D-Star

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When operating D-Star there is a general protocol that is considered a good operating pratice.

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• Always listen for about 10 seconds before your first transmission.

• Send a Status request to see if the repeater you are about to use is connected elsewhere.

• If having a net or long rag chew move to a less popular reflector/module, some can have in excess of 100 users and repeaters connected and they don't all want to have their gateways and repeaters blocked. Check out how many are listening to REF001C here for an example.

• Make sure your radio has the callsign fields set correctly

• Always leave at least a 4 second gap between overs allowing other stations to break in or disconnect their repeaters or gateways from reflectors

• If you use all of your D-Star functions remember to reset them after your contact

 

The D-Star network consists of repeaters, simplex gateways, various personal devices / hotspots and dongles (DVAP - Digital Voice Access Point). These will have a port identifier with their callsign, for example GB7IC-A, GB7IC-B and GB7IC-C. A is the 23cm radio, B the 70cm radio and C the 2m radio. You will sometimes see D as well on some hotspots. You can by entering the correct details in your radio route to a specific repeater and radio. You can also route to some personal hotspots but there are also other ways to contact your friends, more on that later with direct call routing.

 

D-Star callsigns are up to 8 characters long. Equipment that has a port assigned to it will always have that character in the 8th position of the callsign. The general structure of a callsign is the basic user or repeater callsign in the first (up to) 6 or 7 places, depending on country, and any special command or port identifier in the 8th position. As a callsign in the UK is generally 5 characters long 2 spaces must be entered before the port identifier otherwise your transmission will go nowhere. This is one of the problems when someone cannot get their radio to work.

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Repeaters, simplex gateways and personal hotspots are similar in the way that there is a port (A, B, C or D), a controller and a gateway controller (G). The gateway controller is the link to the internet. On a multi-frequency repeater with several ports the main controller co-ordinates the route of the various data streams. A user on 2m could route their call out on the 70cm radio locally and not go out via the internet.

 

There are different types of connections that can be made, they are "routing" and "linking". "Routing" connections are established by the controller when you press the PTT and each person must set up their radios correctly for this to work. "Linking" connections are established when you send a special command to the controller and maintained by the network until you remove them.

 

D-Star requires 4 call sign fields to use the mode with the exception of simplex which will be covered later. With the original D-Star radio you really needed to understand these whereas now with the newer radios and DR mode it's pretty much done for you. I'll explain it anyhow so you understand how D-Star works. They are:

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• Originator (My) - this is the call sign you are using.

• Repeater1 (Rpt1) - the call sign of the repeater port you use to access the local repeater

• Repeater2 (Rpt2) - the call sign of the repeater port you use to leave the local repeater

• Destination (Your) - this is the call sign of the person, group or repeater you want to talk to or command you want to send.

 

The above are not always the same in each radio, those in bold are for the Icom IC-E2820, check your manual. I'll cover repeater use first. Where you see the word repeater also apply this to simplex gateway and personal hotspot.

 

Originators Call Sign (My)

This is your call sign and is used to identify you on the network and on each transmission. It will be displayed on a radio receiving your transmission. When you set up your radio there is usually a "/" in the field. Usually the model of that radio is entered there or your name if it fits but it is not necessary, it's not essential for the network.

 

Repeater1 Call Sign (Rpt1)

This is the call sign of the repeater and it's port. There are always 8 characters and the port identifier must be in the 8th character space, remember to enter spaces after a callsign and then the port, for example GB7BM**B or G1ABC**B or MB6IKW*B. If you are working simplex you do not need to enter anything in this field.

 

Repeater2 Call Sign (Rpt2)

This is the call sign of the repeater and it's port where the data leaves. There are always 8 characters and the port identifier must be in the 8th character space, remember to enter spaces after a callsign and then the port, for example GB7BM**G or G1ABC**G or MB6IKW*G. G represent the gateway (to the internet) so without this your data is not going to any other repeater or server. If you are working simplex you do not need to enter anything in this field.

 

Your Call Sign (Your)

This is the callsign of who or where you want to talk to or the command you want to issue, again another really important field. So we can set it to talk locally, to a specific call sign, to a specific repeater or a group. It is also used for commands to control the repeater and to set up links to repeaters and more commonly reflectors.

 

For example for me to put a call through the Birmingham repeater the settings are below. Any station listening to GB7BM or anything it is connected to will hear me.

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