At 08:11 AM 7/30/2010, you wrote:
>Thank you, I appreciate the reply, all that I receive will be >incorporated into my presentation. Like I've said, I need to arm >myself for the naysayers who are quick to shoot and I need to have >the amo to squelch their "assumptions"! One assumption that gets bandied around is that D-STAR is an Icom only system. While it's true that Icom are the only manufacturer currently producing radios ready to go, it is far from an Icom only system. Also, people will complain it is proprietary. While the D-STAR specification does use a proprietary vocoder (AMBE), the actual specification (for on air) is open. Firstly, the on air protocol is open (though you need to be able to read Japanese for the full specification ;) ). Secondly, there is actually quite a lot of non Icom equipment available, including: DV Dongle - This is the AMBE vocoder in a USB package. The companion DVTool software by AA4RC allows the dongle to talk to DPlus over the Internet (DPlus itself is another non Icom component). However, the dongle can also be teamed with the D-Star client program running on a PC and connected to a 9600 bps capable radio to turn the radio into a fully fledged D-STAR (DV mode) radio. I've mentioned D-STAR client, see above. GMSK node adapter. This is a hardware GMSK modem, which can be used for various purposes. There are versions of the GMSK Node Adapter manufactured or in kit form by a few suppliers, and two different firmware versions are available. DVAR Hotspot - This uses the GMSK node adapter to create a local RF access point to the DPlus network for local D-STAR users to use. The hotspot works on both simplex radios and duplex repeaters. G4ULF's gateway software - this uses a node adapter and provides a full blown Icom compatible gateway using a Linux box and a suitable set of radios and other repeater hardware. I believe it can also create a simplex gateway. D-RATS - Multipurpose data terminal software for D-STAR. Uses the low speed data channel for text, file transfer, email and many other functions. And there's others I've missed. D-STAR is quite open to ham experimentation and tinkering. :) 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
