On Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:49 -0400, "Woodrick, Ed" <[email protected]> wrote:
What about Icom's comparison chart [1]http://www.icomamer ica.com/en/ products/amateur/dstar/dstar/DSTARMobileCompare.pdf The ID880 is definitely a newer model, more refined for D-STAR use. Ed WA4YIH ---- "More refined" is debatable from what I'm hearing... someone's going to have to really dig in and explain the new features in that comparison chart before folks are really going to know which one they need/want, but here's some thoughts... some based on knowledge, some based on heresay... happy to hear other opinions. Let's go through the comparison chart carefully here... For example, I'm hearing that the "Repeater Callsign" on the chart where it says "Repeater List" under the 880 means that if you put callsigns in those memories, they are ALWAYS preceded on-air by the "/" character. While you MIGHT want that, the 800's memories are more "flexible" for repeaters, in that you can put Repeaters with so-called "slash routes" like the above, or even D-Plus Reflector commands in those memory slots. You can NOT do that with the 880 in those positions. You can however, put them in the regular channel memories, just like on all rigs. I'm very used to spinning the repeater memory dial to some of my frequently used D-Plus commands, and an 880 would piss me off in this regard. Icom in an attempt to make callsign routing easier, has removed flexibility. The "TX GPS Message" in the chart is misleading, it makes it look like an ID-800H can't do GPS location transmissions, if you don't know what it really means. Looks like the 880 has "50" of them, and the 800H can't do GPS functionality, but of course... that's not true. There's a whole "document" floating around about DR mode and how to use it, but I haven't read it yet. Not even really sure what it is. I'll care about it next winter when I have more time to look into it... LOL... or if I buy an 880. At the "GPS Sending Mode" line, yes the 880 adds support for the Icom GPS-A format. But that again doesn't mean the 800 can't participate in GPS activities. It just means that the 2820 can't "point" to an 800, but it could to an 880. Using any off-board software or the already built-in add-on of javaAPRSd running on the vast majority of the U.S. Trust Server controlled Gateways, GPS data from the 800's makes it to the Net and to other people, just fine. The "Unproto Address" and "Data Extension", someone more into the guts of the GPS stuff would have to explain why those are important or unimportant to the average user. I don't know. Timestamping: Not something I'd go out of my way to buy a rig for, but a nice free feature. Isn't the "Transmit Power" misleading? I thought neither rig would do 55 or 50 watts on UHF, only VHF? Perhaps I memorized that one wrong, though. Anyone remember? Basically I'd say the 880 is an upgraded 800 with GPS-A support, if you need that -- a screen that actually displays 8 characters, MAYBE a better user interface (can't really tell that from the comparison chart, and I haven't played with one yet), and some wacky changes to the Repeater memories. I'd throw a comment on here about DR mode on this summary, if I knew or cared what it was... (GRIN)... perhaps someone can clue us in. My "next" D-STAR rig will either be a 2820 or an ID-1. I see no compelling need to go to the 880. For a new person to D-STAR, I can't say I would or wouldn't recommend an 880 over an 800. I would recommend ALL of the mobiles over the HT's after my time with both an 800H and a 91AD... but that's a personal preference... HT's are still handy, of course, but the majority of the time I want a real mobile rig in the vehicle, where I do most of my operating, and I've also found that having a real mobile rig at the home QTH (I took it inside for a month or two) to play with things like D-RATS just seems "better" to me, too... but again, personal preference. For "user friendliness" I can't speak for the 2820, but I hear it's FAR better than the 800, and I'd rank the HT's FAR higher than the 800 for the operating learning curve. Figuring out how to dial in a callsign while driving on the 800 was a seriously difficult thing to do, and I can still only even THINK about doing it in light or NO traffic conditions. It's just not safe. Being a Private Pilot who has to handle switching radios constantly while also flying a plane at the same time, helps... seriously. It's that bad. You have to train yourself how to do it safely. Them's my thoughts... anyone have an 80 or an 880 and want to comment on the new features I don't understand yet, just jump on in here. As far as aesthetics go... I *do* like the 880's looks better than the 800. The rounded corners and display quality look better. I think the most interesting setup I've heard of to-date is the 2820 with its own control head for frequency and D-STAR settings, and the Kenwood TNC control head also wired to it on the analog side of the rig on 144.39 for APRS. Kinda a "frankenstein but does EVERYTHING with one rig" mobile slow-speed data setup... -- Nate Duehr, WY0X [email protected]
