D-star Id-1 & Id-800

Tanto

Adventurer
D-STAR seems like a really neat & possibly fun technology. I'm posting this to learn from anyone's experience with it & which radio they would recommend.

I'm specifically looking into the ICOM ID-800 or ID-1. I do not have my license but do plan on completing the instruction within the next year.

Thanks,
 

gary in ohio

Explorer
Tanto said:
D-STAR seems like a really neat & possibly fun technology. I'm posting this to learn from anyone's experience with it & which radio they would recommend.

I'm specifically looking into the ICOM ID-800 or ID-1. I do not have my license but do plan on completing the instruction within the next year.

Thanks,

Dstar has some possibility of some neat & fun technology but keep in mind its bleeding edge tech in the ham world in most areas of the country. Also keep in mind Dstar is a modulation method and not frequency/band specific. To make functional use of the dstar you need a dstar capable repeater. The ID-800 is nothing more than a $600 low end dual band analog radio if you dont have a repeater or other dstar equipted radios near by. The ID-1 is a 1.2ghz radio and unless you have a repeater and there are other ID-1 users in your area, your not going to talk to anyone. Dstar while an "open" standard developed in Japan and free for everyone to use requires a proprietary vocoder chip, You cant implement dstar in software it MUST use a chip for at least part of the system. Recently there was an announcemnet where someone took one of these chips and mated it up to a USB port and careated a DV dongle, http://www.dvdongle.com/DV_Dongle/Home.html


Digital is the direction of ham radio at least on VHF and UHF but its going to take a while. what direction dstar or p25 is the question. With lots of used P25 gear hitting the market we may see an increase in interest in P25 digital services. I know near me we have one "digital repeater" club that has both a P25 and dstar nodes up.

Check your area before spending the money. Also if you hate icom your out of luck right now. Keenwood has a star radio in japan but its a D800 with a kenwood label on it.
 

Tanto

Adventurer
I'm aware of the required hardware to make the radios capable of DSTAR communication. From what I've read ICOM is the only maker currently selling the radios in the US, the Kenwood model is apparently only available in Japan and seems to be a souped up version of the D-800.

Sounds like there is almost a Beta vs. VHS battle between DSTAR and P25.

Regarding the radio quality on these units. It doesn't sound like you have a had a good experience with them or don't think that ICOM measures up generally. Can you elaborate?
 

gary in ohio

Explorer
Tanto said:
.....
Regarding the radio quality on these units. It doesn't sound like you have a had a good experience with them or don't think that ICOM measures up generally. Can you elaborate?

I have no issues with Icom, I have 3 icom 706's, Icom multi modes, 220 rigs as well as a couple of handhelds. Most of my radio's are Icom. My comments was unless you have a dstar repeater and someone to talk to, the d800 is just an expensive dual band radio. There are some linking opportunity with the d800 but the data side is pretty slow, Its not until you get to the ID-1 and 1296 that you get 128kb data rates. An ID-1 is $1000 , The D800 is around $600, Lots of money unless you have a a good group of dstar users. in your area.
 

Green Ganesha

Adventurer
I am similarly interested in anyone's thoughts or experiences with D-STAR.

(I have an Icom IC-2820H with the UT-123 digital voice/GPS add-on, and am just beginning to delve into the D-STAR features.)
 

Comanche Scott

Expedition Leader
Dredging this thread back up from the bowels of the Bikini Attols, because...

I just finished the install of an Icom ID-5100A last night, and caught the end of a D-Star net chat.
Guys from the East Coast, Mid West and West Coast all talking with perfect clarity on 2M. :eek:
It was awesome! :)

I'm as giddy as a 1959 school girl seeing Elvis for the first time. :wings:
http://www.dstarinfo.com/

If I understand correctly folks on Echolink can also connect through D-Star repeaters (someone please correct me if I'm wrong here :beer:)

With D-Star repeaters going up all over the world, it really opens up the ability for the lowly Tech licensed ham operator, to talk to folks all over the world while kicked back at the lake with their toes in the clay, and a PBR on the way.
Life is good today! :victory:

Anybody using D-Star while out exploring?

Anybody using the Hand Talkies with D-Star?
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Echolink works through any repeater, doesn't need to be D-STAR. Your radio doesn't need anything special to use Echolink, it's the repeater that has the hardware. It's a gateway to the Internet, which connects repeaters together via a TCP/IP link. This is similar to IRLP or Yaesu's WIRES. The individual users on the RF side don't do anything other than using DTMF tones if they wish to make connections.

D-STAR is a digital mode, so the modulated RF is different. This would be as opposed to AM, SSB, CW (Morse) or FM analog modes, P25, DMR, Yaesu's Fusion. D-STAR repeaters can be connected together like Echolink, but this functionality also exists with Fusion, P25 and DMR. So there's a lot of redundancy here without all that much interchangeability.

Personally I'm using DMR and sometimes IRLP. Echolink adds the ability to use a computer as one end of the communications. What's not clear to me is if the person on the computer needs to be a ham if the person on the RF side is. I believe they would be since the destination to/from is RF and the link just happens to be highly complex instead of a mic at the end of a cord.
 

Comanche Scott

Expedition Leader
that is my understanding as well for Echolink, requiring both ends to be Ham. Pretty sure I had to sign up for Echolink with an active call sign.
Also found Echolink has a smartphone app, so I have that downloaded as well.
I've only listened in a few times on Echolink. I *think* both ends of the conversation can be computer.

I hope they can figure a way to allow Fusion and D-Star to work together. Would be easier to do on the computer side of things. The way it is now Yaesu folks are left a bit short.
From all I've read and listened to, Yaesu has some great product and a good population world wide.
 

gary in ohio

Explorer
Check and see if there is any dstar activity in your area. Around OHio its pretty dead. DMR is the more active digital mode right now.
 

Clay

Adventurer
D-star is a fun mode, but there isn't a ton of traffic on everywhere. There are some guys in England that are pretty into it and fun to talk with. It could also have some benefits for vehicle to vehicle use, with a smartphone hooked up to the radio.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Fusion seems to have more activity than D-STAR here. DMR is the most common digital mode without a doubt. Can't say I know anyone using P25.
 

Comanche Scott

Expedition Leader
At this point (since I'm a complete noob to D-Star), the Scan function is definitely my friend. All I do is set the radio to DV, and hit scan. It handles the rest.
I'm guessing there is a better way, and over time I'll learn.

Today I just ran the scan on 70cM DV, it's been pretty busy. Caught a practice for a new net operator, running through the paces out here in California.
A lot of conversations going on.
Coolest conversation I listened to today was between Doug in Georgia, and Ivan in South Korea.
Doug is using a hand talkie, linked out of a repeater in Georgia, as you can see in the pictures.
 

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