1. D-STAR Digital Smart Technology for Amateur Radio
John Davis - WB4QDX
GA ARES District Emergency Coordinator – Georgia Public Broadcasting
ARES Emergency Coordinator – Gwinnett County, Georgia

2. What is D-STAR?
D-STAR is an open worldwide standard for digital communications over Amateur Radio
The D-STAR standard was developed by the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL)
D-STAR uses the AMBE vocoder chip under license from DVSI
Icom is initial Amateur Radio manufacturer of mobiles, HTs, repeaters and controllers
Non-Icom repeater in operation in UK

3. How D-STAR Works D-STAR is digital modulation
Voice is converted from analog to digital for transmission
Data is combined with digitized voice for transmission at 4800 bps
2400 bits for Voice
1200 bits for Forward Error Correction
1200 bits for Data
Callsign is sent with each transmission
Calls are routed by callsign

4. What can D-STAR Do?
Transmit and receive voice and 1200 baud data simultaneously on 2m, 440 and 1.2 GHz
128 Kb data transmission on 1.2 GHz with Internet connectivity (Ethernet bridge to Internet with IP address)
DPRS (digital APRS) automatic position reporting simultaneous with voice with GPS
Flexible repeater linking with Gateway and Internet connection
Reflectors act as conference bridge for linking multiple repeaters (30 in operation worldwide)
Connect to other station regardless of location (callsign routing)

5. User on Repeater 1 LINKS to USER on Repeater 2
D-STAR Linked QSO
I'm near Lawrenceville, GA. I'm talking on WD4STR (port B) as well as the K4WAK repeater (port B) and my radio is set to Mhz
I'm near Tallahassee FL and I'm listening to the K4WAK repeater and my radio is set to Mhz
User on Repeater 1 LINKS to USER on Repeater 2

6. D-STAR Growth

7. Open Development DV Dongle (www.dvdongle.com)
Access to D-STAR repeaters via PC without radio
Small module connects to PC via USB
Uses PC sound card for mic/speaker audio
Hotspot (
Uses GMSK node adapter from Satoshi Yasuda (d-star.dyndns.org/rig.html.en)
Connects to 9600 baud packet data port or discriminator of FM radio
GB7MH Repeater (g4ulf.blogspot.com)
Uses GMSK node adapter on Tait T800 repeater
Fully tested with US Trust Servers
Compatible with all Dplus, DSTARMON, other repeater utilities
New Products Coming (stay tuned today!)

8. For latest worldwide repeater listings – www.dstarinfo.com/repeaters
D-STAR Across America
For latest worldwide repeater listings –

9. Typical D-STAR Repeater Stack
D-STAR for EmComm
Stations can transmit voice and location info simultaneously
Low and high speed data transfer capability
Internet access through Gateway-equipped repeaters
Communicate with stations regardless of location (routing by callsign)
Versatile repeater linking on the fly
Repeaters can be connected to reflectors
Link across states, across the nation, around the world
Typical D-STAR Repeater Stack

10. A Regional Approach to Communications
Severe weather approaches Southeast from west,
south (Gulf of Mexico),
and southeast (Atlantic coast)
North Carolina D-STAR repeater network growing rapidly
Statewide D-STAR network in operation in Alabama, 33 county EMA offices added D-STAR radios
South Carolina planning D-STAR overlay of FM linked repeater network
Georgia building statewide D-STAR network using Public Television towers
Rapid growth of D-STAR repeaters across North and Central Florida

11. Georgia ARES D-STAR Network
Statewide D-STAR network coverage planned using GPB television towers
Antennas, transmission lines, building space, protected power and network connectivity provided by GPB
Antennas at >500’ AGL provides statewide coverage
12 repeaters currently operational growing to 19+ with GPB network
Georgia ARES received $165,000 in Federal funding to complete Georgia statewide network, equip 20 EMA offices

12. Georgia ARES D-STAR Network
Statewide D-STAR network coverage planned using GPB television towers
Antennas, transmission lines, building space, protected power and network connectivity provided by GPB
Antennas at >500’ AGL provides statewide coverage
12 repeaters currently operational growing to 19+ with GPB network
Georgia ARES received $165,000 in Federal funding to complete Georgia statewide network, equip 20 EMA offices

13. D-STAR Reflectors and Nets
30 reflectors available worldwide to act as “conference bridges” linking multiple repeaters, Dongle users
Regional, national and international nets possible with reflectors (over 37 listed on
Linking repeaters to reflectors allows local users to participate with no special programming
View repeaters/Dongle users connected to reflectors (
Southeast D-STAR Weather Net on Sunday nights, 9:00pm ET on Reflector 2A (REF002A)
Complete Net listing on

14. D-STAR Resources
View local repeater linked connections, Dongle users, local last heard list at
D-STAR Info Newsletter – published quarterly, available in print or download on Web (Latest issue available here!)
Great D-STAR website, last heard list -
D-STAR info and calculator –
Icom Support Forums
DV Dongle Info –
Hotspot–

15. Southeast D-STAR Resources
Florida D-STAR website –
North Florida D-STAR Yahoo Group groups.yahoo.com/NorthFloridaD-Star
Alabama D-STAR Yahoo Group - groups.yahoo.com/al-dstar
Georgia D-STAR Yahoo Group - groups.yahoo.com/ga_dstar
South Carolina D-STAR website –
General D-STAR Yahoo Group - groups.yahoo.com/dstar_digital

16. Questions?