D-STAR Do It Yourself

Jim Moen – K6JM May 30, 2014 VoIP Conference Virginia City, NV

Artwork by Philip "Gil" Gildersleeve

W1CJD

D-Star® is a registered trademark used for communication equipment (repeaters and transceivers) for amateur radio communications, and owned by Icom Incorporated.

Topics

• D-Star Digital Voice – 1st Steps • ICOM radios and repeaters

• Third-party extensions, so far • Reflectors, DVAPs & Dongles, Hotspots

• What’s New • SOC PCs like Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black • DV Pi from Internet Labs (DVAP, DV Dongle) • DUTCH*Star

• Pi DV Modem board, RF board, BBB LCD • ConDV software; Windows, Linux, Android

• NW Digital Radio: DV3000D AMBE board for Pi • Matrix Circuits Star*DV AMBE dongle with spkr/mike

• Demos – Pi w/LCD, ConDV, StarDV

This presentation contains original material as well as content developed by other radio amateurs.

D-Star’s Fast Growth

JARL defines D-Star spec

• ICOM rolls out first D-Star products • Early adopters install systems • Call sign routing

• US usage starts to ramp up • Popular with emcomm groups • G1 and D-Plus gateways

• G2 Gateway • Many new technologies DV dongle, DVAP, GMSK Modem

2001 2004 2006 2008 2012

• ~25,000 users • >900 repeaters • GMSK Modems • New software

2014 • 31,500 US Trust Users • 1101 US Trust Gateways • 1510 Total Gateways • 2,786 Repeaters • 48 US States • 48 Countries

D-Star, Out of the Box

• ICOM radios

– HTs like 31A (UHF, $299), 51A (dual band)

– Mobiles like 2820, new 5100 (touch screen)

– HF with D-Star: 7100, 9100

• ICOM Repeaters

– Professional radios, controller, gateway

– ICOM software – Callsign routing

ID-5100

Software Extensions to D-Star

By 3rd Parties

• DPlus linking and REF-type Reflectors (REF014)

– Add-on to existing ICOM Gateway server

– D-Star‘s “Killer App“ – Linking is easier and natural

• ircDDB – faster Callsign Routing (add-on)

• G4KLX ircDDBGateway (replaces ICOM gateway)

– DPlus, DExtra, DCS Linking support

– CCS - MUCH Improved Callsign Routing

– Split Repeater

• Multiple Receivers with digital Voting (lowest BER)

• Multiple Transmitters, one system

Further Extensions to D-Star

• DV Modems allow connection of PC to analog

radio to produce D-Star Compatible RF

– Can create Hotspots and DIY Repeaters

– Several kinds (GMSK Modem, DSP Modem,...)

• DVAP (similar to DV Modem Hotspot)

• DV Dongle (use PC‘s speaker/mike)

• Internet connection needed

• Software on PC (Win, Linux, Android)

– Connects to Reflectors/Repeaters/Hotspots

What I like about D-Star

• Clean audio, no static

• You can see callsigns and short messages

• You can easily link to other repeaters and

reflectors around the world

• Let the system find another ham (callsign)

• Can send small data files (larger on 1.2 Ghz)

• Bandwidth as low as 6.25 KHz

– FCC forcing all other services to narrow b/w

– Digital Voice with compression will grow

Example of DIY D-Star • Hotspot extends D-Star to QTH • You control linking to other reflectors • Relatively inexpensive, uses analog radio

What‘s New in DIY D-Star?

• Using new SOC computers • Raspberry Pi, Banana Pi,... • BeagleBone Black

• New DV Modems • DUTCH*Star Pi GMSK

• New AMBE devices • NW Digital Radio DV300D for Pi • Matrix Circuits Star*DV, Star*DV Dongle

• RF Boards • DUTCH*Star Pi Transceiver

• Digital Radio system • NW Digital Radio UDRX-440

SOC Computers Tiny, Inexpensive

• Raspberry Pi (costs $35, total $55 with extras)

– Rpi Foundation – target is computer education

• BeagleBone Black (original was $45, new $55)

• Chinese “Banana Pi“ even faster ($55-$70)

– Don‘t need faster speed for Hotspots/Repeaters

– Faster PCs useful for developers to compile...

• Full Linux PC, can log on from another PC

• Easy to set up using SD image files

• Add an LCD plate with buttons for full control

DV Pi – Internet Labs

• Creators of DVAP, DV Dongle

• AMBE chip on board • Pi uses Bluetooth • Mobile Device

provides internet, config, control, speaker & mike

• Initially for Android • Later for iOS • Starting trend for

Ham apps using mobile devices

NW Digital Radio

DV3000 (AMBE Pi board) • $99, AMBE 3000 chip on board • Fits on Pi and UDRX • On Pi, need audio device for speaker/mike • Works with G4KLX Dummy Repeater software • With ircDDBGateway, allows speaker/mike QSOs with

D-Star Reflectors

Matrix Circuits Star*DV • Makers of Star*Board • AMBE 3000 chip with

built-in audio • Speaker/mike QSOs • Software also works

with DV Modem • Avail: Early Summer

New! From Matrix Circuits

Star*DV Software

Star*DV Controller Can talk to

Prototype Android app to: • Configure • Link Reflectors • Speaker/mike

Hotspot using Pi Demo 1: ConDV software & LCD

Demo 2: G4KLX software Demo 3: StarDV & LCD

Summary

• Huge creative activity surrounding D-Star

• This stuff is easy - We can all do it and it’s fun

• More Info

– “Building a D-Star Compatible Hotspot“ at www.k6jm.com/hs-setup.htm

– Menu of my D-Star pages at www.k6jm.com/dstar

– These slides available on www.moencomm.com

– Yahoo Groups: • gmsk_dv_node

• pcrepeatercontroller

• ircDDBGateway

• DVRPTR