D-STAR illegal in France

[WY3X]

Funny. The internet worked fine for me during Katrina. As for the majority of the planet earth as well.

In fact, several companies still had internet connections there. Some horror stories about being stuck in the data center, keeping them online still abound in IT circles. And of course, they still had internet there. Spotty, but it was there.

The majority of "the planet" is of no concern to someone who is stranded in an area where it's impossible to get emergency communications to the outside world. Amateur radio doesn't (and shouldn't) depend on wires or fiber optics being strung from point A to point B, and therein lies the beauty of cutting the cord. If your mother/wife/grandmother/child etc. were needing medical aid in the affected area, and a down internet connection was all you had to depend on, wouldn't you be just happy as a pig in mud to have a "real" amateur radio operator on the air with a real radio next door to you in touch with the EOC to dispatch an ambulance to you? Pitch the wired connection and get on the air. At least it's much more dependable than a wired connection!

Basis and purpose. Read it and learn.

-WY3X

[WY3X]

DStar repeaters do a lot more than connect to the internet. Y'all should actually look into what they are capable of doing. Ya might be surprised at what ya find out.

No doubt D-star technology is way cool! We have a system here. I just wish the radios weren't so darned expensive! But the moment I discovered the D-star repeater connected to wired infrastructure and depending on that for primary emergency communications, I'd drop it like a hot rock. I would make a nice "backhaul" for sending damage photos over the air point-to-point through a repeater at 128K. I can't see much other justifiable use for it though.

It would be nice if the system could send live field video like ATV through the 128K data connection. I wonder what 640x480 frame rate could be sent over a 128K connection?

Don't get the opinion that I'm anti-D-star, I'm not. I'm anti-amateur-internet. Digital over-the-air is (I believe) a valid technology that should be pursued, much like the FCC did with ATSC television. It's just another modulation technique.

-WY3X

[KG4CGC]

The majority of "the planet" is of no concern to someone who is stranded in an area where it's impossible to get emergency communications to the outside world. Amateur radio doesn't (and shouldn't) depend on wires or fiber optics being strung from point A to point B, and therein lies the beauty of cutting the cord. If your mother/wife/grandmother/child etc. were needing medical aid in the affected area, and a down internet connection was all you had to depend on, wouldn't you be just happy as a pig in mud to have a "real" amateur radio operator on the air with a real radio next door to you in touch with the EOC to dispatch an ambulance to you? Pitch the wired connection and get on the air. At least it's much more dependable than a wired connection!

Basis and purpose. Read it and learn.

-WY3X

I seem to recall quite a few amateurs complaining that their role in Emcomm during Katrina was too much for them. That they were expected to do too much and later after all their complaining about working conditions they were complaining that they didn't get thanked enough.
Basically they volunteered to fill in the communication gap then complained when they were left on their own and trusted to do the job.
Seems to me that the glory seekers were ready to go but when it came down to brass tacks they were in way over their heads because they thought it would be easy. I recall one ham posting here on QRZ during the event, he had internet, that the volunteer amateur ops were leaving their posts because they felt they were not being backed up by police and firefighters who were out in the trenches dealing with emergency services.
Same thing happens every time after a few years, time changes one's memory.

Leave EmComm to the trained professionals.

[NP3FS]

Does letter "D" on D-Star technology relates to school grades?

[KY5U]

I'd sign a D-Star ban petition. How about any digital mode over 2.5khz and does not stay in the unofficial digital sub-bands (example: above 7060 on 40m and out of the phone bands.)

The bottom line is, if digital is "better" than analog, then it should be able to deal with interference from other digital users and use a narrow bandwidth. If not, why have it?

[W9PSK]

Does letter "D" on D-Star technology relates to school grades?

Oye, Primo. What's the deal? Your first post here and you have to pick up some Piedras from the Rio to throw? Portate bien, me oyes? LOL! Welcome to the fray, I mean the ZED!

[W9PSK]

I'd sign a D-Star ban petition. How about any digital mode over 2.5khz and does not stay in the unofficial digital sub-bands (example: above 7060 on 40m and out of the phone bands.)

The bottom line is, if digital is "better" than analog, then it should be able to deal with interference from other digital users and use a narrow bandwidth. If not, why have it?

Shouldn't you be out hat shopping for your cat? There's something special waiting for you over at the other watering hole.

[KB3PXR]

This must be big, it has even hit Slashdot: http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/06/...ode-Is-Illegal

[M3VJO]

does this mean that echolink/irlp is also illegal, if it the process of connecting your station to the internet?

[AA8X]

This mode should be barred worldwide due to the proprietary CODEC.