Gary,
DV does sound rather nasty on FM. The other suggestion would be to set the
DStar radios to auto detect and then have all the analog guys set a PL tone.
The only thing they would hear would be the analog voice. The DStar radios
would then be able to do both and there wouldn't be a lot of flipping back and
forth.
Either way...
73
David, AC7DS
--- On Mon, 4/19/10, Gary Pearce KN4AQ <kn...@arrl.net> wrote:
From: Gary Pearce KN4AQ <kn...@arrl.net>
Subject: Re: [DSTAR_DIGITAL] Re: ARRL Field Day Rules - 145.67 simplex
To: dstar_digital@yahoogroups.com, dstar_digital@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, April 19, 2010, 3:01 PM
At 10:29 AM 4/19/2010, john_ke5c wrote:
> Nothing that would prevent you from making and scoring points using DV
> Simplex.
If anyone seriously plans on using VHF simplex DStar during Field Day, a
simplex frequency other than 146.520 might be agree upon? Perhaps 146.580?
First, the rules for all ARRL contests and Field Day prohibit using 146.52 for
making contacts.
As for 146.58, well, here's something to keep in mind to avoid having D-STAR
get a really bad reputation among analog simplex users:
Stay off the analog simplex channels!
It's a courtesy thing, not a rules thing (other than that amorphous "good
amateur practice" deal). On an analog receiver, a D-STAR signal sounds like
"open squelch," a fairly loud rushing sound. So it is pretty much impossible to
share a simplex channel between analog and digital users. The D-STAR users
won't have a problem. They'll hear either nothing (auto-detect turned off), or
they may hear the analog signal normally (auto-detect turned on). The analog
users can do nothing to prevent hearing the D-STAR Woooosh, short of leaving
the frequency. And that will make them very unhappy indeed.
This is worse than mixing it up among repeaters, where tone access can at least
mitigate the problem some. We can't expect all simplex users to begin using
tone encode/decode to avoid hearing our D-STAR signals.
The solution: separate spectrum. In much of the country, the spectrum between
145.5 and 145.8 is already "digital," albeit for packet. 145.67 has been
informally adopted for D-STAR simplex in areas where there is no incumbent
packet system.
So for Field Day, I suggest 145.67 unless you have packet activity in your
area. Attention Minnesota! 145.67 is used for a statewide packet system.
73,
Gary KN4AQ
ARVN: Amateur Radio//Video News
Gary Pearce KN4AQ
508 Spencer Crest Ct.
Cary, NC 27513
kn...@arvideonews. com
919-380-9944
www.ARVideoNews. com
