HXO D-Star Update W7AES Repeaters Mel Parrish with some content borrowed from K5TIT

Agenda Brief D-Star Overview (for newbies) Product Overview W7AES Status

Digital Smart Technology for Amateur Radio Initial Development –Japanese Amateur Radio League (JARL) – Icom Digital Voice & Data – Point-to-Point Simplex or – Duplex Repeaters – World Wide Call Sign and Repeater Routing – GPS Position Reporting What is D-Star?

Radio/Repeater Characteristics 1.2 GHz “DD” kbps Digital Data - Single Frequency Store-and-Forward Repeater VHF/UHF/1.2 GHz “DV” - Simplex Point-to-Point or via Duplex Repeater - Simultaneous Digital Voice & Data – 4800 bps 2400 bps Digital Voice 1200 bps Forward Error Correction for Voice 1200 bps Digital Data

–Gaussian Minimum-Shift Keying (GMSK) –Spectrum Efficiency 6.25 kHz (-3 dB) Bandwidth 10 kHz Channel Spacing Possible RF Characteristics

Network Characteristics

Network Routing Two Routing Methods –Site Routing Where you want to talk –Specific System/Gateway and Port –User Routing Who you want to talk –Specific User

Applications & Modes

Advanced Multi-Band Excitation (AMBE) – Transform/Statistics-Based Algorithm – Multiple Frequency Bands (~20?), Analyzed for “Voiced”/“Unvoiced”, Envelope, Pitch, then Encoded – Reduces Data Redundancy – Lower Data Rate than Basic A/D for Equivalent Voice Quality 2/3 Rate Forward Error Correction (FEC) Coding – 2400 bps Voice Data – 1200 bps FEC Appended Voice Digitization Technology

Voice Digitization Process

DataRadio Header Radio ID Bit Synchronization 64 bits Frame Sync 15 bits Flag 2 8 bits Flag 1 8 bits Flag 3 8 bits P_FCS This Station Comment 32 bits/4 char Destination Repeater Call 64 bits/8 char Local Repeater Call 64 bits/8 char Destination Station Call 64 bits/8 char This Station Call 64 bits/8 char W7SP B W7SP A CQCQCQK7VEJOHN Open DV Protocol

Radio ID Bit Synchronization 64 bits Frame Sync 15 bits Flag 2 8 bits Flag 1 8 bits Flag 3 8 bits P_FCS This Station Comment 32 bits/4 char Destination Repeater Call 64 bits/8 char Local Repeater Call 64 bits/8 char Destination Station Call 64 bits/8 char This Station Call 64 bits/8 char W7SP B W7SP A CQCQCQK7VEJOHN Ethernet Style PacketRadio Header Length 16 bits Open DD Protocol

Current Repeater/User Stats At Least 920 Icom G2 Gateways Worldwide –G2 Gateway Routing SW Proprietary to JARL/Icom –42 Countries –At Least 19,500 Gateway-Registered Users At Least 872 ircDDB Activated Gateways Worldwide –“internet relay chat Distributed Data Base” – Open Software –20 Countries; Most Gateways in Germany –At Least 6,042 Users

Reflectors Accessed Same as Gateways At Least 50 Reflector Servers Activated Affinity Groups: –DX, Regional, Tech, Emcomm, etc. Connection via Third-Party Software –D-Plus (used on W7AES) –DCS –DExtra

D-Star Radio Products

Icom D-STAR Controller & Repeaters

Typical “Full” Stack (like W7AES)

Icom D-Star Radio Products ID-31A IC-80AD IC-91AD IC-92AD IC-9100 ID-880AH ID-1 IC-2820AH

IC-2820H GPS Display GPS Display Dual-band radio display

Third Party Products DVRPTR Open Source Hotspot Modem DV Acccess Point (DVAP) (VHF Radio-to-Internet Interface) DV Dongle (No Radio Required)

DV Dongle Menu

D-RATS Free Software A Communications Tool For D-STAR

D-RATS Message List

D-RATS Chat Display

D-RATS File Transfer

D-RATS Map Display

D-RATS Forms Includes Form Editor to Create Any FormIncludes Form Editor to Create Any Form Only Data is SentOnly Data is Sent Fully printable ICS-213, ARRL Radiogram and NTS Forms IncludedFully printable ICS-213, ARRL Radiogram and NTS Forms Included

W7AES Arden Install Status

Arden View from Ice Bridge 180 deg, centered north

The Arden D-Star Participants (so far) Mel K6UV Gene KK4IB Frank N7ZEV Ralph N7TND Bill W7HMV George KF2T Not Shown: Blayne KG7SS Dale W7IXK Jeff KR7JD Lee N7LD Nat W7OQF

Some Useful Web Sites Some D-STAR Web Sites: