Welcome to the IFROAR forum on REF626

Welcome to all IFROAR Members in the DSTAR world.

To others, IFROAR is the International Fellowship of Rotarians of Amateur Radio. Our fellowship has about 400 licenced operator members in 37 countries and our purpose is to keep in contact using amateur radio and to strenthen the fellowship of Rotary International - one of the world's largest Charities. See www.ifroar.org for more details.

I was greatly encouraged by the level of interest in Digital Radio expressed by those who came to our Booth at the June 2017 Atlanta Convention. Several members also spoke of their hotspots and were keen to spread the word amongst the membership in their regions. Well, now we have a place for IFROAR in this Reflector and I hope it will make it much easier for many who have sought an alternative to the weekly HF nets in Japan, USA, UK, Australia/New Zealand and Europe. So, get onto DSTAR - either via a local repeater, or get a bit more inventive and use a hotspot if there are no nearby repeaters. There is a sense of accomplishment in learning a new approach to amateur radio communication - and this one won't break your wallet. 

So, I welcome you to 626.nz (REF626) and hope to catch up soon.

My thanks to the Reflector Owners, Tony (ZL2EZ) and Phil (ZL2RO). 

73's

Dr John P Moriarty (ZL2JPM)

President, International Fellowship of Rotarians of Amateur Radio