D-STAR is not expensive. If you compare the price of a new D-STAR radio (new technology) to a new Analog FM synthesized (old technology) radio of 25 years ago, its a downright bargain. Even if you take a modern Analog FM radio and add what is needed to make it data capable (let alone digital) you are at or above the price of a similar D-STAR radio (sound card modes excluded, but who wants to drag along a computer when a simple integrated solution exists). I'm not flush with cash, but a couple hundred extra to play with D-STAR is cheap, its a few meals out on the town or a car trip across the state. Most of us spend that just attending an out of area ham convention. Its a personal choice where you will spend your money, but saving up a few weeks to pay the difference between 30 year old technology and a current generation radio doesn't seem like that big of a sacrifice to me.
Amateurs will eventually migrate to digital for VHF/UHF repeaters. Will D-STAR be forever? Probably not, but it is the leading solution right now. The move to digital only makes sense, its more spectrum efficient and you can offer a lot more services on a 'channel' than you can with analog. I imagine that at some point, not soon, the ratio of digital VHF/UHF operations to analog FM will be similar to the ratio of SSB to AM transmissions on HF. Stagnation is killing this hobby, if we are not willing to crack open our wallets, and to apply our talents, to evolving the hobby it will die a slow death, which may be sped up by commercial and government $$$ eager for more spectrum. We need to have a reason for more people getting on the radio and actually using our spectrum -- a repeater that sits silent for days on end should loose its coordination in favor of groups who will actually use the frequencies. I think D-STAR or other digital radio with lots and lots of applications will provide that catalyst, but hams need to want to grow the hobby both in technology and activity. There are non-Icom D-STAR components coming out shortly. A gateway replacement by G4ULF (http://g4ulf.blogspot.com/), radios and adapters (http://www.dutch-star.nl/products/ds-1/) and more. The other vendors: Kenwood - barely in the amateur radio business anymore. Stuck on AX.25/APRS for amateur enhancements (20+ year old technology) Yaesu - focused on HF and offer WIRES (http://www.vxstd.com/en/wiresinfo-en/) just another voice over IP (VOIP) system like IRLP or Echolink (see my comments at http://k7ve.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=26) Alinco - possibilities here for D-STAR radios. Friendcom + Node Adapter (http://www.dutch-star.nl/products/fc-301d/ and https://www.argentdata.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=110) If some RF/Digital designer hams would look at the technology and apply their skills to design we could have a variety of great D-STAR components. If someone who is very fluent with technical Japanese would translate this document http://www.jarl.com/d-star/shiryou/STD4_3C.pdf for the rest of the world, then there is plenty of software/firmware talent to provide the applications and control software. Do you (the reader) want to be part of the solution and future or grumble and keep the hobby stagnant and on a path to death? John, [email protected] --- In [email protected], AB8XA <ab...@...> wrote: > > Regardless of how it has been increasingly accepted, and even if Icom > dramatically lowered the huge overpricing, D-STAR is, and will > continue to be, a niche technology, as long as Yaesu, Kenwood, Alinco > AND even Icom themselves continue to sell significant volumes of non-D- > STAR radios. It's certainly a good thing there are so many niches in > amateur radio, but establishing a D-STAR repeater for tactical emcomm > in lieu of (not in addition to) an analog FM repeater, probably > eliminates roughly 90% of potential ham volunteers and IMO would be > foolhardy. Those who say digital is the way of the future may be > correct, but every analog radio sold, including those sold by Icom, > pushes that point further into the future, and by then, D-STAR may > have been obsoleted by another technology. > > If you can afford it, certainly--buy HT and mobile rigs that are BOTH > analog and digital-capable. I'm in D-STAR only because I won an > IC-91AD as a door prize. The radio I bought for my truck is the Icom > IC-208H simply because I couldn't/wouldn't afford nearly twice as much > for the near identical ID-800. I'm far from alone. I don't mean to > rain on D-STAR proponents parade, but that's how I see it. > > -- > Moe >
