Thanks to Dave, Greg, and Rob.? All your help did help me get the TT4 working!? Suspecting the Ft-8900r was the problem I again swapped out the ft-8900 with a different radio, this time, the ft-2980 lol!?? Today I was able to easily digipete the packets from the HT through the TT4/FT-2980 to the area Igates.? I now feel comfortable with this setup for super back country hikes where the first 3/4 of the trip is outside of cell phone and normal HT APRS range.? Thank you all.
Off to the mountains!
K2CZH - Dave
Dave K2CZH