Will,
I identify with so much of what you're saying. I've been sharing my excitement of D-Star and I feel like I'm a fire in the wilds of Africa, with the rhino's out to snuff the fire (hope you get the analogy). I think that for those of us being the first with D-Star anywhere, it's a matter of getting set up, having fun talking to whoever, wherever and then sharing the pleasure you're having because otherwise you just wind up talking to locals that just want to rain on your parade! Donald ~ N2VU -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Will Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 10:56 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [DSTAR_DIGITAL] Re: The Next New Guy with Questions John, Thanks for the detailed response. I read it twice to make sure I did not miss anything. Too bad the DVAP does not have the AMBE technology. I would think a DVAP + DV-Dongle type product would be real usefull. Something that would allow a ham to use a VHF/UHF radio they already have as a simple "FM wireless Link" to a DV-Dongle. That would allow the Hams on limited budgets to get into digital and still use a radio. I would think it would need to decode CTCSS or PL Tones and tune to a number of Simpley frequencies. When I have mentioned that I was going to try D-STAR many of the Hams I know were very negative about it.... "It's not ham radio if you can't make it yourself" and so on.... but I then asked them when was the last time they built a full featured dual band radio that fits in their hand? Then they through the cost thing at me, which I agree in this economy is a little pricy, but so is any new piece of radio gear. You mentioned the Reflectors, ie: REF014C, I still have some reading and learning to do here. I understand the principles of linking to other repeters and networking (in my day job I work with high speed serial optical/copper networking and protocol conversion) but I don't know how to do it and what is acceptable to do on the repeaters. Guess I need to spend more time listening to the repeters to see what goes on. Anyway, thanks for your email - it helped me learn more about D-STAR. Will - N7IPY
