At 02:17 PM 6/23/2008, you wrote: > > > >DV Dongles attach to: > >1) DPLUS on a gateway >2) Reflectors
Yep. Got one so I should have some idea what they can do. :) >Many of us have hoped that D-STAR would not become Echolink. A DV >Dongle is a useful accessory that can be adapted to a few different >applications, but it currently has some limitations and a simple >lashup to make an L-Node is going to have issues (Of course an RP2D is Well, a couple of things. The thing I least like to see is the "balkanisation" of ham radio - little groups sitting in their corners. However, it is obvious that the best D-STAR experience is going to come from native D-STAR radios. Also, there's a practical side to this. Several years ago, the NHC decided that keeping links open to both IRLP and Echolink is duplicating resources, so the two have been combined for their nets, using progressively more sophisticated techniques. At the same time, the networks have been essentially kept separate. The crossover can only take place at designated points (i.e. the shared or linked conferences). Now we're crossing the same bridge again, with some areas migrating to D-STAR, which is currently incompatible with the existing systems. >basically an L-NODE, but you need a D-STAR radio to talk to it, >specifically an ID-1). People are going to do this anyway, but often >someone new to D-STAR will try this before they gain experience with >the fullness of D-STAR and the issues raised in the now somewhat dated >article I reference should be understood before attempting the same. I certainly agree, people need to understand the issues. The scenarios I'm most interested in are the ones which have the least potential for conflict with callsign routing - linking gateways to a legacy network, linking a reflector to an IRLP/Echolink network, linking an individual analog repeater to a D-STAR reflector or gateway. Obviously, for a full D-STAR experience, you need a D-STAR radio. But interoperability is too useful to diss it out of hand. On an unrelated note, I find callsign routing to be just a bit too quirky. Too much fiddling with the radio at times. Useable while pedestrian mobile, but not something I'd attempt while driving, even with the radio assisting with the gathering of the routing info. :) And when a third stations comes up from another gateway, then it gets confusing :D (yes, have had that where a third party routes in and gets in between overs). 73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com
