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Icom IDAS & D-STAR, the same?

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rustynswrail

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Okay can anyone tell me the difference between the commercial standard IDAS and the amateur standard D-STAR? If there is a difference then what is it apart from the obvious - name and band usage etc?

R
 

commscanaus

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Hi Russ,

The vocoder used is different.
Dstar uses AMBE.
IDAS/NXDN uses AMBE+2

The latter has better error correction and more robust audio.
I have entered an NXDN encoded voice channel into my Dstar radio and (as expected) it did not decode a thing.

IDAS/NXDN also supports trunking and can be encrypted if required.

Oh and yes- IDAS is Icom and NXDN is Kenwood- but they are one in the same with the technology having been co-produced between the two companies.
An IP networkable digital protocol that is reasonably priced and offers backward (analogue) compatability and features that suit the commercial sector. A cost effective alternative to P25 and TETRA.


Commscanaus.
 
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radioman2001

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The radio's are feature rich, the product is comparable to low tier Motorola package quality. Some of the things we don't like about them, cheap battery clips attached to case not battery, so the whole radio is OOS if the clip breaks, poor quality nylon carry cases, poor quality belt clip in lieu of case. Some of the pluses, audio quality is superb compared to MOTOTRBO, especially since it's only 1.25kc deviation. Field sensitivity is better than a Motorola HT-1250 doing side by side comparison in analog mode. Digital to analog sensitivity cannot be compared, but in digital mode works about 20% further distance with full audio comprehension. We havn't done any background noise testing yet, but that may be the deciding factor if we go digital for non RTC operations.
 

iamhere300

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The radio's are feature rich, the product is comparable to low tier Motorola package quality. Some of the things we don't like about them, cheap battery clips attached to case not battery, so the whole radio is OOS if the clip breaks, poor quality nylon carry cases, poor quality belt clip in lieu of case. Some of the pluses, audio quality is superb compared to MOTOTRBO, especially since it's only 1.25kc deviation. Field sensitivity is better than a Motorola HT-1250 doing side by side comparison in analog mode. Digital to analog sensitivity cannot be compared, but in digital mode works about 20% further distance with full audio comprehension. We havn't done any background noise testing yet, but that may be the deciding factor if we go digital for non RTC operations.

Of course some may say that the product is superior Mototrbo.

I hate belt clips - and quality duty class leather cases are readily available.
 

radioman2001

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Our personnel will not use leather cases with lanyards because of safety issues. Don't want to get caught on any moving machinery. We did a side by side comparison of audio, the Icom was cleaner, I'm partial to Motorola products, but the difference is there. I hope that as long as Motorola makes an analog product, we will continue with Motorola. Unfortunately our coordinator is forcing us 6.25, and that eliminates MOTOTRBO. I don't see a reason to go digital just yet, 10 years is a long way off, and product development continues to make better radios.
 

lep

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Dstar protocol was developed by JARL

Okay can anyone tell me the difference between the commercial standard IDAS and the amateur standard D-STAR? If there is a difference then what is it apart from the obvious - name and band usage etc?

R

The Dstar protocol Intellectual property rights are owned by the Japan Amateur Radio League and are available to license by any manufacturer. Only ICOM has widely marketed it to the amateur radio market in the USA that has give rise to the belief by some that it is an ICOM product which is not the case any more than a p25 radio is a Motorola. However, unlike p25, Dstar is not an approved ITU digital standard.
 

ElroyJetson

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Idas and D-Star are not compatible with each other. They are both digital formats, but they're too different to ever talk to each other directly. That's all that really matters.

Idas (NXDN) is based on the AMBE-2 codec. I don't know what codec D-Star uses.


Elroy
 
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