HamRadioNow: HT of the Future, and DV System Comparison

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Episode 194:
HT of the Future
a update from Bruce Perens K6BP on the Whitebox radio

Episode 195:
VHF/UHF DV System Comparison
The Charlotte NC Digital Radio Group has'em all​

Keep this up and we might have to change the name to "DigitalVoiceNow." Good thing we did that CW Geek show recently to keep us grounded.

Episode 194: HT of the Future. In 2012, that whippersnapper Chris Testa KD2BMH stood before the TAPR DCC for the first time and pulled a clunky box out of his backpack. He didn't tell everyone it was the "HT of the Future..." just the makings of a handheld Software Defined Radio he was working on. Chris teamed up with Bruce Perens K6BP (I'm guessing it was Bruce that thought up "HT of the Future"), and they're turning Chris's idea into a real product. Chris and Bruce have talked about it several times on HamRadioNow, but you may as well start here, at Bruce's update from the Orlando HamCation. That show is in the window below.

Episode 195: VHF/UHF DV System Comparison. The DV enthusiasts in Charlotte NC don't play favorites. They put up repeaters for every digital voice system available (except P-25... it's passé). They've got D-STAR, DMR/MotoTRBO and even a new Yaesu System Fusion machine. There's an NXDN on the bench waiting for an antenna slot. So they're in a pretty good position to compare and contrast. We did some of that back in Episode 161, so I wasn't surprised when I heard they got their own Fusion system. So here, Roland Kraatz W9HPX gives a chalk-talk at the Charlotte Hamfest, comparing D-STAR, DMR and Fusion. I can only open one video window here, so you'll have to watch this one on the web site.

And if you're like me, you don't have time to plant your butt in front of the computer and watch all the stuff you want. But you might have commute-time for listening. Well, slide-shows like these don't make the best audio-only experience, but it's better than missing out entirely, and both Bruce and Roland describe their slide content pretty well, so it's worth a try. You can subscribe your podcast app to HamRadioNow by manually entering our RSS link: http://HamRadioNow.tv/hrnrss.xml. Some day we'll be "discoverable" on the podcatchers, but not yet.

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[video=youtube;wq29i8gMm8c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq29i8gMm8c[/video]​

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Sorry OM, dv IMHO is a solution in search of a problem in ham radio above 10m. Digital was introduced in the commercial world because there were more users than freauencies and the need to keep track of units by GPS. We already have APRS for those few who feel they need to be found 24/7. Our current problem is Too many repeaters on a lot of bandwith with too few active operators. and dv will not help that with it's high cose and multiple propriatary modes. If a common open source dv system were to be adopted world or at least nation wide, there might be more interest.....but still no problem in need of a solution. No disreespect or attack intended, I just have more interesting tings to do in HR. Might have made more sense in the days where there were many Tech class ops looking ffor excitement but unable to pass the code test, but these days with the Automatic Extra license, makes no sense to me, but I'm just an old old timer minimalist op. 73

 

Lighten up, it's a hobby. All of ham radio is a solution in search of a problem. Some people like to operate vintage tube radios with straight keys, some like to bounce signals off the moon, and some like to tinker with new digital modes on VHF/UHF.

 

I am not a big digital fan either. It is taking away from the whole premise of interoperability. We have enough trouble working together between UHF and VHF. Now we introduce five or six different favors of digital? Each of which require a different radio (for now). And if you want to use a Motorola radio, you also have to buy a $300 software suite to program your radio as needed. I don't really see any advantage to digital on the ham bands. Lots of bells and whistles, but no real practical value. The real reason digital was introduced to the commercial market was MONEY! Motorola has some great sales people that can get just about anybody to drink their koolaid. Even the hams! But I don't have anything against anybody who wants to waste their money on it, I waste my money on dumb stuff as well!

K9NZF

 

I think Digital will find its niche.

But the intial cost to dip your foot into the pool of such things will keep people away. Besides the fact it just works.

I'm aware of a local club that was considering converting their repeater to digital. When it came before the membership at large, it was given a firm and resounding NO. Not just because of the "age" of the club, but the simple fact that a small group of people who could afford the newer radios wanted to deplete the clubs' budget for such a thing, when, as many of them put it "the box on the hill we have now works perfectly fine!"

I have heard of other groups that have gone to the technology, but their plans of converting "all" of their repeaters to it never happened. They did maybe 1/4 of the ones they had (One group I know of had something like 10 of them on 2m/440 in various places around here, they only converted one "linked pair" of 2m/440 to it) and they have found usage to be pretty low, so they abandoned plans to go beyond that. Thats probably the best plan of action for such a system-if you have multiple systems, just convert one. Then those who want to use it can do so-and others can still use the analog stuff.

But lets be honest, the hobby has had many "waves" of the future. You should see the looks I get when I tell people I still have a Packet Radio station. And yeah, here in the San Joaquin Valley, it actually gets some fairly heavy use! There is a weekly unproto net on Sunday nights and it regularly sees 10+ check-ins, with probably a list closer to 40 of people who check in sporadically. Whoda thunk it?

Digital is fancy and new....and some people will go for it, but just like a lot of things in this hobby it will have its niche. I don't see the repeater guide going totally digital in the next few years. They might get a third or so....but I don't see it happening enmasse. Especially in Rural areas where they still use analog communications for Police and Fire....because they get into those canyons and areas that digital won't reach unless you have a repeater on every hill.

It will find its place but I don't see it being the future like everyone is screaming.

 

Ham radio is all about experimentation. There doesn't always need to be a "problem" for there to be a need. I find digital to be a lot of fun. I think that Dstar and Fusion will eventually die out, especially considering DMR gear will be available in two weeks for as low as $150. Good luck finding a Dstar portable for that price. Yaesu and Icom shot themselves in the foot by going proprietary. The Dstar wave is about to crash.

 

The only thing proprietary about D-STAR and System Fusion is the vocoder, whih is no different than the one used in DMR.