D-Star DV on 145.600 MHz

I have just printed some new business cards listing “D-Star DV: 145.600 MHz” as my calling frequency. I have 3 D-Star compatible radios and know only one other person who has one. I would like to propose that all other 2 meter D-Star owners make 145.600 MHz their National Digital Calling Frequency. We are the leaders in the use of this new technology. Give other hams a place to try out this new technology by monitoring 145.600 MHz.

If you are passing through Abbotsford, BC, give me a call on “D-Star DV: 145.600 MHz.”

How many hams are willing to follow me in this example?

Jan van Vugt
VE7TKO

 

What is D-Star?

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

 

D-STAR Is The Most Exciting New Mode For Amateur Radio.

D-STAR is probably the greatest advancement ever seen in ham radio to date. D-STAR stands for "Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio". The system has been developed in collaboration with JARL (Japan Amateur Radio League) and is supported by the Japanese Telecommunications Administration. The protocol is owned by the JARL and not by a single manufacturer. This makes it an open protocol that any manufacturer can use.

The very first company to have radios available with the D-STAR protocol is Icom. The first radio that I bought, in May of 2005, was the Icom IC-V82. This is an entry level HT with the ability to have an optional "UT-118" D-STAR board added to it. Unfortunately I could only afford one radio at the time, and I was hoping to find someone else in my area to experiment with.

To use the radio in digital mode, you must first do the call sign programming. Your call sign is programmed into "MYC" and is displayed on all other radios (except for the IC-2200H) that receive your signal. The call sign of the station that you are calling must be programmed into "YUC". Entering "CQCQCQ" in the place of a call sign will make your radio act like a conventional radio to local traffic. You will be able to speak to anybody else who has his radio set up the same way.

Entering the call sign of a person that you wish to talk to, in to "YUC" will make it like a call sign squelch. You would only hear from the call sign that you have your radio set to. This feature can be handy when you leave your base, and the rest of the family does not want to listen to all the chatter on the frequency. This feature is applicable to both simplex and D-STAR repeater use. This does not make it a private frequency. All other D-STAR equipped radios can hear what is being said. Your base station can hear only your mobile, and your mobile can still hear all calls as long as your mobile is set to "CQCQCQ".

Things get really interesting as D-STAR repeaters become more common. If the repeater is connected into an Internet gateway, every time that you use that repeater, your location is automatically recorded on that gateway. Any other D-Star radio on any other D-Star repeater equipped with an internet gateway, will be able to contact you through "call sign to call sign" calling. The system will automatically track you, regardless of where in the world you are. The call will be automatically routed to the repeater on which you are presently active. You can operate on both voice and data mode at the same time.

D-STAR only defines how the signal is handled going into the box or coming out of the box. It is up to each individual radio manufacturer to decide what features they wish to implement. The Icom "ID-800H" has both Digital Voice and 950 bps data capabilities and operates on the 2-meter and 70-cm bands. It can also send GPS coordination data, in "NMEA 0183" format, if an external GPS receiver is connected. There is no TNC required for this. Supported data formats are GLL, GGA, RMC, GSA and VTG sentences. A computer, with map plotting software can be connected to the base station, thus showing the location of your mobile. This can be accomplished on the same frequency that you use for voice communications. Handy if you wish to have only one radio with one antenna on your car.

All the capabilities of D-STAR can only be learned as new applications are developed. Because D-STAR is an open protocol, it is not limited to the thinking of only one manufacturer. As other radio manufactures play catch-up, you will see the standard become more enabled as they design in more applications to compete for your dollar. This will only happen as long as hams like you and me buy the D-Star enabled equipment that is currently available. The loss of sales by other manufactures that do not get involve in D-STAR, will force them to support the standard if they wish to keep their share of the ham radio pie.

If you ever travel in the Abbotsford, BC area, give VE7TKO a call at "D-STAR DV on 145.600 MHz". The same holds true if you fly into "YXX" Abbotsford Airport. I live only a few km north of there.

Jan van Vugt - VE7TKO

 

Tnx for the explaination, I never heard of it. Maybe the info has not gotten across the Rocky Mountains yet, much info does not. Is there a web site for more info? I have a LOT of 2m gear, but have not needed anything digi for the local simplex and repeaters. Tom K8ERV

 

2-meter D-STAR repeaters are a work in progress and it will be a while before they become a reality. That does not mean, that we cannot enjoy the use of D-STAR now. We can use it in simplex communications right now. D-STAR radios will also work with regular analogue FM ham radios and repeaters.

 

D-Star DV= Death Star Darth Vader. I just could not resist.

 

Hi Jan and all,

I'm hoping to win an Icom digital HT in a contest posted on another thread. Maybe I'll join up with you guys if the band opens. (;-&gt

Seriously, with an expensive rig and a hardware codec that can only communicate with another of it's kind I doubt digital voice will take off until or unless someone comes up with a decent software codec. Then too why wasn't APCO-25 given the FCC nod when it's the North American communications standard? WHY the Japanese orphan???

Still I'd like to win that HT even though the digital voice will not likely ever be used.

 

Hi Warren

I hope that you win that radio. If you don’t win, don’t get discouraged. If you want something bad enough, in time, it will happen. In the mean time, I would like to recommend to you that you read the brochure <span style='color:red'>“D-STAR: For the Second Century of Amateur Radio”</span>. You may see it at: http://www.icomamerica.com/amateur/dstar/. I would like to encourage you to write to ICOM America, and request enough hard copies for you and your friends. This brochure is 100% D-STAR and has only a slight touch of ICOM advertising in it. Both ICOM and Kenwood, now support the D-STAR protocol.

There are features in D-STAR that are not properly documented in the IC-V82 owner’s manual. I discovered that my base radio <span style='color:blue'>(ID-800H)</span> could turn up the volume on my <span style='color:blue'>IC-V82</span>. If I have my HT volume turned down to “0” and turn on “EMR” on my base radio, keying the mike on my base radio will cause the HT volume to reset to “12”. This will only work with radios that have a digital volume control.

I am currently content to use my D-STAR radios on simplex. I can still do all the regular FM communications, but have the luxury of going to a D-STAR frequency when my friend and I QSY to a simplex channel. There are only four D-STAR radios in this area, and I own three of them. My next-door neighbour is the other one. While we are on <span style='color:red'>D-STAR DV on 145.600 MHz</span>, other club members have tried to follow us to that frequency, only to find out that all they can hear is what sounds to them as a little white noise. If they would like to join in, they will have to invest in a new D-STAR compliant radio. I am willing to bet, that D-STAR will go the same route as SSB did with HF radios. <span style='color:green'>Twenty years from now, you will not be able to purchase a FM ham radio, without D-STAR being part of that radio.</span>

With D-STAR, Digital Voice (DV), Digital Packet (DP) and D-APRS can all coexist on the same frequencies, without causing a problem. Regular analogue FM cannot make this claim. D-STAR’s simultaneous digital voice and data at 4800bps is beyond the capability of any packet technology. High-speed D-STAR systems (1.2 GHz) are 10 times faster than the highest packet speeds. <span style='color:red'>D-STAR is the new frontier of ham radio.</span>

I hope that you find this information useful. I would encourage you to sign up for the D-STAR Forums at http://www.icomamerica.com/support/forums/. Here you will find the latest information about what’s happening with D-STAR. There are already, test repeater sites setup across America that have proven to be very exciting. I can hardly wait until we get a D-STAR repeater in our city. It will happen probably sooner than later, because I really want one. It may just end up in my own back yard.

 

Didnt this whole D-Star thing get beat to death for over a week just a couple weeks ago? Give us a break.

 

Ok, at least you put it in the experimental part of the bandplan.

As long as you don't bother me on FM simplex, don't matter to me what you guys are doing.

But, I'm not going to go out and get a new radio either, I have plenty of good Yaesu's that are working fine. Good luck with your group

 

i wish i had a d-star radio