Category Archives: D-STAR

At Dayton, I picked up an ICOM IC-91AD handheld radio, with D-STAR capability. The thing is, there are no D-STAR repeaters within range of my house. Fortunately, Elliott KB0RFC also picked up a D-STAR handheld and we arranged a sked on 2M simplex. The de facto calling frequency for D-STAR is shaping up to be 145.67 MHz, so that is what we used.

I have to admit that the audio quality was better than I expected. When the radio is not dropping bits, the audio is quite clean and clear. When the Signal-to-Noise Ratio degrades, you do start to hear that digital twang as the vocoder does its best to recover the audio in the face of digital errors. Overall, I was favorably impressed.

Tonight, we did some additional testing with DV mode and were surprised at the range of the handheld on 2M. The 70 cm band seemed even better, apparently due to the improved efficiency of the handheld antennas on that band.

There is lots more stuff to play around with, so stay tuned.

Digital voice on the ham bands? Must be the 21st Century!

For more info on D-STAR, see my article from CQ VHF.

73, Bob K0NR

The Colorado Council of Amateur Radio Clubs (CCARC) and Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) teamed up to encourage the adoption of D-STAR technology in Colorado. To date, there are no D-STAR machines on the air in the state so HRO offered to provide equipment to a suitable ham radio group to help get things started. The CCARC, the repeater coordinating body for the state, agreed to assist in the selection process. According to the letter from the CCARC and HRO, the equipment grant was awarded to the Colorado D-STAR Association, a newly-formed group of radio amateurs in Colorado. The donated gear is a “full stack” of ICOM D-STAR repeaters: 2M, 70 cm and 1.2 GHz.

The Radio Amateur Information Network (RAIN) Report has an interview with Jay Maynard, K5ZC, from the National Frequency Coordinators Council concerning the use of digital repeaters. Jay discusses the issues around the alledged FCC statement that “D-STAR systems are not repeaters” and gives a good overview of the challenges of adopting digital repeater technology.

The interview exists in two parts:

Part1: http://www.therainreport.com/rainreport_archive/rainreport-9-27-2007.mp3
Part 2: http://www.therainreport.com/rainreport_archive/rainreport-10-5-2007.mp3

If you are interested in the future of amateur radio repeaters, this is worth a listen.

73, Bob K0NR

Just in time for the Dayton Hamvention, ICOM has announced the IC-91AD 2M/70cm handheld transceiver with D-STAR capability. I’ve written some about the new digital voice standard, D-STAR. Universal Radio has this new rig priced at $525, a definite premium over equivalent FM radios. This is the first dualband handheld that supports D-STAR.

73, Bob K0NR

As usual with many topics, there is a lively debate about D-STAR on qrz.com. Unfortunately, there seems to be a bunch of folks that hang out on qrz just to be negative on any new ideas. Here’s the easy-to-read summary of the qrz.com discussion. (I am saving you the trouble of wading through all the QRM.)

VE7TKO (a vocal proponent of D-STAR) starts the discussion with:

D-STAR is probably the greatest advancement ever seen in ham radio to date. D-STAR stands for “Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio”.

Then the opposition comes screaming in:

Objection Number 1: D-STAR is proprietary, not an open standard.

Reality: Not True…D-STAR is an open standard. The system has been developed in collaboration with and is owned by JARL (Japan Amateur Radio League).

Objection Number 2: The commercial / land mobile standard APCO-25 is the way to go, not D-STAR.
Reality: APCO-25 was developed for police/fire/public safety radio. It may be applicable to ham radio use, but D-STAR was designed specifically for amateur use. Amateur radio has a history of adopting commercial standards but it is not clear that APCO-25 will win out over D-STAR.

Objection Number 3: D-STAR isn’t the essence of ham radio, more like a cellphone system.
Reality: It depends on how you define the essence of ham radio. I see it as applying new technology in interesting and useful ways. An open mind is a wonderful thing. 🙂

Objection Number 4: The Internet is bad for ham radio, so connecting the Internet to ham radio is even worse.
Reality: Changes in technology outside of ham radio will continue to affect ham radio. Example: There was a time when we had no computers, now they are common. Ham radio was obviously affected by this new technology (for the better, I argue). To expect new, relevant technologies to not influence ham radio is kind of silly.

Objection Number 5: This system tracks your position for everyone to see. Sounds like “Big Brother” to me.
Reality: Ever heard of APRS? Don’t turn on the feature and you’ll be fine.

Objection Number 6: Only ICOM has D-STAR radios, so it is a one vendor solution.
Reality: Good point. If D-STAR is going to get widely adopted other manufacturers must join in. Kenwood is rumored to be introducing a D-STAR radio.

Objection Number 7: I don’t see the clear, compelling benefit to using D-STAR.
Reality: Another good point. It is still fuzzy how the average Joe Ham will benefit from D-STAR. Meanwhile, some of the technie hams are experimenting with new D-STAR systems.

Objection Number 8: D-STAR radios cost more than analog FM radios.
Reality: Yes, for now anyway. The price will have to come down for it to be successful, which is common for new technologies.

For more information on D-STAR see http://www.icomamerica.com/amateur/dstar/dstar2.asp

Ham radio already makes use of many digital modes such as RTTY, PSK31, AX.25 Packet, etc. Another wave coming is a true digital voice mode, especially for the VHF and higher bands. Currently, most of the activity on the VHF and higher bands is FM (or SSB), both analog modulation. Virtually all of the mobile phone formats have gone digital and good old analog FM is being phased out. Many land mobile users such as police and fire radio are also moving to digital. I suspect it is a question of when (not if) ham radio VHF/UHF will go digital.

The two competing formats emerging in the ham radio world are D-STAR and APCO 25. D-STAR is a digital radio standard developed by the Japanese government under the direction of the JARL. ICOM is the leading proponent of D-STAR and has several transceivers and repeaters available that conform to the standard. The ICOM web site has the best information on using D-STAR. The ARRL recently did a review of a few ICOM D-STAR products in QST.

Any new technology has to overcome the fear that it won’t be broadly adopted and will die an early death. One concern is that only ICOM has D-STAR radios in the market today. Recently, there have been sightings of a D-STAR radio from Kenwood, which could indicate momentum behind the D-STAR standard. The ARRL has also reported activity from Kenwood on D-STAR transceivers.

APCO 25 is the digital radio standard aimed at police/fire/emergency responders developed by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International. APCO calls this format “Project 25” or P25, which is described here. Some hams argue that hams should once again follow the tradition of adopting commercial/land mobile developed standards for ham use. There is merit to this argument as the VHF/UHF FM gear is based on commercial standards. Even today, many repeaters are made up of commercial gear deployed on the ham bands.

Which is better, a standard developed for amateur radio use or one that leverages off commercial standards and technology? The debate is on in the various online ham forums. (Don’t expect consistently brilliant discussion of the topic.) VE7TKO has been a vocal supported of D-STAR on eham.net digital forum and qrz.com.

Stay tuned. This will be a hot topic in the years to come. And it will probably take years for digital to overtake analog….the installed base is just too large and it will take time for it to convert over.