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D-STAR - The Most Exciting New Mode
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by VE7TKO on August 25, 2005
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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 locale 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.
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