D-STAR

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D-STAR stands for Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio. The purpose of D-STAR is to allow amateur (ham) radio operators to speak further and clearer using digital voice while sending data from 1200 BPS on up at the same time. The D-STAR system covers communications on HF, VHF, and UHF radio bands while defining interfaces for both radios, repeaters, Internet interconnections, and PC interfaces. D-STAR is the result of research by the Japan Amateur Radio League to investigate digital technologies for amateur radio.

1 History
2 Technical details
3 Equipment
4 Compatible programs and online projects
5 United States D-Star Support Groups
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External links
9 State D-Star Support Groups

[edit] History

1999? – Funded by the Japanese government and administrated by the JARL, investigation was put into finding a new way of bringing digital technology to amateur radio.

2001 – D-Star is published as the result of the the research.

Unknown Date – Icom enters the construction of the new digital technology by offering the hardware necessary to create this technology.

Unknown Date – The conclusion of all this work is the digital technology for amateur radio called D-Star.^[1]

[edit] Technical details

D-STAR transfers both voice and data via digital encoding over the 2 m (VHF), 70 cm (UHF), and 23 cm (1.2 GHz) amateur radio bands. Voice is encoded as a 2400 bps data stream using AMBE encoding, 1200 bps FEC. Data streams are sent at 4800 bit/s over the 2 m and 70 cm bands and at 128k bps over the 23 cm band. Radios providing data service use a RS-232 or USB connection for low speed data (960 bps) and Ethernet for high speed connections to allow easy interfacing with computer equipment.^[2]

[edit] Equipment

Although Icom is the first to support D-STAR, any company can produce equipment to support this protocol. The equipment known to inter operate with D-STAR systems includes:

Radios^[3]
- ICOM ID-1 - 1200 MHz (23 cm) Digital Transceiver
- ICOM ID-800H - VHF (2 m) & UHF (70 cm) Digital Transceiver
- ICOM IC-91AD - VHF & UHF Dual-Band Handheld Transceiver
- ICOM IC-V82 - VHF Handheld Transceiver
- ICOM IC-U82 - UHF Handheld Transceiver
- ICOM IC-2200H - VHF Mobile Transceiver
- ICOM IC-2820H - Dual Band Mobile Transceiver (Pending FCC Approval)

Repeaters
- ICOM ID-RP2C - Controller
- ICOM ID-RP2V - 1.2 GHz (23 cm) Voice Repeater
- ICOM ID-RP2D - 1.2 GHz (23 cm) Data Repeater
- ICOM ID-RP2000V - UHF (70 cm) Voice Repeater
- ICOM ID-RP4000V - VHF (2 m) Voice Repeater

[edit] Compatible programs and online projects

[edit] D-StarLet

A web-based text messaging application using D-Star digital data technology^[4]

"D-StarLet is a point-to-point text messaging system for local EOCs", ^[5]

D-StarLet is an open source client-server solution that allows content creation and modification from certain persons. D-StarLet interfaces with a D-Star radio through the serial port. It works with Windows (98+), Linux (RedHat 7.3+), Apple Mac (OS 10.1+), etc.

[edit] D-PRS Interface

Includes DStarTNC2, javAPRSSrvr, DStarInterface, and TNC-X^[4]

D-PRS is GPS for HAM Radio. It works with Windows XP et al.

[edit] DStarMonitor

A Java application run on the repeater gateway PC which logs activity on the attached repeaters. Additional features include APRS object representation of each repeater.^[4]

This project shows the location of repeaters on a map.

[edit] DStarQuery

DStarQuery monitors the low-speed data stream of a D-STAR radio looking queries sent from a remote station. When a valid query is received, a predefined sequence is executed and the results transmitted from the station running DStarQuery. For example, a station transmits "?D*rptrs?" and it is received by a DStarQuery station which responds with a list of local repeaters.^[4]

The program D-PRS Interface includes a "Query" entry field that streamlines this process allowing the user to simply enter the desired command. Most DStarQuery systems will respond with a list of available commands when "?D*info?" is received.

[edit] d*Chat

A simple keyboard-to-keyboard chat application for DV mode.^[4]

This program allows chat messages to be sent and received from a computer using a combination of that computer and a D-Star radio (connected through a serial port). It works with Windows 98, Windows 2000, and XP.