The good news is it's really easy to get a HotSpot up and running. I purchased an assembled board (NQSMHS) from Mark Phillips G7LTT/NI2O in New Jersey, US. I was lazy so bought the radio cable from him, though I later made one up quite easily for another HotSpot. I hooked this up to a spare analog radio that had been in the closet (KW TM-D700A).
I documented the setup procedures at http://www.k6jm.com/hs-setup.htm -- mainly for myself for when I did the next HotSpot, but I've had some nice feedback from others who've used it. Depending on what spare equipment you have available, the incremental cost to put up a HotSpot can be quite inexpensive. If you don't have a radio rated for continuous transmit service, it's best to run it at lower power and perhaps with extra cooling. I run my D700A at 5 watts, which gets me out about 15 miles in directions where the terrain is flat. I have run it at 10 watts but don't need that much power. Remember that nets like Connie's Sunday night Ozark Mountain net can generate over 2 1/2 hours of continuous transmit, if you happen to be linked to a reflector that carries that net. Bottom line -- this stuff is ready for prime time. You do need a radio that allows access to the dicriminator output and bypasses filtering on the TX input -- generally radios with a 9600 data port easily allow that. If you have an unusual radio, check with the folks on the gmsk_dv_node Yahoo group -- someone there may have already gotten that radio to work with the hotspot board. Jim - K6JM ----- Original Message ----- From: ka3fzo To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 5:36 AM Subject: [DSTAR_DIGITAL] D-Star HotSpot Information Needed Thanks for taking the time to read this post......... We are looking to establish a D-Star HotSpot at our local EOC. I am looking for information regarding what we wil need to do so. Our county wants to utilize the D-Star system, but due to financial issues we are limited to how we must approach this extra tool for our communications system. Based upon what I have read and heard, a HotSpot, connected to a good antenna system, radio and internet connection can bridge the gap for our area. We are about 30 miles to the nearest D-Star systems and those with D-Star locally, as well as those mobiling through the area,(we are about 2 miles off the Interstate 10), could use the HotSpot to reach one of the surrounding systems. Anyway, this is our hopes as I understand the system. Any and all input and advice will be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Gary - KA3FZO
