I have lots of objections to DStar myself, namely the high cost, that Icom is the only manufacturer that does dStar, and its proprietary nature. Especially the proprietary nature of the protocol strikes me as fundamentally at odds with everything else we do with amateur radio. But, what do I know? 
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Dec 20, 2012, at 7:02 AM, Tom Behler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>    Well, not here yet, and many people are resisting it, due in no small 
> part to the overall high cost of a D Star radio.
> 
> And, this says nothing about accessibility issues.
> 
> 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ray T. Mahorney" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 10:51 PM
> Subject: Re: In a state of disbelief here
> 
> 
>> that is interesting because a fair number of EOC's here in Ohio are 
>> migrating to DSTAR.
>> 
>> 
>> Ray T. Mahorney
>> WA4WGA
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
>> On Behalf Of Tom Behler
>> Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 00:05
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: In a state of disbelief here
>> 
>> Ray:
>> 
>> No D Star here yet, and I don't know of any plans for it soon.
>> 
>> This is why the choice of rigs on the part of the powers that be was so
>> strange.
>> 
>> 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>> 
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Ray T. Mahorney" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 12:43 PM
>> Subject: Re: In a state of disbelief here
>> 
>> 
>>> no they do not nor does Icomm sell speech boards for those radios they 
>>> are
>>> both DSTAR radios and as
>>> such there is no accessibility on the digital side.  Has your county
>>> adopted DSTAR?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Ray T. Mahorney
>>> WA4WGA
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: For blind ham radio operators 
>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>> On Behalf Of Tom Behler
>>> Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 00:15
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: In a state of disbelief here
>>> 
>>> Hi, all
>>> 
>>> Recently, in my region of west-central lower Michigan, the power that be
>>> obtained an equipment grant to purchase all new equipment for our county
>>> EOC's.  Sounds great, right???
>>> 
>>> Well, for one thing, none of us as EC's were consulted on the rig and
>>> other
>>> equipment choices, so we ended up with rigs with which none of us were
>>> familiar.
>>> 
>>> But, here's the real kicker:
>>> 
>>> Two of the rigs are the Icom IC2820 VHF/UHF dual-band radio, and the Icom
>>> IC2200 2-meter radio.  Upon checking in the AES catalog, and calling AES
>>> for
>>> confirmation, it seems that these radios do not have a voice synthesizer
>>> chip option.  If this is true, of course, the rigs will be of limited use
>>> to
>>> me as EC in the Emergency Operations Center, unless I have sighted
>>> assistance with me at all times.
>>> 
>>> Can someone verify for me that these rigs actually do not have a voice
>>> chip
>>> option??
>>> 
>>> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>>> 
>>