle is I need to get a decent SWR meter. Something I need anyway. I bought one of those cheap "workman" meters off fleabay, works OK on 2meters, 440 , not so much.
ASRM, He's close (like in the shadow) of one or two of the lower peaks, but I'm not too sure of the direction of the machine from him. The biggest ones I can see on the map app are 60-70% of the way to the repeater, and slightly lower than the height of the machine. Now, I don't know if the info I'm getting is the base of the tower, or @ antenna height. I'd assume the base.
Psistar, GREAT idea. I know nobody there, but I can find out...

Hard to tell with all the different repeater setups and situations, but I'm thinking he'll be fine, even with a minimal extra antenna.

The Phoenix AZTRBO system is sort of scary how well it reaches out.

Have you considered HF?

You could easily talk to each other with NVIS antennas all day and night long on 40 meters from NJ to ME

I have kenwood 440, and I'm studying morse code, it's the reason I never got licensed way back in the 1970's. I was busy when they dropped the requirement, now days I find myself having more free time.
My antenna is a CB max 2000. It tuned on all bands with the internal tuner from 10m to 40m. I cant imagine it's terribly efficient on 40 though. I suppose I'd put up a wire for better performance if it comes to this.
As far as Dad, I dont know if he's even capable after 2 strokes. Most of his loss in in his left hand and one of his legs. He's a lefty.
I've been looking into programs that would convert keystrokes to CW, and CW into text on the computer screen. No luck yet.
I have a hard time imagining there isnt such a program.... I dont even know how to properly word a search......

FLDigi will do Keyboard CW Link!

Search Youtube for Keyboard CW

All About NVIS with Ed Fong (give this a listen for antenna ideas and placement)

Contact the trustee of the repeater. He's listed on the zed.
See what he says and perhaps there's a ham in the AO of your dads cabin that can make a few tests.
Can't hurt to ask..
73 & best wishes for your dad!!

I was thinking about voice on HF if your dad is a General or above. You can take the test

If not, then you could build or buy a DMR node on a Rasberry Pi. The dual board can use VHF and UHF. You would both need a high speed internet connection, but they would work in the house with HTs. It works simplex and does not need a repeater. It is your own personal node to DMR.

http://bubbazanetti.blogspot.com/2016/12/dvmega-raspberry-pi-dmr-with-tyt-380.html


It can do BrandMeister, Dstar, or Fusion.

If you have a repeater by you that you can hit, you would only need to build or buy one for your dad, if he can not hit the local repeater.

More on a DMR Rasberry pi node. Single band is $100 for the board, dual band is $160. The RPi is about $50 with a case.

So for about $150 you can build him a DMR ( choose Brandmeister, Dstar or fusion via software ), give him a spare HT in either VHF or UHF and he has his own personal DMR node in his house that he can talk to you on, assuming he has an internet connection besides dial up.

Thanks.
Dad is a general.
He doesnt own anything capable of phone. He was strictly CW when he was active.
They also do not have internet, so I think that takes care of the raspberry pi thing.
Found this: http://www.ve2dbe.com/rmonline.html
Neat little tool.

SC and FN. Thanks. Both good info.