At 06:16 AM 7/30/2010, you wrote: > > >True about how much there appears to be to learn at the start. > >But for people living near or wanting to link to >DPlus-enabled repeaters (I realize in Japan they >generally don't use DPlus), DPlus linking is >what most of us use most of the time.
True, and here in VK, it's usually done for you anyway, if you want to chat on one of the national reflector channels. :) > >So I've found (based on my own initial >experience trying to read through the Callsign >Routing parts of ICOM manuals) it best to just >ignore all that while getting started. Just >learn how to do DPlus Linking and Unlinking. I >strongly recommend to newbies to skip that >portion of their DStar radio manual for >now. Learn how to program your radio to do >Linking and Unlinking, and you can get going fast and have fun. > >If later on, you choose to learn callsign >routing, etc. it will make more sense then. I learnt the reverse way for historical reasons. Initially, simplex was all there was when I started on D-STAR. When the first gateway became active, we only had callsign routing, so I had to learn that next. I didn't find it particularly complex, remember a few rules and it was pretty straightforward. DPlus came later, and that was pretty straightforward, because conceptually, it is just like IRLP, and only the command structure differed (being UR callsign entries, rather than DTMF commands). However, these days, I do agree that learning DPlus first would probably suit most people. I'd also recommend learning callsign routing, once you're confident with DPlus. > >It is what it is, but things would have been >simpler if either a) ICOM had itself design a >DPlus type capability into their DStar network, >or b)if ICOM were to embrace DPlus and >incorporate these capabilities into their documentation. Well, who says we have to wait for Icom? I believe we're rapidly approaching the point where ham ingenuity exceeds Icom's offerings, as far as the gateway infrastructure goes. > >But, that isn't going to happen. I guess the >good part of all this is that the architecture >is open enough that people like Robin Cutshaw >can add a substantial new capability like DPlus without ICOM's permission. Yep, that was a good thing. DPlus has significantly enhanced the utility of D-STAR. 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
