View Full Version : Have Any Of You Used DSTAR?
kg4kww
08-05-2006, 01:36 AM
Have Any Of You Used DSTAR and if so, what do you think of it?
Is it worth the investment?
Please, not another DSTAR thread. Go direct with VE7TKO. He's the dstar guru. Most are not that impressed. Try a search here on the board and you'll get the answers.
In a few words: NO, Not much, NO!
kf6rdn
08-05-2006, 03:03 AM
Quote[/b] (n9vo @ Aug. 04 2006,19:00)]Please, not another DSTAR thread. Go direct with VE7TKO. He's the dstar guru. Most are not that impressed. Try a search here on the board and you'll get the answers.
In a few words: NO, Not much, NO!
If any of your D,S,A,R keys are broke, just look up VE7TKO, you'll find the exact same threads.
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
kg4kww
08-05-2006, 03:29 AM
I would like to hear from folks that are not going to try to torpedo this thread. I would like some answers ans a local radio club in Richmond is think of putting a DSATR Repeater On The Air.
Quote[/b] (kg4kww @ Aug. 04 2006,20:29)]I would like to hear from folks that are not going to try to torpedo this thread. I would like some answers ans a local radio club in Richmond is think of putting a DSATR Repeater On The Air.
we're not joking. Look up VE7TKO and go direct with him. He is the number one DSTAR fan alive. You'll not get a whole lot on this forum. Just trying to help you out and save time. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
kf6rdn
08-05-2006, 03:55 AM
Exactly, joking around notwithstanding.
Otherwise for basic tech info Icom's own site:
http://www.icomamerica.com/amateur/dstar/
Would be a place to start. They invented it.
ka5piu
08-05-2006, 05:49 AM
Hello.
Much as I hate to say it, but everybody is right.
D-STAR is an open standard that no one in the US is excited about.
D-STAR can do a lot of things, and do this well, but if you are the only person on the planet, or at least in the area, it is not really that useful.
AMBE, the progressor to IMBE, what APCO25 is based on, is still a bit expensive to impliment, not that APCO25 is cheap.
And, there is the key factor, cost.
WA2ZDY
08-05-2006, 10:09 AM
D Star might be useful once there's an infrastructure for it in place. But without a D Star repeater (lotsa money) all you can do is run direct (aka simplex) with other similarly disappointed D Star radio owners. And if you have the 1.2 GHz version, direct range will be VERY disappointing.
Even if there is a D Star repeater up, until it's connected to the internet (yawn) or another D Star system elsewhere, it will be no better than any other already grossly underused repeater.
D Star's time is not yet here and who knows, it may never be.
N5PVL
08-05-2006, 11:25 AM
If your club is looking into putting up a DSTAR repeater, I'll take the plunge here and guess that the entire issue is being pushed by a tiny minority of DSTAR equipment owners within your club who want to use everybody else's funds for thier own personal use.
At the next meeting, ask for a show of hands by DSTAR equipment owners, have them file out of the room to wait outside while you ask everyone else if they really want to finance a private repeater for those few individuals.
Or - Just read this post out loud as part of the discussion. - I'm sure the majority there will get the point right away.
I don't have a DSTAR radio, but a couple of local hams have them. Aparently ID-800's were a pretty good deal at Dayton. They use an FM simplex frequency for their DV QSOs, sounds weird when listening to it on FM.
There is no repeater in the area but this group runs a couple of other repeaters and is thinking about putting up a DV repeater for DSTAR. The big problem is funds, Icom charges a fortune for the repeater modules.
They find that the range is about the same as a full quieting FM signal, but it has a bit of a drop off, with no partial copy of a weak FM signal. Sort of like the difference btwn analog cell phone and digital cell phone.
If a repeater does pop up in the area, I just might think about getting DSTAR radio http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif maybe I can pick one up used that somebody else didn't want.
73
Joe
N3PAQ
Quote[/b] (N5PVL @ Aug. 05 2006,04:25)]If your club is looking into putting up a DSTAR repeater, I'll take the plunge here and guess that the entire issue is being pushed by a tiny minority of DSTAR equipment owners within your club who want to use everybody else's funds for thier own personal use.
At the next meeting, ask for a show of hands by DSTAR equipment owners, have them file out of the room to wait outside while you ask everyone else if they really want to finance a private repeater for those few individuals.
Or - Just read this post out loud as part of the discussion. - I'm sure the majority there will get the point right away.
One thought I had about that was for the club not only to put the funds into the repeater, but also, a couple of DSTAR handhelds too and put a DSTAR radio in the club station if you have one. It adds to the expense, but allows it to involve more of the membership and give folks a chance to try it and learn about it before buying the radio. The big problem is, it might all be for nothing if it doesn't really get used.
73
Joe
N3PAQ
Digital
Systems
Trash
Amateur
Radio
Now you know what it stands for... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
WA2ZDY
08-05-2006, 04:29 PM
Quote[/b] (N3PAQ @ Aug. 05 2006,07:40)]There is no repeater in the area but this group runs a couple of other repeaters and is thinking about putting up a DV repeater for DSTAR. #The big problem is funds, Icom charges a fortune for the repeater modules.
But what will be gained by using D Star versus an analogue FM repeater? As Charles says, the owners of D Star radios will have a repeater. Is that worth the cost to the group?
I suppose if an internet connection is added to the repeater it could be useful. But 128K still isn't so good and why bother just to get the internet, with Part 97 restrictions, on your ham radio?
Wasteful if you ask me.
Quote[/b] (WA2ZDY @ Aug. 05 2006,09:29)]Quote[/b] (N3PAQ @ Aug. 05 2006,07:40)]There is no repeater in the area but this group runs a couple of other repeaters and is thinking about putting up a DV repeater for DSTAR. The big problem is funds, Icom charges a fortune for the repeater modules.
But what will be gained by using D Star versus an analogue FM repeater? As Charles says, the owners of D Star radios will have a repeater. Is that worth the cost to the group?
I suppose if an internet connection is added to the repeater it could be useful. But 128K still isn't so good and why bother just to get the internet, with Part 97 restrictions, on your ham radio?
Wasteful if you ask me.
Well, there are enough silent FM repeaters around, why not have a silent dstar repeater too?
They probably said the same about FM repeates back in the day, the only folks who will use them are those who have FM radios. That didn't stop hams from putting them up. I think the main reason they bought the radios and are considering a repeater is to try something new and to give others a resource to use if they want to do the same.
A couple of things need to happen with DSTAR. One, you need to figure out how to get repeaters on the air for not much more than it would take to get an FM system on the air. Icom should see that this would really help them sell more DSTAR radios. Two, companies other than Icom need to support it, if not, it probably won't do very well.
73
Joe
N3PAQ
Glad this thread died a quick painless death. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
KI4ITI
08-07-2006, 02:33 PM
Alabama is trying to set up a statewide linked-repeater system using D-STAR and Internet links. That seems to be the real forte of D-STAR - the ability to do seamless digital Internet linking of multiple systems. I certainly couldn't see people building expensive repeaters and buying expensive radios just so the commute-time local repeater crowd could say "Look Mom, I'm digital!"
But, if you've got people with the money to put up the repeaters, and the time to get certified to run the Internet link, maybe it would be cool. No replacement for analog FM or HF, but another tool in the Amateur Radio box.
Here's a link (http://www.arrl-al.org/Alabama_link.htm) to an article about Alabama's effort. I think there's also a forum planned to be held on this topic at the Huntsville Hamfest (http://www.hamfest.org) coming up in a couple of weeks.
73
Josh KI4ITI
sounds cool -- they didn't have much on there about how it is linked, the internet is a bad idea for linking an emergency network, unless there is some sort of backup path.