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1-7 of 7 messages
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D-STAR Ham Radio or APCO Project 25?
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by VE7TKO on August 29, 2005
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D-STAR is to Ham Radio what APCO Project 25 is to Commercial Radio.
The D-STAR digital transceiver is a development of the JARL (Japan Amateur Radio League) to answer the needs of hams for a true digital audio amateur radio system. D-STAR is an open protocol that is owned by the JARL and can be used by any ham radio manufacturer on their equipment. ICOM is the first manufacturer to build radios with this protocol, but they are not the owner of the protocol.
The Japanese Government, through its agencies, has spent many millions of dollars since 1998, to bring D-STAR to where it is today. See http://www.icomamerica.com/d-star/DStarHistory.asp for more details.
A D-STAR ham radio meets the legal requirements of the FCC and Industry Canada by automatically attaching the stations call sign to every packet that is transmitted. The Amateur Radio Operator can see whose radio is being used, (except on the ICOM IC-2200H) even if the operator is using a different call sign. D-STAR allows for up to eight characters to be programmed in to the radio to identify the station.
It is now up to ham radio operators to make D-STAR a success by supporting the manufactures that build this equipment for us. The possibilities of D-STAR are only limited by your imagination. See my other article (D-STAR � The Most Exciting New Mode), at http://www.eham.net/forums/Digital/2319 . Ask your clubs elected officials to get in touch with repeater manufactures and encourage them to make D-STAR a priority. The sooner that we get a network of D-STAR repeaters in place, the sooner we will be able to enjoy the full capabilities of the D-STAR Internet Gateway.
Ham buddies or families anywhere on the globe will be able to keep in touch with each other, with little or no effort on their behalf. Once they have programmed their radio, they only have to turn to the correct memory slot and make the call. With "call sign to call sign" calling, the D-STAR ham radio software will automatically connect two D-STAR repeaters together as long as both radios have made their presence known by using their D-STAR repeater.
D-STAR is 21st century technology. It is ours to build on. What new ideas can you come up with for the possibilities of D-STAR?
Jan van Vugt � VE7TKO
Jan the Appliance Man
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RE: D-STAR Ham Radio or APCO Project 25?
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by KG2V on September 14, 2005
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Why not do APCO-25? That way we can continue in the fine tradition of using used commercial gear
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RE: D-STAR Ham Radio or APCO Project 25?
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by KG4RUL on September 15, 2005
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"Ham buddies or families anywhere on the globe will be able to keep in touch with each other, with little or no effort on their behalf. Once they have programmed their radio, they only have to turn to the correct memory slot and make the call. With "call sign to call sign" calling, the D-STAR ham radio software will automatically connect two D-STAR repeaters together as long as both radios have made their presence known by using their D-STAR repeater."
D-Star - Cell Phone.
How to tell the difference?
Dennis KG4RUL
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RE: D-STAR Ham Radio or APCO Project 25?
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by VE7TKO on September 19, 2005
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Why not do APCO-25? That way we can continue in the fine tradition of using used commercial gear.
Commercial gear is not field programmable from the radio itself. It requires extra computer software and hardware that the average ham does not have. You will never find ham radio equipment that comes with the APCO P-25 standard built in. Some day, every ham radio manufacturer will be offering a D-STAR compliant / dual mode radio, because it is a open standard owned by the JARL (Japan Amateur Radio League).
D-STAR was designed by Amateur Radio Operators for Amateur Radio Operators.
That so called fine tradition of using used commercial gear limits the skill that can be learned by the user, because he is prevented from changing anything. Commercial gear has no VFO. You can't add or delete a channel in the field. If another ham asks you to QSY to a simplex frequency that you haven't got programmed in, you're out of luck. If you go on holidays, and want to search the band for repeaters in the area that you are visiting, again you are out of luck. Commercial equipment leaves the end user totally out of the loop as far as control is concerned.
A D-Star dual mode ham has been designed with the needs of hams in mind. The ham radio operator is in full control of the radio. He is free to set it up any way he wishes. The D-STAR 2-meter repeater is not yet a reality. It is just a mater of time before we will see them. They will link together like any other repeater or a D-STAR Internet Gateway can also link them.
How to tell the difference? Simple - no monthly cell phone bill and no private line. Like any other ham radio, the world can listen in if they own a D-STAR dual mode ham radio. Only the hams that chose not to participate in this new ham radio technology will be unable to listen in. The person who owns a D-STAR dual mode ham radio will be able to talk to any ham that chooses not to participate in this new ham radio technology. He is the one who owns a real ham radio and chooses to be on the leading edge of technology.
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RE: D-STAR Ham Radio or APCO Project 25?
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by KC5ZRQ on October 24, 2005
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< Why not do APCO-25? That way we can continue in the fine tradition of using used commercial gear>
APCO Project 25 is proprietary. The intellectual property rights belong to Motorola and to manufacture a Project 25 compatible radio you must secure a license from Motorola.
The license from Motorola is provided at no charge if you sign a memorandum of understanding that prevents you from revealing certain information that is considered to be trade secrets.
�97.309 RTTY and data emission codes.
(a) Where authorized by �97.305(c) and 97.307(f) of this Part, an amateur station may transmit a RTTY or data emission using the following specified digital codes:
(4) An amateur station transmitting a RTTY or data emission using a digital code specified in this paragraph may use any technique whose technical characteristics have been documented publicly, such as CLOVER, G-TOR, or PacTOR, for the purpose of facilitating communications.
Notice that APCO Project 25's technical characteristics have NOT been documented publicly. It is available to Federal, State and Local govenments and related documents may be purchased on CD-ROM. The process for securing the documents on CD-ROM indicate that the purchaser will have to explain the need for the documents.
It is my unprofessional opinion that it would be a violation of Part 97 rules to operate APCO Project 25 in the amateur radio service.
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RE: D-STAR Ham Radio or APCO Project 25?
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by W9WHE-II on September 22, 2007
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"It is my unprofessional opinion that it would be a violation of Part 97 rules to operate APCO Project 25 in the amateur radio service"
SHEER NONSENSE.
APCO 25 is an "open" system and is NOT encrypted (although for licensed users, it can support encryption) and thus 100% legal.
There are dozens and dozens of APCO 25 repeaters operating on ham frequencies in the USA. On the other hand, you might ask Icom about the "pripriatery" code it uses....:)
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RE: D-STAR Ham Radio or APCO Project 25?
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by WB4FUR on October 1, 2007
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Project 25 is an open standard (as open as any standard can be in today's world). It's not controlled by Motorola (although sometimes it seems that way, but if Icom had 80% of the commercial market, we'd be saying the same thing about them). Motorola is definitely a heavy contributor, but so is Cisco, EADS, M-A/COM Tyco, EF Johnson, etc., etc.
P25 has been VERY slow to be birthed (some 16-17 years by my reckoning; I was reviewing documents for P25 in the early 90s). That has opened the way for D-STAR to become an attractive, proprietary alternative. It's not the only one, either; check out TETRA as well. THe reasons P25 has been so slow is because it's a monumental undertaking being carried out by volunteers who have literally given their non-work lives to bringing that dream to fruition. If there's any one thing that effort needs, it's a serious slice of Fed funding (and why not? We are spending 1 BILLION dollars on "interoperability" stuff...why not spend 20% of that on forcing P25 to completion in the next 24 months? Ask your Congressman that one.)
If I were making the decision, I'd definitely be moving the amateur community toward using P25, if for no other reason than that it would put pressure on commercial equipment providers (who, after all, are collecting our tax dollars for most P25 deployments) to lower the price of P25 equipment. The capabilities in D-STAR are neat beyond belief, but from a strategic standpoint it appears to me that a push for P25 would be the best long-term direction.
My thoughts only, and all replies are welcome.
Thanks,
Dave WB4FUR
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