Hi Justin and all,
i would not be interested in doing D - Star on my computer.
I don't like to sit in front of a computer that much.
I would like the idea of doing it with a radio.
The other problem i have noticed about D- Star is the range is not as good
as a regular repeater.
The icome repeaters we have found at least people i know who have had them
say there junk.
no front end in the receivers.
So they cave in big time.
Thanks 73 Matt ka0pqw
----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin Mann" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 8:11 PM
Subject: Re: D-STAR On the Cheap?
> Y=92all know that there is a DV-dongle that can be used with a computer =
> to do D-star=20
> and it is fully accessible? It does use the ambicoder chip, but it is =
> fully accessible with the mac, and Jaws/window-eyes on windows. You =
> cant ind it at:
> http://www.opendstar.org
> There you can find more information, or if you just do a search for the =
> term =93Dv Dongle=94 in google, you can get some results as well. You =
> can buy the product at Ham Radio Outlet, I think it=92s about $156, or =
> something like that. I=92ve talked to Ray Navak who is iCom=92s product =
> manager for the D-star stuff, and we=92ve had words in reference to the =
> half assed efforts that they=92ve put in to accessibility of their =
> solutions. Just an FYI in case anybody wanted to know.On Mar 12, 2014, =
> at 6:43 PM, Buddy Brannan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Hi Matt,
>>=20
>> I agree completely.
>>=20
>> This is why I don=3D92t have any D-STAR gear.
>>=20
>> On Mar 12, 2014, at 7:38 PM, Matt Arthur <[log in to unmask]> =
> wrote:
>>=20
>>> Hi Buddy and all,
>>> That's great you have done this.
>>> I for one will not do D star unless i can do it independetly
>>> I refews to have stuff that i can not operate
>>> thanks 73 Matt ka0pqw
>>> ----- Original Message -----=3D20
>>> From: "Buddy Brannan" <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 5:05 PM
>>> Subject: D-STAR On the Cheap?
>>> =3D20
>>> =3D20
>>>> Hi y'all,
>>>> =3D20
>>>> I didn't want to post about this until I had something perhaps more
>>>> concrete, but I changed my mind.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Yesterday, I came across the following post:
>>>> =3D
>> =
> http://hamgear.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/sub-200-d-star-radio-in-the-making=
> =3D
>> /
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Which is pretty exciting. A commercial radio manufacturer, =
> interested =3D
>> in
>>>> breaking the Icom D-STAR monopoly stranglehold for portable radios? =
> =3D
>> While=3D20
>>>> I
>>>> have philosophical issues with proprietary black box codecs in use =3D=
>
>> for
>>>> Amateur service things that promote experimentation and would prefer
>>>> something free and open, OK, I'm a minority. I get that. My biggest =
> =3D
>> beef
>>>> with D-STAR is that it's tied to one radio manufacturer, and it =
> looks =3D
>> like
>>>> that might actually change.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Well, I wrote to the President of Connect as directed, and it looks =
> =3D
>> like I
>>>> have his ear. At any rate, he's willing to explore the issues around
>>>> building in some accessibility to his design. Of course, it would =3D
>> perhaps
>>>> not be full text to speech, so we likely wouldn't get the full on =
> SMS
>>>> messaging and what not, but it sounds like h's amenable to having=3D20=
>
>>>> callsigns,
>>>> frequencies, menus, etc. available nonvisually. Just to give an =
> idea, =3D
>> he
>>>> said that in order to get the voice samples for all the letters =
> and=3D20=3D
>>=20
>>>> numbers
>>>> would require an upgrade of the ROM in use by his current models =
> from =3D
>> a=3D20
>>>> 1MB
>>>> to an 8MB size, which would cost about $1.00 extra per unit. Y'all =3D=
>
>> know=3D20
>>>> what
>>>> this often means for us: it's an extra cost, and I won't be =
> bothered. =3D
>> So I
>>>> wrote back and asked him if, indeed, this was a show stopper. I =3D
>> pointed=3D20
>>>> out
>>>> that for letters and numbers, we were looking at, at most, about 56 =
> =3D
>> voice
>>>> clips, very small ones, and if you didn't mind concatonating some =3D
>> files,=3D20
>>>> you
>>>> could get away with far fewer than that. He wrote back and said, =3D
>> "Look, if=3D20
>>>> I
>>>> was worried about a $1 part, I'd just add it into the price of the =3D=
>
>> unit",
>>>> followed by, "With 8MB of ROM, I could potentially get thus and such =
> =3D
>> many
>>>> voice samples without compression, even more with compression, and =3D=
>
>> this
>>>> isn't a big deal". Well, more or less that's what he said, at any =3D
>> rate.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> I've sent him my eyes-free guides for Wouxun and Puxing to give =
> an =3D
>> idea
>>>> of how we work with even "accidental" accessibility, also suggesting =
> =3D
>> that
>>>> strategically placed tones, different pitched or length tones, etc. =
> =3D
>> would=3D20
>>>> be
>>>> helpful. So I really hope that as he works on this the he will find =
> =3D
>> me a
>>>> useful enough resource to consult with so that we will actually have =
> =3D
>> a
>>>> D-STAR radio we can use independently.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> --Buddy, KB5ELV=3D20
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