Don Hinsman – N4VIP
Alden Oyer – AG5S
Alan Hill – N5BGC
Ed James – KA8JMW
What is D-STAR?
D-STAR is an open standard for digital
voice and data on Amateur Radio
 Developed by Japan Amateur Radio
League (JARL)
 Uses AMBE vocoder chip from DVSI
(only proprietary part in D-Star)
 Icom is first manufacturer with base,
mobile, handhelds and repeater
equipment (non-proprietary)

How does D-STAR work?

Voice is converted to digital modulation and
transmitted at 4800 bps
○ 2400 bits for voice
○ 1200 bits for Forward Error Correction on voice
○ 1200 bits for data
Voice and data occupy one 6.25 KHz
signal (versus 12.5 KHz FM voice, P25,
NXDN and MotoTRBO)
 Can operate simplex, repeater or linked to
other repeater(s)

What can D-STAR Do?

Transmit or receive voice and 1200 baud data
simultaneously on 2m, 440 and 1.2 GHz (no TNC required)

128 Kb data transmission on 1.2 GHz with Internet
connectivity (Ethernet bridge to Internet with IP address)

D-PRS (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 (57 now in operation worldwide)
DV Dongle and DV Access Point (DVAP) allow voice and
data access to D-STAR via Internet connection (similar to
EchoLink)


D-STAR Continues to Grow

As of October 20, 2012 – 987 Gateways,
~2,072 Repeaters and 24,630 registered users
Gateways
Users
800
1800
22500
700
1600
20000
600
1400
17500
1200
15000
1000
12500
800
10000
500
400
300
600
7500
200
400
5000
100
200
2500
0
0
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
5
Repeaters
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
D-STAR Reflectors and Nets
6

57 reflectors available worldwide to act as “conference bridges”
linking multiple repeaters, Dongle, DVAP, hotspot users

Each reflector has four separate modules for independent
conference bridges (A, B, C, D) and echo function (E)
○ Many use module D exclusively for data functions

52 regional, national and international nets established through
reflectors

Linking repeaters to reflectors allows local users to participate with
no special programming

View repeaters and users connected to reflectors
(http://refnumber.dstargateway.org/status.html)

Complete Net listing on www.DSTARinfo.com
Typical D-Star Handheld (ID-31A)
UHF (analog FM, Digital Voice), 5W
 GPS receiver
 Global D-Star repeater list preprogrammed
 microSD card
 1252 Memory channels, all NM FM & all
Southwest D-Star repeaters

D-Star demonstration
FM – simplex and repeater (442.825
MHz)
 Digital voice – simplex and repeater
(442. MHz)
 Echo
 Linked (through W5PMZ to W5SF)
 DV Dongle, Acces Point and Node
Adapters (KA8JMW)

DV Dongle, Access Point and Node
Adapters

Dongle provides access to D-STAR repeaters via PC without
radio

Access Point creates instant local access point for limited
area without D-STAR repeater
Node Adapter provides D-STAR interface to FM radio and
can be used to create hotspot or repeater

EmComm operation
Quickly setup linked repeaters building
ad-hoc networks
 Without Internet, repeater still provides
expanded voice/data features
 Without repeater, simplex operation still
provides expanded capabilities

D-RATS
By Dan Smith - KK7DS
OVERVIEW
Chat
FTP style file transfers
Messaging including E-mail
APRS like mapping
Chat

Free-form multicast chat messages
–
–
–
–
–
Checksum-protected
No ACK/NAK from remote stations (yet)
Channels and “private” chat
Automated QSTs
Quick messages
Messaging

Email gateway




WL2K gateway




SMTP for outgoing emails
Rich forms go as HTML emails
POP3 gateway for remote mail checks
Any internet-connected station can gateway
Experimental RMS packet client
Seamless and bi-directional
SMTP/POP3 servers integrated

Paclink-like functionality
File transfer
Ratflector




Connect to other D-RATS users via Internet
Easy and clean for testing
Data-only reflector
Configure D-RATS radio port for one of:



Network port on ref.d-rats.com, port 9000
Network port on ref.d-rats.com, port 9001
User-run ratflectors too! Included in
download