This is the REMINDER for ARES Monthly Reports by EC’s.
All EC’s should complete their reports and send to their respective DEC’s via email.
We will post all reports that we receive (either directly, or officially forwarded to us) for all to view.
All EC’s who submit reports are kindly requested to indicate on the comments section (as example): “Flagler submitted” or “Volusia submitted”
many thanks..
Well, as you all know, we now have D-Start repeaters. Two to be exact – the first in Palm Coast and the second in St. John’s County. The third will be in Daytona very soon (next weekend). But there are and will continue to be places where there is no D-Star coverage in certain parts of the region – specifically during times of disaster. In those times, we intend to use D-Star Hotspots to “fill-in” coverage gaps, while still providing all of the capabilities of the D-Star network including linking and simultaneous data transfer.
I am excited to announce that we have a new “project” underway to build a D-Star Hotspot using off-the-shelf components from various sources, document the procedure in detail and have it be duplicable by anybody who chooses to make one. The project is being led by Steve Finger (KB4DNQ) and we expect to have a working prototype in about 30-days, along with detailed documentation. We’ll probably build a second unit as well, so that we can have it for demonstration purposes, while a 3rd unit will be held on reserve and used on the EMCOMM-1 vehicle. Stay tuned for updates about the project from Steve during the course of the next 30-40 days.
In the meantime, some background – D-Star Hotspots are configured with a D-Star Node Controller which talks to the radio for RF signal processing and to a computer for connection to the Internet where it can link to other repeaters or to Reflectors. A system diagram is shown below:
We will be using the D-Star Node Controller from Satoshi Yusada in Japan. The assembled and boxed units come to us directly from Satoshi at a cost of Y12,000 each (about $135) delivered. Steve will be interfacing the unit to a Kenwood TM-271 2-meter radio which is one of the least expensive, 9600-baud capable radios on the market (I bought 2 units at Dayton from HRO for less than $125 each). The HotSpot software is free for the download and runs on a standard Windows/XP notebook. I have purchased three of the D-Star Node Controller units from Satoshi, as well as two Kenwood radios for this project and I’m looking forward to having yet another tool to place into the ARES toolkit.
Satoshi’s D-Star Node Controller comes COMPLETE and looks like this:
The software is a work-of-art from Mark (KB9KHM) who has basically “owned” the market for hotspot software for the last few years. A screen shot follows:
The following link is for application to East Coast District ARES, regardless of whether for Volusia or Flagler Counties. Please return your application to the EC for your respective county of residence, or to a District EC or ADEC.
