D-STAR Digital Smart Technology for Amateur Radio

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

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. 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 440.55000 +5.000 Mhz I'm near Tallahassee FL and I'm listening to the K4WAK repeater and my radio is set to 443.95000 +5.000 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 (www.w9arp.com/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. D-STAR Across America For latest worldwide repeater listings – www.dstarinfo.com/repeaters

9. 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 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 Severe weather approaches Southeast from west,

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 www.dstarinfo.com) • Linking repeaters to reflectors allows local users to participate with no special programming • View repeaters/Dongle users connected to reflectors (http://refnumber.dstargateway.org/status.html) • Southeast D-STAR Weather Net on Sunday nights, 9:00pm ET on Reflector 2A (REF002A) • Complete Net listing on www.DSTARinfo.com/reflectors

14. D-STAR Resources • View local repeater linked connections, Dongle users, local last heard list at https://callsign.dstargateway.org/status.html • D-STAR Info Newsletter – published quarterly, available in print or download on Web (Latest issue available here!) • Great D-STAR website, last heard list - www.dstarusers.org • D-STAR info and calculator – www.dstarinfo.com • Icom Support Forums www.icomamerica.com/en/support/forums • DV Dongle Info –www.dvdongle.com • Hotspot–www.w9arp.com/hotspot

15. Southeast D-STAR Resources Florida D-STAR website – www.Florida-DStar.info 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 – www.scdstar.com General D-STAR Yahoo Group - groups.yahoo.com/dstar_digital

16. Questions?