Ed,
Certainly the regulations do not handle new and innovative technology
well, this is why I think the Australian approach of regulations that
say the emission must stay within amateur bands and operations governed
by gentlemen's agreement would be so much better. But given that we
have what we have...
D-STAR is certainly digital, but is it data as envisioned in the rules
or is it a digital implementation of "phone"? Since data isn't well
defined in the regulation and seems most closely tied to "RTTY" or radio
teletype, it seems to meant the sending of text or similar data messages
(e.g. packet, psk, amtor, pactor) as the primary payload. One could
easily argue that modern "image" communications are in fact data
including signaling with data
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow-scan_television#VIS_code and the
somewhat controversial HF ALE systems on amateur radio (
http://hflink.com/ ) use a combination of digital signaling and analog
voice for communications on HF. (Though controversial, I have not seen
any enforcement actions by the FCC declaring them in violation of the
rules).
Which brings us back to the point, (Ray are you reading), should Icom
disable DV for the lower HF frequencies in this radio in the US version?
Woodrick, Ed wrote:
The answer is that the current regulations do not adequately address
the situation. There are those who would swear that D-STAR is Voice
and those who would swear that it is digital. And I've had this
discussion with a number of people who have assured me that their
opinions have been confirmed by the FCC J.
--
John D. Hays
Amateur Radio Station K7VE <http://k7ve.org>
PO Box 1223
Edmonds, WA 98020-1223
VOIP/SIP: [email protected] <sip:[email protected]>
Email: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
