*D-STAR International Coordination Council*
Since late summer of 2008, several people have been working to create an
organization that would help us to develop the D-STAR technology within
a consistent framework, and to gain the consent and assistance of key
organizations already associated with D-STAR. We are now ready to
discuss the results of those efforts.
This notice is to announce the formation of the D-STAR International
Coordination Council. The D-STAR ICC will provide documentation,
consistency, and a framework within which new development and testing
can take place. This organization has the support of the JARL, ICOM, and
several key individuals associated with the D-STAR network. Some of the
specific purposes of the organization are to:
* Support the cooperation and coordination of development efforts
for products, systems, and services related to the ongoing
operation of the International D-STAR network and related
technologies.
* Provide a unified forum for expressing the needs and desires of
the D-STAR user community to relevant manufacturers and other
organizations.
* Define additional items that are not covered by the D-STAR
standard, but are agreed by signatories as essential to the
deployment of D-STAR networks in particular the regulatory aspects
and issues of operators' licenses.
* Ensure interoperability between differing manufacturers of D-STAR
application tools or equipment.
From the high-level objectives, you can see that the key organizations
are interested in working with the User Community to enhance the D-STAR
capabilities. This is a HUGE step for us!
A prime consideration is the fact that the D-STAR ICC is supported by
the JARL, who owns the D-STAR protocol, and by ICOM, the current major
manufacturer of commercial D-STAR equipment. This means that
we won't be operating independently, but in cooperation to move D-STAR
forward.
Since this will be a world-wide effort, there is still much work to
accomplish in order to establish an effective organization. We expect to
have most of the details worked out in the next few weeks, and to begin
work on some key tasks, such as creating comprehensive documentation for
the two primary D-STAR protocols -- the Over-the-Air protocol, and the
Gateway-to-Gateway protocol. While we are working to get these
published, we also intend to create some standards for development and
testing that will allow a developer to gain "D-STAR Compatibility"
status for new efforts.
As the new organization develops, we'll have information available for
you at the web site http://WWW.D-STAR-ICC.Org . If you're interested in
creating and maintaining that web site, please contact N5MIJ at
D-STAR-ICC.Org, and put "D-STAR ICC Web Site" in the subject line.
D-Star is growing and evolving. Here's a chance for us to positively
impact that evolution.
73,
Jim McClellan, N5MIJ
--
John D. Hays
Amateur Radio Station K7VE <http://k7ve.ampr.org>
PO Box 1223
Edmonds, WA 98020-1223
<sip:[email protected]>
<mailto:[email protected]>
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