Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: BabyStar by ON8JL

Category: Interfaces, Radio to computer, amp, rotor, coax switch, internet

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : BabyStar by ON8JL
Reviews: 4MSRP: 390
Description:
BABYSTAR

A complete personal hotspot
with its own embedded 10mW UHF radio
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.on8jl.be
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0043.8
SKIPPYONTHEAIR Rating: 2015-07-05
Worked great at First now a useless box Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Got this a year or so back and worked great, no PC plug into a mobile hot spot or router. No PC required or required to be logged on.

About 6 months ago it started to unlink from reflectors by its self, Contacted ON8JL who said it might have something to do with router lease time. To get working you have to unplug and replug in the power. Not great when trying to use it from the bottom of the yard.

Since then no response from ON8JL, have spoken to other users who said theirs exhibited the same issues from about 6 months after first use.
VK4LL Rating: 2015-01-22
DStar all in one unit, great idea. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Nice little all in one unit for DSTAR. You only need PC to setup and a wired LAN as well as a UHF antenna. Once setup you can use DTMF to change reflectors. Mine came loaded with Firmware v. 1.2. Manual on the web only refers to v1.1 and there are differences, so be aware.

Pros: Smart All-in-one unit with LCD showing signal strength, reflector connected to, IP address (when boot up. Ideal for mobile use if you share your smartphones internet via either a USB-Ethernet adapter or a WiFi bridge device.

Cons: It is necessary to send UNLINK (#) command before you can link to another reflector. Unlike RPi or other PC software devices.

No BER only Signal strength indicator.

The Boot up to refelctor XXXX in the setup does NOT function, it causes havoc, so avoid using it. If you set this feature up to automatically connect to say DCS001B - unit remains UNLINKED, but when you then manually connect to another reflector, eg DCS14B, the unit will cross link reflectors between 1B and 14B. (you will not be popular with fellow hams...!)

Be careful of your radios settings before using the babystar. Make sure only DIRECT in RPT1 and RPT2 fields (Simplex frequencies). Otherwise the babystar will adapt to the repeater you used last, causing havoc.

The list that gets loaded in the gateway list, is missing a few reflectors, eg REF001. It is necessary to find the IP address and manually key this info in. The unit only accepts IP addresses and not DNS entries.



GM0DYU Rating: 2014-08-08
Great Idea and It Works! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Had mine about four months, nicely made and finished, looks very good with LCD display showing status and QSO info, built in Ethernet port, SMA for the aerial, easy to setup and use, big plus point for me is that you don't need a PC to run this DV access point, other than for the initial setup of course, after that you control it from your handie,
works great.
DO8WA Rating: 2014-05-12
works like advertised Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got my Dstar Babystar 2 days ago, and i cannot stop telling everybody how happy i am with it. It works like a charm.
You put 12volts to it, attatch the antenna and connect it to your router via LAN cable, thats it. It can be configuered via a web GUI by any pc thats within the network that its connected to. 6 or 7 simple entries - and thats it
now youre on the air with its 10mw. Access DExtra, Dplus, DSC and use CCS. My first QSO was finished 20min after the post man handed out the parcel. It can be found on www.on8jl.be
Price is around €270,- (remember, no extra TRX needed, nor an extra PC/MAC)
One OM even told me that he connects it to his smartphone when he is in his car using 3G/4G internet, just a special cable is needed for that.
If you have any questions, send me a message or try to reach me on Dstar.

The cable i was talking about in my review is a "micro usb to RJ45" both male.

73 de DO8WA, Alex