D-STAR question

[jazzboypro]

Hello all,

I'm still trying to figure out D-STAR. Here's the setup on my radio. This morning i was listening to the Rigaud repeater. That repeater is located near Montreal (province of Quebec). Two operators were talking, one located in New Jersey and the other one in Boston. My question is assuming i wanted to join the conversation would both operators have heard me ?

Many thanks
73
VA2FCS

 

[tweiss3]

Correct, provided you can reach it, you would be able to jump in the conversation. D-Star (unlike DMR) can only link to one reflector/room at a time. If you are hearing it, and use CQCQCQ, you will be in the conversation just as if it was normal analog repeater.

 

[jazzboypro]

Correct, provided you can reach it, you would be able to jump in the conversation. D-Star (unlike DMR) can only link to one reflector/room at a time. If you are hearing it, and use CQCQCQ, you will be in the conversation just as if it was normal analog repeater.

Thank you for the explanation and yes i am able to reach that repeater.

 

[jazzboypro]

Another question comes to mind. Did the 2 operators do something to make sure they would be heard on a that particular repeater in Rigaud ?

 

[jwt873]

If the stations you were hearing were coming in to your repeater directly over the air, then they will hear you if you break in.

They could be coming in over the internet via a reflector. If this is the case, you'll need the radio to say "Use Reflector" rather than "Use Repeater". Otherwise your transmissions will just be repeated over the air rather than getting routed through the internet by the reflector that the repeater is connected to.

(See page 10-11 in the IC-9700 Advanced Manual if you don't know how to set up "Use Reflector").

 

[tweiss3]

Someone had to tell it to connect to the reflector (assuming the NJ station was not making the repeater via RF).

Linking & unlinking are done with the *******L and *******U commands. (* is either part of the reflector, repeater or call sign you want to link to, and must be 7 digits, use spaces after if call sign is short)

 

[jazzboypro]

If the stations you were hearing were coming in to your repeater directly over the air, then they will hear you if you break in.

They could be coming in over the internet via a reflector. If this is the case, you'll need the radio to say "Use Reflector" rather than "Use Repeater". Otherwise your transmissions will just be repeated over the air rather than getting routed through the internet by the reflector that the repeater is connected to.

(See page 10-11 in the IC-9700 Advanced Manual if you don't know how to set up "Use Reflector").

Thanks, it must have been thru the Internet. I doubt very much that both could hit the repeater directly over the air considering the distance. Thanks for the manual reference.

 

[jazzboypro]

Hello all,

I'm still trying to configure my ID-52 for D-STAR, i'm getting there but i still have a problem. Here is the the scenario.

Tonight I took part to a D-STAR net using my 9700. The net controller was using repeater VA2RKB C. On my side i was receiving every participant including the net controller on 2 different repeaters namely VE2REX C and VE2RIO B so everything works as expected.

At the same time i was trying to follow the same net on my ID-52 but i could only hear operators using VE2RIO B

As per this video here is how my openspot3 is configured in my ID-52


This is how it looks in the ID-52 D-STAR screen



And this is how my hotspot is configured



In resume, why can i here everyone on VE2RIO B on my 9700 but on my ID-52 i can only hear those who specifically use VE2RIO B ?

Many thanks
73
VA2FCS

 

[W3APX]

Hello all,

I'm still trying to configure my ID-52 for D-STAR, i'm getting there but i still have a problem. Here is the the scenario.

Tonight I took part to a D-STAR net using my 9700. The net controller was using repeater VA2RKB C. On my side i was receiving every participant including the net controller on 2 different repeaters namely VE2REX C and VE2RIO B so everything works as expected.

At the same time i was trying to follow the same net on my ID-52 but i could only hear operators using VE2RIO B

As per this video here is how my openspot3 is configured in my ID-52
View attachment 114313

This is how it looks in the ID-52 D-STAR screen

View attachment 114314

And this is how my hotspot is configured

View attachment 114315

In resume, why can i here everyone on VE2RIO B on my 9700 but on my ID-52 i can only hear those who specifically use VE2RIO B ?

Many thanks
73
VA2FCS

If im understanding DSTAR correctly you have your open spot set to connect directly to that repeater and are only making calls via that repeater. If he's using a reflector you'll want to connect to that reflector and then you should be able to hear everyone. Again if im understanding DSTAR correctly when your using your 9700 you likely connected to a repeater that is linked to whatever reflector net control is using so therefore hearing the entirety of the conversation and not just one repeater in the group. If im wrong someone please correct me.

 

[N4DJC]

@W3GXP sounds right to me

It appears the OpenSpot is connected to the gateway repeater, instead it needs to link directly to the correct reflector. My ZUMspot is set up to connect to R30C not through a repeater I still have to unlink before changing reflectors. I don't connect directly to specific D-Star repeaters unless I'm trying to get in touch with friends in that location.

 

[jazzboypro]

I understand what you say but the 9700 hears every operator on VA2RIO B and the hotspot only hears the operators that specifically use VA2RIO B. None of my radios are configured to use a reflector. Since it works fine on the 9700 i assume that VA2RIO B is linked to a reflector so it should also work for the hotspot but it does not

 

[jazzboypro]

@W3GXP sounds right to me

It appears the OpenSpot is connected to the gateway repeater, instead it needs to link directly to the correct reflector. My ZUMspot is set up to connect to R30C not through a repeater I still have to unlink before changing reflectors. I don't connect directly to specific D-Star repeaters unless I'm trying to get in touch with friends in that location.

The explanation makes sense but my 9700 is not connected to a reflector and it works. I'm gonna try configuring the hot spot to use a reflector and that pops another question, how to i find which reflector to use ?

 

[W3APX]

The explanation makes sense but my 9700 is not connected to a reflector and it works. I'm gonna try configuring the hot spot to use a reflector and that pops another question, how to i find which reflector to use ?

I tried to do some research for you but couldn't find much and im not up to date on Canadian repeaters. The problem that your having is related to what your connected too. the VA2RKB C repeater is most likely linked to a reflector and net control is in the area of that repeater and using it as his source repeater or RPT1 which is then likely using RPT2 as VA2RKB G to connect to the gateway and onto the reflector. What reflector that is I was unable to figure out.

The other repeaters that you mentioned are also likely connected to the same reflector there for traffic is being heard across all of those repeaters. In order for your Openspot to function the way the repeaters are you need to figure out what reflector those repeaters are accessing and then connect your openspot to that reflector. you should then hear the entirety of the traffic.

I hope this is helpful im still learning DSTAR myself.

 

[jazzboypro]

I spoke to a friend in France that participates into our D-STAR nets. He told me that the XLX774 reflector is often use for those in my area. unfortunately my hotspot supports only the REF and XRF Reflectors

 

[jazzboypro]

Please ignore the last comment, i found the settings on my hotspot and i can select XLX reflectors