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I am thinking of getting into D-Star. I herd that it is great. What type of radio would you recommend for someone just starting out with D-Star?
D-Star
- Thread starter RadioGuy3007
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N8IAA
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Larry,
Thank you for the input! I will look into the Icom ID-51A
Thank you for the input! I will look into the Icom ID-51A
You may also want to look at the ID-880 mobile. There is also a new mobile coming out the ID-5100. You will have a lot of fun. Also a lot of 2820 mobiles will probably be coming onto the used market with the new 5100 coming out. I for one will be selling my 2 2820's.
Jim
Jim
The ICOM ID-51A is a great choice for a beginner handheld radio, as long as you are close enough to a local repeater or plan on using a DVAP or D-Star Hotspot... With that said, one of the cheapest radios to get started with is the ICOM ID-880H, which is an excellent dual band (one band at a time) D-Star mobile; however, programming is slightly trickier, but not all that bad to be quite honest if you read the manual.
Another option is the Internet Labs DV Dongle; this is a device that connects to your computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) and allows you to utilize your computer as the interface into the D-Star gateways. While not "real radio" as some would describe it as, it still allows you to interact and check out what D-Star has to offer. A word of caution though; DO NOT use the internal microphone array on a laptop, the audio generally sound terrible, it picks up all the room acoustics, etc. If you decide to go this route, purchase a good quality headset for the computer you are using and make sure the headset (if it's USB) is on a separate bus from the DV Dongle; there have been issues with garbled audio when two USB devices compete for each other on the same USB bus channel.
If you are thinking in terms of more longterm involvement with D-Star, might I suggest ICOM's newest mobile, the ICOM ID-5100A; that's is the cat's meow of dual band mobile radio to-date!
Good luck and welcome to D-Star!
Jerry, W2GLD
Another option is the Internet Labs DV Dongle; this is a device that connects to your computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) and allows you to utilize your computer as the interface into the D-Star gateways. While not "real radio" as some would describe it as, it still allows you to interact and check out what D-Star has to offer. A word of caution though; DO NOT use the internal microphone array on a laptop, the audio generally sound terrible, it picks up all the room acoustics, etc. If you decide to go this route, purchase a good quality headset for the computer you are using and make sure the headset (if it's USB) is on a separate bus from the DV Dongle; there have been issues with garbled audio when two USB devices compete for each other on the same USB bus channel.
If you are thinking in terms of more longterm involvement with D-Star, might I suggest ICOM's newest mobile, the ICOM ID-5100A; that's is the cat's meow of dual band mobile radio to-date!
Good luck and welcome to D-Star!
Jerry, W2GLD
It looks like the only repeater stack is in Fargo. I copy and pasted what I found in the D-starUser.org page below. Is you location current in your post?
Looks like the Doogle or Hotspot and radio is your only(?) choice.
Mike
KD0SWQFargoNorth Dakota444.00000MHz +5.000
Looks like the Doogle or Hotspot and radio is your only(?) choice.
Mike
KD0SWQFargoNorth Dakota444.00000MHz +5.000
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