[d-star] Fwd: 2012 Dayton Hamvention & D-STAR Review

[Mark Thompson]

Jim's synopsis below of D-STAR at the 2012 Hamvention is good. 
 
By the way, Robin, AA4RC, creator of the DV Dongle & DVAP and D-STAR Reflectors also mentioned he would be introducing a dual-band 2m/70cm DVAP in addition to a 70cm DVAP. 
 
73, Mark, WB9QZB 


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Dayton Hamvention 2012 
Posted by:      "J. M. Moen" jim at k6jm.com    k6jm_jim   
Wed May 23, 2012 10:33 am        (PDT)  


I'm almost caught up after getting back from Dayton.  Here are my notes and
comments --

Booths
---------
There was a lot of D-Star activity this year.  Again this year, there were
D-Star booths at the end of "Audio Alley" -- The D-STAR Info booth put on by
the Georgia D-STAR group who brings us www.dstarinfo. com, and Internet Labs
(Robin AA4RC and company).  John Hays K7VE had a booth showing a prototype
for his UDR56K-4 "Universal Digital Radio".  Of course ICOM had D-Star
radios on display.

I was at the D-STAR Info booth part of the time to help answer questions, so
I got a chance to meet a lot of people with interests ranging from getting
started with Do It Yourself D-Star projects to some very knowledgeable,
experienced hams who've been doing this for some time.

John Hays
------------ -
The D-Star presentation on Friday had a good intro to D-Star by John Hays --
I've always known this stuff is simple, but John was able to convey that to
a wide audience.  He only briefly touched on his upcoming new product, which
is " a combination of a 25 watt uhf transceiver and an embedded ARM server
(Linux) to support amateur radio digital protocols for applications such as
Emergency Communications; Radio Mail Server, APRS, D-STAR Voice and Data, as
well as experimenters. "  He'll have an AMBE chip daughterboard option.
Can't find the details, but I think it will sell for US $395 starting in
Fall 2012.

David Lake
------------ -
David gave an update on his G4ULF gateway project.  While he's essentially
gotten the fixes plus many enhancements complete, he has found that
supporting the current 45 production G2-like gateways takes considerable
time, and he is not willing to release his software until a support solution
can be found.  He conjectured that if he and the US Trust team were to
approve only a standard, fixed configuration, then the support issues might
be manageable.  I was disappointed to hear these issues have not yet been
solved, and there's still no certainty if or when the ULF package will be
released for general use.

(Afterward, I told David that in my opinion, the hardware
vendors/distributor s should be responsible for front-line support, and he
should only be contacted by them in the rare cases when front-line support
can't solve it.  I certainly would be willing to support the G4ULF Gateway
for users of the Star*Board.   My guess is I'd field well over 90% of the
problems, and only kick a few over to him or US Trust Team.)

Ed Woodrick - D-STARinfo.com
------------ --------- --------- --------
Ed addressed the issue of programming D-Star radios with a really neat
solution.  Their website can generate a ready-to-go file for all the D-Star
repeaters in a state or near a location.  It's ready to import into ICOM
programming software.  Now both newbies and experienced people alike can get
their new radio programmed in minutes.  Note that this app generates D-Plus
style linking commands for the repeaters in the selected area.  Check out
http://www.dstarinf o.com/downloads- for-icom- software. aspx. Ed also showed
how the IC-31A HT's new interface for configuration is so easy to use. It
comes preloaded at the factory with G2 Gateways, so it only takes a moment
to find and contact a new repeater.  He is hopeful all future ICOM radios
will contain a similar interface.

Robin AA4RC
------------ ----
Robin announced support for Android Tablets running the latest version (ICS
- Ice Cream Sandwich) of Android.  He also discussed how they are going to
make use of the BeagleBoard (US $89) for various projects, including a way
to run DVTool on an iPad (problem is, you can't plug a DV Dongle into an
iPad since it doesn't have a USB Hosting mode).  BeagleBoard supports both
USB Hosting and Devices, so it will sit between the Dongle and the iPad. 

Robin mentioned a number of improvements that he's made to DVTool, including
support for Bonjour inside-the-firewall networking.  Multiple PCs at a QTH
can all get access to the same DV Dongle, for example.

He talked about a new product, based on the BeagleBoard, that will combine
the DVAP and the Dongle functionality.  This could be used as a DV Adapter
in one configuration , or in fact could replace the ICOM repeater controller
in an ICOM repeater.

They are working on a 70cm DVAP which should be released in 2-3 months.

Off-Site D-Star activities
------------ --------- --------
I attended the Meet and Greet Thursday night in Beavercreek -- met lots of
D-Star people and had a good time.

I didn't attend the D-STAR InfoCon introduction to D-Star at the Drury Inn
Friday morning, but I understand it went very well.

ICOM and HRO hosted the D-STAR Across America at the Drury Inn Friday
evening.  LOTS of D-Star people.  The highlight of the evening was Ray
Novak's talk about the early history of D-Star.  It gave me a lot of respect
for the early pioneers who worked to make D-Star the exciting system it is
today.  There were a number of other speakers, and in fact I got up for 2-3
minutes to talk about GMSK Node Adapters and how Do-It-Yourself projects are
taking off in the D-Star world.

My big take-away was Ray's view that ALL D-Star projects are welcome and
important to the overall growth of D-Star.  He specifically mentioned the
DIY projects.  This seemed to be a shift in attitude and was very positive. 

Other
-------
Yaesu's booth had information on their future DV product.  The FT1DR/E will
be a C4FM FDMA digital transceiver, dual band.  Yes, once again, flush from
their success with WIRES, Yaesu is going off on its own with a 12.5 kHz DV
mode that's not compatible with D-Star and not compatible with
DRM/MotoTurbo.    This new HT will be available later this year for simplex
QSOs.  The people at the booth did not have any information about possible
repeater products, but hoped something might happen by the end of this year.
They have no idea about how repeaters might be linked.  My personal reaction
was not all that positive.

Summary
-----------
Dayton had a lot of D-Star activity and buzz this year.  We continue to grow
and bring more people into the tent. 

Jim - K6JM 
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