Dazzled by D-Star

I’ve finally got my new IC-31a portable and IC-880 mobile programmed up thanks to RT Systems database programmer. If you’ve got a multi-memory radio you’ve got to get RT Systems programming disc and cable for your radio. 

Why?

Because it will save you weeks of typing. Not only that but you can make custom databases for your radio. Let’s say you’re going on car trip or faction. You could create a database of repeaters just for the trip in about a minute or so.

Right now there are new repeaters, especially D-Star repeaters, that are going on the air practically on a weekly basis. How can you keep up?

Well you won’t do it by buying a repeater directory book which is out of date before it leaves the printers. How about an online database?

RFinder has just such a database which you can subscribe to via your IPhone or Android device and once registered you can access your account (It’s a $9.95 annual subscription.) and the database via a web browser or your smart phone or several other methods including…wait for it…directly out of RT Systems.

Yes an email to Bob at RFinder and a subsequent phone call from him (talk about service) showed me where in the RT Systems menus there was a direct link to import the RFinder database of repeaters.

The nice thing about the RFinder software is it will allow you to also customize your database info and then when imported into RT Systems it works seamlessly so that when you plug in your rig the two programs combined can program hundreds of memory channels within a minute or two.

Each program comes with its own OMG features like RFinder can build a local customized database by searching for a nearby landmark. RT Systems database software includes columns where things like offset and the CTSS tones and other parameters are added automatically. Very cool.

I’m old enough to remember when the first FM two-meter rigs took a couple of crystals and  could only transmit on one frequency. Then came synthesized rigs and the ability to have more than one frequency available at a time was born.

Now we have rigs that are so complicated to program 500 memory slots that if you’re like me with my old IC-208 all I had running was the two call channels which I programmed for VE3OAK-VHF and VE3OAK-UHF!

Can you imagine it! Here I had a radio with hundreds of memory allocations and I was using two.

Now thanks to RT Systems and RFinder my new D-Star radios are fully programmed and functional.

Now if the operator only knew what he was doing ….but that will come. I am learning more everyday thanks to the guys in town who are on D-Star.

Great fun and get the software. It will save you weeks of typing and months of frustration.

Time For A Change At RAC?

I see the annual general meeting for Radio Amateurs of Canada is coming to Hamilton, Ontario on October 5th. The AGM is being held in conjunction with the Hamilton ARC’s annual hamfest which will be held in the Marritt Hall at the Ancaster Fair Grounds in Ancaster, Ontario.

Perhaps some of us who are unhappy with the way RAC has been managed over the last few years might want to attend the AGM and during the new business session move a motion of non-confidence?

In Canadian law the passing of a vote of non-confidence in an organization governed by Robert’s Rules of Order like RAC usually means the governing body must resign. But that won’t happen at RAC’s AGM because the AGM at RAC is just a sham and not to be taken seriously.

You see the RAC Constitution makes no provision for direct input from the members at the AGM and no direct input from the overall membership unless there is a demand for a special general meeting by not less than one-tenth of the total number of full and full life members.

Of course since no one at RAC has released the actual membership number how can we know what a tenth is? This is Alice in Wonderland stuff folks. I can’t make it up.

North Korean politics is easier to understand.

So let’s be clear. The way RAC is setup is very traditional and legal. But when it comes to the way it is run things like transparency become murky to the point of obscure and there is no engagement of the overall membership in the day-to-day activities of their own organization.

This is Big Brother stuff.

We don’t know the number of members in our association. We don’t know the actual financials (The annual financial report does not reveal the numbers below the surface.). We have no real way to offer complaint or criticism.

On top of that we have elected a group of directors who have appointed an executive team and neither group understands the concept of serving the membership as opposed to governing the association.

What RAC needs right now is much less governing and true serving by dedicated leaders who understand that the power of any organization rests in the hands of the members and not the directors.

This is a simple concept that has failed to take hold at RAC and our national hobby is suffering as a result.

Here’s an example:

Contrary to what some directors have stated in public a reading of the “Objectives of the Organization” in RAC’s Constitution says that RAC’s  objectives are:

1. To represent and act as a liaison and coordinating body for Canadian amateur radio associations, societies, organizations and individual radio amateurs.
2. To act as a liaison organization between its members and other amateur radio organizations within and beyond Canada.
3. To represent Canadian radio amateurs in policy decisions regarding international issues and regulations that affect amateur radio within the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and at meetings and conferences of the international amateur radio community including the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).
4. To act as a liaison organization and consultative body to municipal, provincial and federal governments in matters concerning the Amateur Service.
5. To promote excellence, the state of the art, and the interests of amateur radio’s many varied activities through a program of technical, regulatory and general information within the amateur radio community and to the Canadian public.
6. To maintain a tangible presence in the amateur radio community in the form of a corporate office and address.
7. To maintain a “Field Organization” for public service.

Notice if you will that it is only in section two where our Constitution talks about representing the “members” when we are dealing with other Amateur Radio organizations.

In all other sections the Consitution clearly states that RAC is to represent all Canadian Amateur Radio operators.

I take this to mean whether or not they are paid-up members they get RAC representation. 

A few of our RAC directors should read their constitution and get on with representing all Canadians who are licensed Amateur Radio operators and stop behaving like they’re running an exclusive club only for those who paid their $50 dues.

This is the type of behaviour that gives RAC a bad name and prompts some to claim it’s “an old boy’s club.” It does nothing to attract new members and retain existing ones.

D-Star Programming

Thanks to the nice folks at RT Systems my Windows cloning software DVD arrived for the Icom ID-880.

Using a really neat built-in D-Star calculator I downloaded a bunch of Canadian D-Star repeaters and D-Star reflectors into a database on my PC which, thanks to a proprietary USB cable, loaded into my ID-880.

Okay so this is cool. I’m now on D-Star. sort of, from the mobile.

At least I think I am. There’s still work to do so I went to the RT Systems’s site to checkout what help might be available and I found a 250-page PDF help guide. This is terrific and RT Systems (a husband and wife team out of the USA) should be thanked.

I’m pretty sure in a couple of weeks I am going to be a D-Star expert but right now everyday brings new challenges and thankfully new information.

D-Star is definitely not plug and play so be forewarned but if you you’re willing to read the manuals (Horrors!), do some exploring and don’t hesitate to ask for help (thanks to John VA3BL and Rod VE3RHF) you too can be on D-Star!

Considering my IC-208 (the dedicated FM-only predecessor to the ID-880) only had two channels programmed into it (Oakville VHF and UHF) I can’t lose once I figure out how to program my tone squelch in the new radio.

Oh well back to the manual!

Dreaming of D-Star

Digital radio is the future of Ham Radio.

Whether it be software-defined radios (which have been kicking the butts of old-fashion “big box” rigs) or the new D-Star system, digital is here to stay.

Now before the amplitude modulation (A.M.) crowd gets their 813s all aglow let us remember that after continuos wave (C.W.) displaced spark (which created a very broad noisy inefficient signal) I don’t think we’ve had another technology that totally replaced its predecessor.

A.M. was king on the bands back in the 50s and was subsequently replaced by single-side band (SSB) but we still hear A.M.ers on the bands. Exotic PSK-31 and other digital modes co-exist with C.W. and so it goes.

So D-Star isn’t going to replace the good ole two-meter F.M. rig Sparky. (For proof just listen on the high end of 160 meters and you’ll hear the same old guys talking into the night as have been talking on 160 since the days following the sinking of the Titanic.)

When it comes to D-Star the digital format that is sweeping the Amateur Radio world there are some real advantages and some challenges but overall it’s a pretty neat new way of communicating that merges the R.F. and computer worlds by using the Internet.

For D-Star to really take off local amateur radio clubs need to install a D-Star repeater with Internet capabilities for the use of their members.

While a D-Star hotspot can allow for access into the D-Star system (in much the same way as the D-Star capable DV Dongle), a hotspot allows for connection into the remote D-Star world but isn’t particularly helpful for communicating across town.

A D-Star repeater (with or without Internet capability) allows club members with D-Star enabled handhelds and mobile rigs to communicate with each other on their local repeater just like a regular F.M. repeater but using a digital mode on a second repeater frequency.

Since most D-Star radios offer F.M. as well as the digital mode adding a D-Star repeater allows D-Star enabled radios to scan and transmit on either the existing F.M. or the new D-Star repeater.

One of big advantages of a full D-Star system (with modules for two meters, 440 and 1.2 gigs) is the Icom ID-1 which only runs on 1.2 gigs and can run high-speed data underneath the digital voice communications. This capability means ARES or other public service groups could send completed traffic forms over the air and print them locally for the use of say Red Cross officials.

With an entry-level D-Star capable handheld selling for under $300 (this is for the Icom ID-31a UHF digital/F.M. handheld which was selling for $279 at Dayton) and mobile rigs under $500 (for the dual-band IC-880) D-Star is going to grow in popularity.

Digital communications uses half the band-width of standard F.M. so it’s a very efficient way of communicating.

In the D-Star world the digital signal is wrapped inside of a narrow-band F.M. carrier and actually goes farther than F.M. using less power. The digital signal also doesn’t deteriorate in the same manner as FM as it’s either there or it’s not there. And D-Star repeaters don’t have a tail which can be very disconcerting for newcomers like me.

D-Star radios also need to be programmed. Horrors! But wait! There’s software that can do this for you.

I’m waiting for a third-party programming disc from RT Systems that is going to make this really easy. (I hope.)

Of course this means you’ve got to know how to use a computer but now that almost everyone uses software logging programs most Ham Radio shacks include a computer these days unless of course you’re still on A.M. (Just kidding.)

If you’re local club is thinking about D-Star, this might be a great time to jump in.

Dual Band VHF/UHF Antenna Wanted

I’m looking for a dual band VHF/UHF vertical FM antenna for sale.

Can’t quite hold the D-Star repeaters in my area so need a bigger antenna.

Email me at ve3hg@arrl.net if you’ve got an antenna for sale

Best Contest Rigs

Bob Sherwood, NC0B, has been breaking contester’s hearts for several years now with his assessment of the top of the line rigs.

Contest rigs are evaluated by Bob pretty much for one thing and one thing only and that’s how well the rig can received very weak signals in the presence of very strong signals.

This scenario of listening to weak guys while tuning through kilowatt alley takes a receiver with the ability to separate the weak from the strong and the men from the boys. Some of the boys bought pretty expensive and well-known rigs which Sherwood Engineering’s Data Sheet found wanting.

Some of the newer designed radios (including all versions of FlexRadio and Elecraft) have scored pretty well without necessarily breaking the bank.

Having said that the top radio is a Hiberling from German for $18,000 (yes you read that right) and is likely the last pure analog rig to be designed and sold.

Before you buy your next contest-quality rig you might want to spend an hour and watch Bob’s presentation to Contesting U at Dayton 2013.

R2D2 or D-Star Dongles

While D-Star is growing daily finding a D-Star repeater in your neighbourhood might be a challenge.

Here in Oakville the Oakville ARC is looking at putting a D-Star repeater on the air but it hasn’t happened yet so the closest accessible repeater is in neighbouring Mississauga.

For most home or mobile use the Mississauga repeater is a blessing but for those of us trying to access it with a hand-talkie it’s an exercise in frustration. For example, from my Oakville west location I can hear the repeater and I can even get into it but I can’t hold it with any sense of reliability.

Yesterday for example I hear Al, KK6AL calling CQ on the VE3PMO machine and I went back to him. He got my call sign but that was about all as my signal dissolved into what sounds like R2D2, the robot from Star Wars. This is not a good thing.

So what are the available solutions?

Of course we can go the brute force way and add more power and put that extra power through a larger more efficient antenna.

As my new 50-watt IC-880 D-Star mobile rig arrived yesterday I should be able to hold VE3PMO from here easily even though I’m using a short mobile whip fastened to an L-bracket off my small tower at around 20 feet. The programming software from RT Systems should be arriving any day now.

But I want to put the IC-880 in the car so now what?

Since my ID-31a handie-talkie is UHF only I can’t use a DV Access Point Donglewhich when plugged into any computers USB port creates a mini 2-meter access point into the D-Star system called a hot spot. At $250 it’s not a bad solution if you’ve got a dual band handie-talkie.

Step two is I could buy a  $200 DV Dongle and turn one of my computers into a full time D-Star access point which doesn’t need a radio and works on both PCs and Macs. Very cool but I want to use my new ID-31a

Well I could buy a 440 S-Star amp but that’s kind heading down an expensive and complex back alley.

I could search for a neighbouring hotspot John VE3BL has a hotspot running in Burlington which is to the west of me but so far I haven’t been able to confirm that it’s hearing me and that if it is hearing me that it’s hearing me strongly enough to be usable.

So this brings me to my final solution. I can create my own hot spot using any analogue 440 FM rig with a 9600 baud data port. My old IC-208 dual band FM rig has a 9600 baud data port. Ah ha! 

So what I need is a DMSK D-Star modem and a computer with an Internet connection.

I’ve got several computers which would work but how about using a Raspberry Pi? The ultra small (credit card size) and super cheap ($35) can be programmed to access the D-Star system and thus eliminates the need to have a full-size computer dedicated to one job.

Rod, VE3RHF, is experimenting with a Raspberry Pi right now and if he’s successful you’re going to see a bunch of D-Star hotspots show up in Oakville.

Here at VE3HG if I do go ahead with a hotspot I’ll have to figure out whether my coverage should be confined to the house, the neighbourhood or, considering the IC-208 runs 50 watts and I could put up a dedicated high-gain dual band vertical on the roof, a west-end Oakville hotspot that would likely be easily accessible in Hamilton and perhaps even Niagara Falls and St. Catharines.