SOFA_KING
Member
I'm surprised there is not a running D-STAR thread here on RR site, So let's start one!
At this time there are 12 2m repeaters, 14 70cm repeaters, and 7 1.2 gig repeaters active in Florida. Momentum is gaining. Here is a great link to see all repeater activity in real-time:
D-StarUsers.org Your Source for D-Star Digital Amateur Radio Information!
This is also a great place to learn about it. There are many videos on YouTube as well that can show you what it is all about and how it works. I decided to take the plunge after seeing it in action on a couple of these videos...and after discovering a special sale on the Icom IC-91AD including free software and serial cable. The software helped to get the programming done, otherwise it would have taken a long time with all the layers of callsigns to be entered.
I have not been in range of a repeater yet, but there is activity on the national simplex frequency of 145.6700 in my area. I just made my first QSO this morning. It was a good test as one station was fixed and right on the edge (0 to 1 of 15 bars) and the other station was mobile heading my way (0 to full scale). I had little to no bit errors on the fixed station, but the mobile fading was rough until the station reached 5 bars or so. AMBE Audio quality was just as good as good IMBE P25 if you ask me. The text data message that came in the same time the voice was being transmitted (TDMA) contained drops until the voice quality was 100%. Maybe more error correction is given to voice, I do not know.
I am eager to try repeater operation as it has some fantastic linking features based off of callsigns and node designation in the 8th character of the call field. D-STAR systems keep track of what repeater you are on, so you can target a callsign and it will automatically route the transmission to the station through the IP backbone. So if Alex in NY is listening on a 440 D-STAR repeater and I am on a 2m D-STAR repeater in FL, I can just put his call into the "your call" field and the system will patch us together. He could QSY to another repeater and I would not have to "find him" or call up another link. The backbone system will do all of the work. Cool! There are four layers of callsigns (my call, your call, repeater 1, and repeater 2) that allow you to access different repeaters, bands, stations, and gateways. There is even a "dongle" device you can plug into a USB port on a computer that allows you to access "the network" like a radio would. All you need is a good Internet connection. There is a digital coded squelch feature to close the digital receiver (like a P25 NAC...only 100 codes). There is a callsign to callsign coded squelch feature with a "breakin" signal you can use to ask to join. And the general open digital code to talk to anyone is CQCQCQ in the "your call" field. There is even an instant "emergency" code that will open anything in case of an urgent need to get around all the "filtering". I'm not an expert by any means, but this is what I have found out about D-STAR that sounds like a great protocol to me. I wish amateur radio equipment was more like commercial two-way equipment in user interface and especially on scan, but overall I think D-STAR is promising.
So, what D-STAR systems are in your area and how do you think it works? What are your experiences?
Phil
At this time there are 12 2m repeaters, 14 70cm repeaters, and 7 1.2 gig repeaters active in Florida. Momentum is gaining. Here is a great link to see all repeater activity in real-time:
D-StarUsers.org Your Source for D-Star Digital Amateur Radio Information!
This is also a great place to learn about it. There are many videos on YouTube as well that can show you what it is all about and how it works. I decided to take the plunge after seeing it in action on a couple of these videos...and after discovering a special sale on the Icom IC-91AD including free software and serial cable. The software helped to get the programming done, otherwise it would have taken a long time with all the layers of callsigns to be entered.
I have not been in range of a repeater yet, but there is activity on the national simplex frequency of 145.6700 in my area. I just made my first QSO this morning. It was a good test as one station was fixed and right on the edge (0 to 1 of 15 bars) and the other station was mobile heading my way (0 to full scale). I had little to no bit errors on the fixed station, but the mobile fading was rough until the station reached 5 bars or so. AMBE Audio quality was just as good as good IMBE P25 if you ask me. The text data message that came in the same time the voice was being transmitted (TDMA) contained drops until the voice quality was 100%. Maybe more error correction is given to voice, I do not know.
I am eager to try repeater operation as it has some fantastic linking features based off of callsigns and node designation in the 8th character of the call field. D-STAR systems keep track of what repeater you are on, so you can target a callsign and it will automatically route the transmission to the station through the IP backbone. So if Alex in NY is listening on a 440 D-STAR repeater and I am on a 2m D-STAR repeater in FL, I can just put his call into the "your call" field and the system will patch us together. He could QSY to another repeater and I would not have to "find him" or call up another link. The backbone system will do all of the work. Cool! There are four layers of callsigns (my call, your call, repeater 1, and repeater 2) that allow you to access different repeaters, bands, stations, and gateways. There is even a "dongle" device you can plug into a USB port on a computer that allows you to access "the network" like a radio would. All you need is a good Internet connection. There is a digital coded squelch feature to close the digital receiver (like a P25 NAC...only 100 codes). There is a callsign to callsign coded squelch feature with a "breakin" signal you can use to ask to join. And the general open digital code to talk to anyone is CQCQCQ in the "your call" field. There is even an instant "emergency" code that will open anything in case of an urgent need to get around all the "filtering". I'm not an expert by any means, but this is what I have found out about D-STAR that sounds like a great protocol to me. I wish amateur radio equipment was more like commercial two-way equipment in user interface and especially on scan, but overall I think D-STAR is promising.
So, what D-STAR systems are in your area and how do you think it works? What are your experiences?
Phil