I don't know enough about them, but I thought that there was a data link of 
some kind with the radio...not an rs232 port, but something similar that 
allows communication back and forth between the radio and a computer.
you can use the DStar rigs as an RF modem, so I would suspect there has to 
be something availible.
but for $900 without accessibility out of the box it's a little much for 
most of us to tackle.

73
Colin, V A6BS
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Martin McCormick" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2011 8:47 PM
Subject: Re: d-star radios


> If DSTAR fails to thrive, it is totally because of
> packaging. Who wouldn't want these capabilities which have all
> kinds of amateur radio uses?
>
> Well, if the rigs are inaccessible it's because they are
> limited by design, maybe for business reasons, but more likely
> due to short-sightedness. If the radios were designed properly,
> they would be so darned accessible, you could use them with a
> 1986-model P.C. running DOS, a screen reader and Kermit. I'm not
> kidding.
>
> Instead, the pointy-clicky Goof ball Unusable Interface
> or GUI, as it is known, rules here.
>
> As one who uses Linux, I know what is possible when you
> have a good serial or similar communications channel. If
> something doesn't work for you, write a shell script or something similar
> to access it.
>
> I have a couple of scanners that have serial interfaces
> and the programming can be a bit difficult at times, but
> patience pays off and you can usually get it to do what you need
> it to do.
>
> If the designers of the DSTAR gear had been thinking
> even a little bit, they would have known that the rigs should be
> accessible via serial links since they are so much more
> versatile in what they can do, but here we have a box that only
> does what somebody else thought you need it to do and that's all.
>
> Linux or Unix, to be more general, has been around since
> 1968 and the one thing you quickly learn is that the concept is
> one of lots of rather simple bricks being put together in ways
> that the original designers never dreamed of but the point was
> to try to make it as flexible as possible.
>
> The DSTAR gear should all have RS-232, bluetooth or USB
> emulators on board that give you total access to the controls
> and the data stream so it works like a modem which, in fact, it
> is.
>
> Anyway, enough of the rant, but I think this was an
> opportunity lost big time.
>
> Martin
>
> Dave Marthouse writes:
>> To my knowledge none of the Icom D-Star radios have speech.  The other
>> manufacturers don't have D-Star in their product lines.
>