Need some beginner help with my ID-51a

Hi guys, So I just got my callsign and turned on my ID-51a radio. I put my callsign into the “my station” section in the menu after I registered with a DSTAR repeater. Next I went into DR mode, and selected a repeater closest to me (Malibu, 15 miles away). Then in the “transmit to” field I put in CQCQCQ. I hear nothing and get no response when I transmit. Next I tried setting the “transmit to” field to gateway, and I selected USA west, and then some random city like Phoenix. Still no luck. Then I set it to “echo test” under the reflector settings thinking that if I transmit I should hear my voice back if there is a good connection to the repeater. Still nothing. (Is that how echo test works anyway? To see if you have a good connection?) Do you think the problem is that I’m just out of range and need to get a local DSTAR hotspot set up like a SharkRF? Or do you think I’m doing something else wrong? I even got an upgraded antenna (Diamond SRH77CA) since I knew that I would be indoors talking on the handheld so a little extra boost in range couldn’t hurt.

submitted by /u/getoffmylawn14
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