HXO D-Star Update
4-21-2012
W7AES Repeaters
Mel Parrish
with some content borrowed
from K5TIT
Agenda
• Brief D-Star Overview (for newbies)
• Product Overview
• W7AES Status
What is D-Star?
• Digital Smart Technology for Amateur Radio
• Initial Development
– Japanese Amateur Radio League (JARL)
– Icom
• Digital Voice & Data
– Point-to-Point Simplex or
– Duplex Repeaters
– World Wide Call Sign and Repeater Routing
– GPS Position Reporting
Radio/Repeater Characteristics
• 1.2 GHz “DD”
- 128 kbps Digital Data
- Single Frequency Store-and-Forward Repeater
• VHF/UHF/1.2 GHz “DV”
- Simplex Point-to-Point or via Duplex Repeater
- Simultaneous Digital Voice & Data – 4800 bps
• 2400 bps Digital Voice
• 1200 bps Forward Error Correction for Voice
• 1200 bps Digital Data
RF Characteristics
– Gaussian Minimum-Shift Keying (GMSK)
– Spectrum Efficiency
• 6.25 kHz (-3 dB) Bandwidth
• 10 kHz Channel Spacing Possible
Network Characteristics
Network Routing
• Two Routing Methods
– Site Routing
• Where you want to talk
–Specific System/Gateway and Port
– User Routing
• Who you want to talk
–Specific User
Applications & Modes
Voice Digitization Technology
• Advanced Multi-Band Excitation (AMBE)
– Transform/Statistics-Based Algorithm
– Multiple Frequency Bands (~20?), Analyzed for
“Voiced”/“Unvoiced”, Envelope, Pitch, then Encoded
– Reduces Data Redundancy
– Lower Data Rate than Basic A/D for
Equivalent Voice Quality
• 2/3 Rate Forward Error Correction (FEC) Coding
– 2400 bps Voice Data
– 1200 bps FEC Appended
Voice Digitization Process
Open DV Protocol
Radio Header
Data
Bit
Frame Flag Flag Flag
Synchronization Sync 1
2
3
64 bits
W7SP
B
P_FCS
15 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits
Destination
Local
Repeater Call Repeater Call
64 bits/8 char
Radio ID
Destination
Station Call
64 bits/8 char
64 bits/8 char
W7SP
A
CQCQCQ
This
This Station
Station Call Comment
64 bits/8 char
K7VE
32 bits/4 char
JOHN
Open DD Protocol
Radio Header
Length
16 bits
Ethernet Style Packet
Bit
Frame Flag Flag Flag
Synchronization Sync 1
2
3
64 bits
W7SP
B
P_FCS
15 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits
Destination
Local
Repeater Call Repeater Call
64 bits/8 char
Radio ID
Destination
Station Call
64 bits/8 char
64 bits/8 char
W7SP
A
CQCQCQ
This
This Station
Station Call Comment
64 bits/8 char
K7VE
32 bits/4 char
JOHN
Current Repeater/User Stats
• At Least 920 Icom G2 Gateways Worldwide
– G2 Gateway Routing SW Proprietary to JARL/Icom
– 42 Countries
– At Least 19,500 Gateway-Registered Users
• At Least 872 ircDDB Activated Gateways Worldwide
– “internet relay chat Distributed Data Base”
– Open Software
– 20 Countries; Most Gateways in Germany
– At Least 6,042 Users
Reflectors
• Accessed Same as Gateways
• At Least 50 Reflector Servers Activated
• Affinity Groups:
– DX, Regional, Tech, Emcomm, etc.
• Connection via Third-Party Software
– D-Plus (used on W7AES)
– DCS
– DExtra
D-Star Radio Products
Icom D-STAR Controller & Repeaters
Typical “Full” Stack (like W7AES)
Icom D-Star Radio Products
IC-2820AH
ID-31A
ID-880AH
IC-80AD
IC-91AD
IC-92AD
IC-9100
ID-1
IC-2820H GPS Display
Dual-band
radio display
GPS Display
Third Party Products
DV Acccess Point (DVAP)
(VHF Radio-to-Internet Interface)
DV Dongle
(No Radio Required)
DVRPTR Open Source Hotspot Modem
DV Dongle Menu
D-RATS Free Software
A Communications Tool For D-STAR
D-RATS Message List
D-RATS Chat Display
D-RATS File Transfer
D-RATS Map Display
D-RATS Forms
• Includes Form Editor to
Create Any Form
• Only Data is Sent
• Fully printable ICS-213, ARRL
Radiogram and NTS Forms
Included
W7AES Arden Install Status
Arden View from Ice Bridge
180 deg, centered north
The Arden D-Star Participants
(so far)
Not Shown:
Ralph N7TND
Mel K6UV Gene KK4IB Frank N7ZEV
Blayne KG7SS
Dale W7IXK
Jeff KR7JD
Lee N7LD
Nat W7OQF
Bill W7HMV
George KF2T
Some Useful Web Sites
www.icomamerica.com/support/forums
www.K5TIT.Org/Forum
Some D-STAR Web Sites:
http://www.d-starusers.org/
http://www.d-rats.com/
www.aprs-is.net/dstartnc2.htm