Guys, I think the question about whether it decodes to baseband is a non-sequitur. A translator is a repeater whose baseband is at RF frequencies rather than audio, that's all.
Want to split hairs? A traditional analog repeater relaying formal traffic during a net doesn't convert the baseband audio to printed word, then re-code it using a text-to-speech converter, either. So, has the repeater been a repeater if the message both originated and was delivered in written form, but was never decoded all the way down to text during repeat? The D-Star repeater never receives a voice (phone emission) to decode. It does the minimum processing required to reliably pass on a data stream it receives. But the high-level block diagram in a communications system looks the same for either kind of repeater, and the effect on bandwidth use is the same - double that of simplex for a given emissions type. Tom, I think you're right about transponders/translators from a philisophical standpoint, but they have some quirks involving ID, etc, and so unique rules. A lot of the so-called "gray areas" are nothing more than word-parsing hams trying to do something that clearly violates the intent of the rules. The pressure to find repeater pairs for digital modes will bring lots of word-parsers out of the woodwork. The real answer would be coordination reform to clear underutilized or dormant pairs for digital use. It's pretty nuts to have an analog repeater for every 1.2 users. I know, I know... ;^) 73, Paul, AE4KR ----- Original Message ----- From: Tom Azlin, N4ZPT To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 9:02 AM Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Fw: [DSTAR_DIGITAL] FCC Ruling on Repeater Definition Hi Kris, A D-STAR repeater never decodes the voice, it just bit regenerates the signal back to the data stream. Yet it is a repeater for sure per the FCC. I would say a linear transponder or translator is a repeater also. the transmit part is active while the receive part is picking up the signal. 73, Tom n4zpt Kris Kirby wrote: > The only interesting wrinkle in this is that a linear transponder > doesn't "retransmit". The signal is never decoded to baseband and > retransmitted. > > Or is it? With I+Q demodulation and remodulation, this could be a point > of argument. > > -- > Kris Kirby, KE4AHR > Disinformation Analyst
