At 08:40 AM 4/8/2010, you wrote: >I may be asking a question that has already been answered. What is >the difference between Linking (UR: KJ4MMCCL) and Source Routing >(UR: /KJ4OXTC)? This is something I have yet to figure out.
Linking uses the DPlus addon. It behaves (in concept) like IRLP and Echolink, in that a virtual connection is established between the endpoints, anyone within range can be heard (assuming they have the correct RPT1 and RPT2 settings in their radio for the local gateway to notice them). Routing works differently. Firstly, only your traffic will go to the destination you're routing to. If other local users want to talk to the same station, they have to set their routing the same as you. At the far end, the recipient needs to have a reverse route point to you for them to be able to communicate back to you. This is (usually) easily achieved by using the radio's one touch reply button, which reads the incoming data stream and programs your radio accordingly. Routing also has another neat trick. Know a D-STAR user, but don't know how to find them? Simply use their call as the UR callsign, and unless they've recently switched gateways, your call will arrive where they were last heard. In my experience, I find routing is great for one on one QSOs, especially when you aren't sure where the other person is. Linking is usually the best choice for roundtables and nets, especially when there's multiple gateways involved, because linking supports reflectors. The support built in for routing to support such activity is clunky and requires administrator intervention to setup. Unfortunately, a lot of D-STAR users never get to learn routing properly, and they're missing out on some neat features. 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
