Lot Marquez wrote: > A few questions, we are used to analog and we noticed, there is no > Pl Tone for the Dstar Repeater, are all Dstar repeater, an open > repeater? We had problems with jammers in our analog repeater, is > there a way to lessen this in Dstar? Is there a software that we can > use to administer users of the dstar repeater?
D-STAR repeaters repeat ANY valid D-STAR digital signal. Analog FM repeaters with CTCSS access will only repeat users that are also sending that CTCSS tone along with their carrier. No amount of CTCSS would have stopped someone from jamming your analog repeater, since all they have to do is transmit on the input frequency with or without a CTCSS tone -- so I'm not sure what you mean by saying that CTCSS was effective against your local jammers? USERS of a D-STAR repeater may (at each user's own discretion) use either of two types of digital "squelch" to keep their radios quiet when receiving a signal they don't want to hear. One is based on the callsigns sent by the other station, and the other is a "code" or two-digit number. If you have one of these types of "squelch" activated on your user rig, you will not hear transmissions either a) not destined for your callsign or b) not "tagged" with the two-digit code, respectively. Neither will keep your repeater from being jammed or from anyone who wants to, who has a D-STAR rig, from repeating through it. Software for managing your D-STAR repeater is limited to : a) The software you must load to set the frequency through the front port on the repeater module. b) Connecting to the D-STAR repeater controller via local Ethernet to set up the callsign and number of modules, their port letter designations, etc. This software can also disable a module, but it's not a 100% disable. The module will still ID under certain circumstances. The only way to fully kill a D-STAR repeater is to remove power. If you have a DD module (high-speed data) you can do some tricks to tunnel into the back-end IP network to talk to things on the "internal" network behind the Gateway, but most folks aren't installing DD modules, so I won't get into details. If you're going to add a Gateway, you'll have Internet/IP at the site (because it's required for a Gateway) which is useful for having more options (like IP based power control devices for on/off control). What examples can you think of that you'd like to do, or things you'd like to protect against? Nothing protects any repeater's input... even analog FM ones... other than a good hunting party and DF gear. Nate WY0X
