NE-FL D-STAR System

The Journal of the North East Florida D-Star Repeater Network

Archive for category D-Star Radio Programming

D-Star Registration Process

Jul 22

Posted by mikelee in D-Star Radio Programming, D-Star Users | No Comments

A Step-by-Step registration process for the NEFL-Dstar network, using my Dad as an example (W6IOW).
Click to enlarge any of the pictures.

https://ka4res.dstargateway.org:8443/Dstar.do

Click “Register”

Enter the requested information.
Remember to click “YES” on the top-left on “Do you agree”
Click “OK” after filling-in all the required fields.

Click “OK” on the pop-up box.

At this point, your registration request is submitted.
Please send an email to: WB6RTH@ARRL.NET so
that your registration request can be reviewed and approved.

After Approval, you may log-in with the credentials that
you submitted and enter your radio information.
Procedure is listed below:

Enter your Userid and Password, then press “Login”

Press “Personal Information” to enter radio information

Click the check-mark to the left of number 1.
Enter <space> in the “Initial” field
Enter any comments in the “pcname” field (lower case only)
Repeat for any additional radios
I use “M” for my mobile, “P” for my portable, etc
Click “Update” when finished

Remember to LogOut when you’re done.

Icom ID-880H Mods

Jun 30

Posted by mikelee in D-Star Radio Programming | 2 Comments

and finally, the very popular ID-880H Mobile. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I have used this mod on my 880 and know it works well.

Icom ID-80 Mods

Jun 29

Posted by mikelee in D-Star Radio Programming | No Comments

For the ID-80H Handheld radio – again, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Small parts, no tolerance for error.

Icom IC-91AD Mods

Jun 28

Posted by mikelee in D-Star Radio Programming | 3 Comments

Here is the Frequency Expansion Mod for the Icom-91AD. I have used this on all of my older IC-91AD’s (before selling them) and know that the mod works without problem, but as always, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. If you are not confident in making modifications to SMD’s, then please DO NOT ATTEMPT..!!

REVISED PICTURES as of 12-July-2011:
(Click to enlarge)

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Icom IC-2820 Mods

Jun 27

Posted by mikelee in D-Star Radio Programming | 2 Comments

Here is the Frequency Expansion Modification for the Icom IC-2820. I have used this mod  on all 4 of my 2820′s, but as always, USE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. The SMD components are very small – if you are not experienced, then please do not attempt.

Icom IC-92AD Mods

Jun 26

Posted by mikelee in D-Star Radio Programming | No Comments

Here is the Frequency Expansion Modification for the Icom IC-92AD handheld. I have used these mods, but USE AT YOUR OWN RISK – these parts are VERY SMALL. If you are not experienced in Surface Mount Devices (SMD), then DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS..!!

(Click to Enlarge)

D-Star Programming – General

Jun 25

Posted by mikelee in D-Star Radio Programming | No Comments

Programming

All DStar radios have abundant memory to hold repeater frequencies and call signs.  While they all can be programmed by hand, it is much faster and easier to program them with a personal computer.  Software and interface cables are available from Icom as well as RTSystems.  Additionally there are Amateurs working on free software that will let you program your radio although all current offerings are fairly primitive.  Both Icom and RTsystems software http://rtsystemsinc.com/ work well and it is a matter of personal choice as to which is better.

The first thing to do is identify the repeaters you want to work and input the operating parameters such as the receive frequencies as well as the offset, both shift and direction of shift.  This information is available from the web at the following URL:http://www.dstarusers.org/repeaters.php You will notice that some repeaters have all three frequency bands available.  These are identified as the A band (1.2 gHz),  the B band (450 mHz) and the C band (145 to 148 mHz), while others have only one or two bands available.  W6CO for example only uses the UHF module so it is identified as W6CO B.

The next thing to do is program your call sign table with the appropriate call signs and other information.  In operation, you will find it extremely useful to associate alphanumeric  info with each repeater so you can figure out exactly where you will be operating.  More on that later.

The call sign table has four entries and each entry (the field) has eight data position.  It is very important to observe exactly where each character falls in each field.  The four fields are:

UR:
R1:
R2:
MY: N6XN

We’ll start from the bottom and move up since the last call sign (UR) gets many different configurations.

MY: This is where you input your assigned FCC call sign.  Most radios have space for several calls but unless you let others use your radio you need only to enter your own.  This field has room for eight characters, but you may notice there is a slash at the end of the call field where you can enter 4 more characters.  Some use this for their name, which works fine for John or Mark but you may notice at least one  ham goes by Stev.  There is a better place to put your name so the best thing to do is leave this blank or put in your radio type such as IC91 or 2820.

UR:
R1:
R2: W6CO   G
MY: N6XN

R2: This is where you enter the repeater call sign if you wish to use the system gateway which will put you into the world-wide DStar network.  The first seven spaces are reserved for the repeater call sign and the eighth space always(1) gets the letter G(for Gateway).  If you are setting up this memory for local use only, and don’t wish to be heard on the network, leave  R2: blank or set it to NOT USE.  Which ever you choose, this is where you would identify the channel so that the display shows you what you have programmed.  To input this you need to select MNAME (see your manual, on the IC91AD it’s on page 69).  On my radio, when I am on the channel that is programmed for local use only, no gateway, the display reads ” W6CO LOC” which tells me that on this memory channel there is no entry in the R2: field and I will only be heard on the local repeater, not on the DStar network.  The very next channel in my radio does have an entry in R2:  It looks like this:  W6CO   G and the alphanumeric readout says ” W6CO B G”  When I see this I know I will be heard both locally and on the DStar network when I transmit.

(1) An exception to using the G in the 8th position.  If you instead enter another module of the same repeater, you will cross band repeat on that repeater.  One would assume that the only reason you would do that is you had a radio that was only capable of a single band.  That being the case, the station you wished to communicate with would also want to cross band by doing the reverse.  Not a common practice.  Moving on:

UR:
R1: W6CO   B
R2: W6CO   G
MY: N6XN

R1: This is where you enter the call sign and module of the repeater you are using.  In Napa, for example, this would be W6CO   B (the B is in the last, or eighth position).  Normally, both R1 and R2 would reference the same repeater.  We’ll have some examples farther down the page.

UR: CQCQCQ
R1: W6CO   B
R2: W6CO   G
MY: N6XN

UR: Now we will get really complicated so pay attention.  For just communicating, the example above is how you would have your UR: set up; just CQ three times.  There are many other things that can go in this field however and most involve either control or linking.  If you have a control code in here, just press your push-to-talk until your control is accomplished then switch back to CQCQCQ to talk.  If you are performing repeater or call sign routing however, that is what goes in this field and you stay here while you talk.  More information on routing in a minute.

Control codes: This is a good place to talk about enhanced DStar.  In the beginning, the JARL version of the operating software only allowed routing, either to a repeater or to an individual using his call sign.  The problem was, you had no way of knowing if that individual was listening, or if the repeater he was on was in use.  You were really operating in the dark.  Then along came Robin Cutshaw, AA4RC and Dplus.  We are currently on revision 2c and it has added complexity but many many more features than before.  It permits the operator to link or unlink other repeaters, or reflectors.  Once you have linked up you will hear any activity that is currently ongoing on that repeater or reflector and when you talk you will be heard on that repeater or reflector.  A reflector, by the way, is a Repeater-repeater.  In other words it is a specialized server that permits repeaters to connect to it and any traffic on that repeater will be automatically heard on any other repeater also connected to that reflector.  At this time there are 30 reflectors world-wide and at any given time there may be as many as 30 or more repeaters connected to any one of them.  Each reflector is set up with 3 partitions named A, B, and C (no relation to frequency) and the current convention is the C partition is used for rag chewing.  At this time, for example, W6CO  B is linked to REF014C, located in Las Vegas, and eight other repeaters are also on there.  Another four repeaters are linked to REF014A, and there are four dongles linked as well.  Any repeater linked to C can talk to any other repeater linked to C and to any of the dongles, but not to any of the repeaters linked to A.  The A’s talk to one another, the B’s talk to one another, and the C’s talk to one another.  The dongles can talk to anyone but they have to select which module they want.

Linking: Let’s say W6CO   B was not linked to anything and you wanted to link it up to REF014C.  Here is what your call sign table would look like:

UR: REF014CL
R1: W6CO   B
R2: W6CO   G
MY: N6RRR*

*I don’t know what your call is so I borrowed N6RRR.  Hope he doesn’t mind.  But put your own in here.

Notice the entry in the UR: field has eight characters and the last one is the letter “L”.  This stands for Link.  Now press your PTT for a second or two and release it.  You should hear a voice announcement saying “Remote Station Linked”, and if so you were successful.  Now switch your UR: to CQCQCQ and wait a few seconds.  From this point on, when you talk you will be repeated twice: once over the W6CO UHF DStar repeater, and almost simultaneously over every single repeater that is currently linked to REF014C. Kinda gives you the shivers doesn’t it?

Additional controls:

To unlink anything that is currently linked:

UR: U

Very important:  The control code always goes in the far right or eighth position.

To Interrogate to see if there is currently anything linked:

UR: W6CO   I

After pressing the PTT, you should hear one of two messages: “Remote System Linked” or just “W6CO” if unlinked.  In the next release of Dplus we expect we will be told exactly what is linked.

To listen to yourself:

UR: W6CO   E

Leave it set like this while you send your test transmission

E (for echo) goes in the last position, the call sign of the repeater goes in the first for to six depending on the length of the call sign.  Why, you might ask, would one want to listen to himself?  Well, ego aside, the operator might wonder about the quality of the transmitted signal.  Some areas are spotty and your transmission can be garbled.  Some refer to garble as R2D2 named for the robotic character in the Star Wars movie.  Some will tell you that digital radio is wonderful; you either sound great or you don’t sound at all.  True enough, but there is an all-too-common third state called garbleland where part or all of your signal is just digital noise.  There are 3 main causes for this: Your signal is too weak,  you are experiencing multi-path distortion (very common where there are tall hills or buildings) or part of your header got clipped off.  The third condition happens when you get too quick on the trigger.  When you transmit, the very first thing that goes out is the header info.  This tells the controller what you have in your call sign table and it looks like this:

hdr f 400000 r2 K6MDD G r1 K6MDD A ur CQCQCQ my WA6YTD / fc d1a7 OK

This is a clip from the W6CO log showing a transmission by WA6YTD over the K6MDD A module. The hex code near the end is the transmission identifier and if part of that gets clipped the entire transmission will be unintelligible.  This is a good place to caution you about rushing your transmissions.  On any repeater it’s a good idea to pause  for a second or two or three before transmitting in case another station wants to break in.  In DStar it is doubly important for the same reason but also to let the internet swallow what you just fed it.

To link to another repeater:

UR: K6MDD CL

This would link the repeater you are on to K6MDD module C on Mount Diablo assuming that it is not currently linked to something else.  Any module can only be linked to one other module at any given time and chances are this would not work.  But if K6MDD C was not currently linked to something you could do this and you could then converse with anyone on the K6MDD C repeater as if you were right there.  Once again, as with the reflector example, you have to go back to CQCQCQ in order to talk, otherwise every time you keyed your mike the repeater controller would think you were trying to link and it would tell you so.  Courtesy:  If you link something, be sure to unlink when you are finished.

An important note on control codes: The controller stores call sign information temporarily because, in lieu of forward error correction, if something gets garbled it uses the last good data.  As a result, you can’t always switch things rapidly.  As an example, you might make a test transmission using the echo feature, then switch to CQCQCQ.  Often times your next transmission will also be echoed because the controller didn’t get the new UR: you sent.  Be prepared to wait up to a minute for the old data to be cleared.  Patience pays off.

Routing (as opposed to linking) Dplus aside, you can still do things the original way by putting another amateur’s call sign in the UR: field.  If he has transmitted on DStar anywhere in the world, the local repeater controller will try to find him and you will be heard on whatever repeater he last used.  This is a terrible way to try to communicate so it’s probably best to not use it unless you have an agreement with the party you want to talk to.  Also, keep in mind, if your local repeater is linked to a reflector, or if the distant Amateur’s local repeater is linked to a reflector, you may be creating a one-sided conversation for others.  Not that there is anything wrong with that…..or is there?  Poor practice.  Here’s a better way:

Repeater routing.  Let’s say you are in Tampa and want to talk to me in Napa.  Find the repeater info for Tampa http://www.dstarusers.org/repeaters.php and input it to your radio.  Then fill out your call sign table like this:

UR: /W6CO B
R1: KJ4ARB B
R2: KJ4ARB G
MY: N6RRR*

Don’t switch to CQCQCQ; leave it like this while you talk.  Anything you say will be repeated by W6CO…amaze your friends!

Here’s an important detail about this kind of routing.  If I am monitoring here in Napa, I will hear you call me from Tampa but you will be so clear that it will sound like you are right here in town.  I won’t be able to talk back to you unless I set my UR: to the repeater you are using.  Here is what my call sign table needs to look like in order to be heard by you:

There are a couple of ways I can do this but I need to know where you are calling from so your first call should sound like this:

“N6XN, this is N6RRR calling from Tampa through the KJ4ARB repeater port B”.  Repeat this a couple of times and then give me time to set my radio as shown below.  I can also call you back without knowing the repeater by pressing my “one-touch” button on the IC91,  (lower right of keypad)  See page 47 for more details.  All current DStar radios have a “one-touch” button somewhere.

These changes will be temporary.  If I move off frequency, when I dial back the call signs will have been restored to the original memory settings.

UR: /KJ4ARBB
R1: W6CO   B
R2: W6CO   G
MY: N6XN

Notice the UR: starts with a slash.  That tells the controller on KJ4ARB to find W6CO  B and pass any audio it hears to that repeater.  This works really well except for one peculiar condition:  Let’s say that W6CO  B is linked to REF014 and it just so happens that KJ4ARB B is also linked to REF014.  You would be creating a dual-route that probably would be a real train wreck.  At the very least you would be driving people nuts with the lost packets and garble.  There are ways to check before hand if something is linked (as I showed you above) or by using a PC connected to the web.  No PC handy?  Listen awhile or put out a general call and ask whoever answers.  If you hear nobody, (probably) just set it up like the above example and go for it.  No harm, no foul.  Another caution refers to interference with a QSO already in progress on the distant repeater.  If you set your UR: as in the examples above, and the remote repeater is in use, you will get a cryptic message on your display showing “rpt?”.  Wait a bit and try again.  If you set your UR: to link to a distant repeater, for example KJ4AR BL if that repeater is busy your link will still work but you won’t hear anything until the party that is currently talking finishes and releases his PTT.  You will then hear the next station to transmit and all those afterwards. Just to be on the safe side, after you complete a link, wait 2 or 3 minutes before talking. 3 minutes is max because DStar repeaters are equipped with 3 minute timeout timers that cannot be easily changed so that’s the max transmission time for most machines.

If you do have a PC handy, there are a number of “configurators” out there that will help you with programming.
Here is one that is popular:http://www.dstarinfo.com/Calculator/DSTAR%20Web%20Calculator.aspx?Source=WA6IRC

Here is a handy URL that will give you some examples of programming along with additional information on DStar: http://www.ladstar.org/config.htm

Here’s another URL  that will give you lots of information about how to look at reflector usage and other neat stuff:  http://w6dhs.org/ On this site you can find links to Dstarusers.org and find a list of reflector “dashboards”.  These can be really handy if you are near a PC but not much use if you operate mobile.

Dstar In Japan

US amateurs have only recently been able to communicate with Japanese hams via Dstar.  Seems ironic since the Radios, and the original mode architecture came from there.

The problem was, a key part of the Dstar system is the trust server.  In the US, the trust server is run by the K5TIT group in Texas.  Japanese hams have their own trust server and the two don’t talk.  What’s more, in the US, we have come to depend on Dplus programming on our gateways to let us communicate in the fashion described  in the body of this article.  In Japan, they don’t use Dplus, many are even unaware of it;  communications are carried out as described in your Icom manual.

That doesn’t mean we can’t talk to the JA folks though.  The first thing to be aware of is the time and date difference between there and here.  They are 7 hours earlier than us so if we are used to hamming on the way to work, most of Japan is fast asleep.  On our way home, and during our evening hours, they are at work.  It’s often best to wait until the weekend but be aware of the international date line;  they are on the other side of it so it is often “tomorrow” there.

In recent months, Japanese amateurs have been calling into the US by doing “repeater routing”  They will put a repeater callsign into the UR field preceded by a slash to look like this:

UR: /K6MDD B
R1: JP1YJX A
R2: JP1YJX G
MY: JI1BQW

If you are listening on some other repeater, such as W6CO  B we are probably all hearing K6MDD via a reflector.  All stations listening to the reflector on any repeater will hear the same thing.

A very important part of the JA’s transmission will be in the 20 character message that scrolls across your display.  Most US hams just put something simple in there like, John in Napa but the Japanese ham will put in something like this: “Please set your to /JP1YJXA”.  He will also ask you to do that during his call.  You may hear something like this:  “CQ Dstar Calling CQ from Northern Japan. Please set your reply to JP1YJX A. This is JI1BQW over.”

For more details see this link http://www.ji1bqw.com/how_to_call_japan_on_d-star_e.html

He will then stand by for several minutes to give you time to set your radio.  If you have the Japanese repeaters already set in your memory buffers this will only take a second.  Just dial in the new UR, select /JP1YJXA and reply to the calling station.  Speak slowly and distinctly and announce the repeater callsign and module you are calling through.  The Japanese ham will not need to change anything on his end because he knows, since you are calling him, that you are able to hear him.

Note: There are no 2-meter Dstar repeaters in Japan.  Their A-modules are all mostly 450 mHz and the B-modules are mostly 1.2 gHz.  I say “mostly” because the convention there is which ever module is first to be placed is A and the next module is B regardless of the band.  Usually though, it’s A=450 mHz and B=1.2 gHz. Having said that though, it does not matter to us unless we plan to visit Japan and operated from there.

Here is a partial list of the current Dstar repeaters in Japan.  If you input these callsigns, preceded by a slash, to your UR memory, you will be able to dial them up in seconds.

Callsign Location
/JP0YDPA Nagano
/JP1YEMA Kisarazu
/JP1YIQA Yokohama
/JP1YIUA Tokyo
/JP1YIWA Tokyo (west city)
/JP1YJOA Tokyo (Komae)
/JP1YJPA Maebashi
JP1YJQA Chiba
JP1YJRA Nagarayama
/JP2YGIA Nagoya
JP2YGKA Kasugai (City Hall)
/JP3YHHA Osaka
/JP3YHJA Osaka
/JP3YHLA Nara
/JP3YHCA Kyoto
/JP3VK A Hyogo
/JP4YDUA Hiroshima
/JP4YCOA Ehime
/JP5YCNA Kagawa
/JP5YCPA Kochi
/JP6YHLA Fukuoka
/JP6YHNA Kumamoto
/JP7YELA Myagi
/JP7YEMA Myagi
/JP8YDZA Hokkaido
/JP8YEAA Hokkaido
/JP9YEGA Ishikawa

These are only the earliest repeaters on line with Dstar.  An internet search will find you many many more.

Icom D-Star  DR Mode

January, 2010

Icom has superceded two of it’s popular Dstar radios.  The IC91AD handheld transceiver and the ID800 have been replaced by the IC80AD and the ID880H respectively.  While not a generational advance, these two radios incorporate a couple of important features that make them stand out.

The first advance is the programming software.  For the first time, Icom is providing the software free of charge.  The same software is used on both radios and for people familiar with the earlier versions, works very much the same.

The second feature, also an advance in programming is related to the something Icom calls the DR mode.  The manual is not much help in explaining this mode because of the differences between the way we use Dstar and the way it is used in Japan.  The folks at K6MDD, primarily Tim, K6BIV and Larry, WW6USA have pretty much led the way in the use of this mode.

What is DR mode and why should I use it?

If you use your radio in a fixed location such as a home station and only have one or two repeaters available to you, then the DR mode offers little advantage.  But if you travel out of your home area where other repeaters are likely to be encountered, then DR mode offers a huge advantage in the programming and in the operation of the radio.

Here’s why:

When D-Star was new, before Dplus, we programmed everything into our radios.  There were not many repeaters and we had lots of memory slots.  It was fairly easy to program the entire country into our radios even though we were not likely to ever travel that much.  But as more and more repeaters came on-line, the process became laborious and it was easy to fall behind.  Then Dplus came along and the programming efforts required grew exponentially because of the extra features.  Most radios ran out of memory slots.  Here is an example of the programming for just two repeaters, using D-Star G2, and Dplus:

The original way, before Dplus: (not all fields shown)

CH Frequency Dup Your Rpt-1 Rpt-2
0 444.1375 +DUP CQCQCQ K6MDD  B K6MDD  G
1 146.5800 +DUP CQCQCQ K6MDD  C K6MDD  G
2 440.6000 +DUP CQCQCQ W6DHS  B W6DHS  G
3 144.9600 -DUP CQCQCQ W6DHS  C W6DHS  G

The same two repeaters after Dplus:

CH Frequency Dup Your Rpt-1 Rpt-2
0 444.1375 +DUP CQCQCQ K6MDD  B K6MDD  G
1 444.1375 +DUP K6MDD  I K6MDD  B K6MDD  G
2 444.1375 +DUP K6MDD  E K6MDD  B K6MDD  G
3 444.1375 +DUP K6MDD  U K6MDD  B K6MDD  G
4 146.5800 +DUP CQCQCQ K6MDD  C K6MDD  G
5 146.5800 +DUP K6MDD  I K6MDD  C K6MDD  G
6 146.5800 +DUP K6MDD  E K6MDD  C K6MDD  G
7 146.5800 +DUP K6MDD  U K6MDD  C K6MDD  G
8 440.6000 +DUP CQCQCQ W6DHS  B W6DHS  G
9 440.6000 +DUP W6DHS  I W6DHS  B W6DHS  G
10 440.6000 +DUP W6DHS  E W6DHS  B W6DHS  G
11 440.6000 +DUP W6DHS  U W6DHS  B W6DHS  G
12 144.9600 -DUP CQCQCQ W6DHS  C W6DHS  G
13 144.9600 -DUP W6DHS  I W6DHS  C W6DHS  G
14 144.9600 -DUP W6DHS  E W6DHS  C W6DHS  G
15 144.9600 -DUP W6DHS  U W6DHS  C W6DHS  G

As you can see, Dplus changed only the “Your” field but because each line was a record, any change to any field changed the entire line.

DR Mode has returned  sanity to programming your radio.  We now have a 300 memory slots called “Repeater List”.  In this group of memories we can enter the repeater information in a briefer format (some features such as digital squelch not available) and the “Your” field can now be separated from the line and replaced by any UR call in the GRP UR memory.  The GRP UR memories are found in the programming software under “call sign” and contain 60 fields for all those Dplus functions.  In the DR mode, the user simply enters the repeater info such as frequency, offset, repeater callsign, repeater name, and checks “use as R1″.  Once DR Mode is enabled, by a single click of the <DR> button, the user selects GRP UR and selects the Dplus function required.  If anything other than CQCQCQ is selected, the R2 slot will be populated with the repeater callsign plus G for gateway.  If CQCQCQ is selected, the radio assumes you want to talk only on the local repeater and the R2 (gateway slot) is cleared.  The final step is to add a UR other than CQCQCQ and when you select that as your URcall, the R2 (gateway) slot remains populated.  Some ops are using DR CQ  or DR CQ CQ as a UR, but in reality almost anything works.  I have tried <VOICE>  <YAKYAK> and <RAGCHEW> with success.  In the end it does not really matter since the only person other than you who will ever see it is the system admin and he doesn’t care what you use.

The Dplus functions are also simplified by adding the needed control URs.  Unlinking can be accomplished by having a single <U> in the 8th position but it helps identify it to the operator by entering it as < UNLINK U >  just be sure the U is in the 8th position.

I tried simplifying the other functions in a similar manner but could not get them to work.  Examples:

< ECHO   E > should have produced the Dplus talkback feature but it did not.  Apparently you need the repeater’s callsign in the field also.

< QUERY  I >  should have produced Robin’s voice telling us “Remote System Linked” but that did not work either.  By returning it to < W6CO   I > it worked as it should have.

In any case, once in DR mode you can jump from UR to UR very easily by just spinning the tuning knob.  Very nice when mobile!

It still makes sense to use the original programming method if you just use a few repeaters but for operators that move around, DR mode simplifies things immensely.

We’ll undoubtedly have updates to this page as the users discover other tricks with the 80 and 880 radios and as Icom brings out new Dstar models it is likely that they too will incorporated the DR mode.

Programming the IC-2820 Mobile

Jun 23

Posted by mikelee in D-Star Radio Programming | No Comments

With all good intentions, I was planning on writing about the Icom 2820, so I did some research on whether other materials were available. To my surprise, there is an EXCELLENT article already, so I will just make reference to it here..

This is from John Martins, KF8KK in Michigan. He has a lot of information on the 2820, the 880 and the 2200..  woohoo..!!

===============

The Icom IC-2820 is right up there with the Kenwood TMD700A as being a swell radio to have.

Many hams cannot seem to understand why some of us will swoon over dualband transceivers that cost hundreds more than simpler models, and insist on being able to listen on more than one frequency at a particular time (often with two conversations blaring from the speakers at the same time).
For those of us die hards who enjoy quality and convenience the ‘top grade’ radio gear is not a matter of wasted money, but of getting what you pay for. When one considers what transceivers cost back in the 1970′s, even at near $900, the DStar equipped 2820 is a good value for what you get.

I’ve had my IC-2820 for over a year now and I’m very pleased. I use it on analog and DStar voice. I also enjoy the diversity reception mode– which is helpful when I’m amongst trees and hills. I have not made use of the GPS for anything, nor have I used the slow-speed-data modes. I have had the occasion to set the unit up for crossband repeat, which functions fine– but it only works in Analog (no, you cannot use it to gateway from analog to digital!).

If I had any complaint it would be that the display could be brighter and with more contrast. I’ve been spoiled by the EXCELLENT display on the ID800– which is the best LCD display I’ve ever seen. Sadly, the Icom microphones can develop an insensitive PTT button that requires a heavy push. The audio from the mic is also highly shaped and while the speech is highly intelligible, it’s very definitely NOT ‘hi-fi’.

Here’s a shot of my IC-2820 pretty much right out of the box.

Icom supplies both a long and a short cable for connecting the control head to the transceiver.

The microphone connects to the transceiver body. Just a small modular cable connects to the head. You can extend the microphone line with an ethernet CAT5 cable and coupler– I’ve used CAT5 cables on this and IC-207′s for years with good results.

This photo shows how the control head looks when it is stuck to the front of the transceiver body.

As you can see, the ‘head’ is taller than the ‘body’ which looks a bit odd, but trust me– you WILL learn to get used to that if you use it in this mode.

ic-2820 rearview

You can see the two strong magnets that are on the back of the control head in this shot. These magnets can make a mobile installation much more convenient– especially if you have a classic car with a metal dash!

If your vehicle doesn’t have a metal dash you can glue a piece of metal in place and the head will adhere nicely to that. There are funny little indentations on the front of the transceiver body that accept these magnets for those who want the control head and radio attached to each other directly.

To make the IC-2820 operate DStar you need the UT-123 optional module.

Here is the module and it’s supplied GPS antenna.

The front/top of the UT-123 is shown here.

On the upper left you can see the AMBE codec chip that is the piece that digitizes and un-digitizes the audio.

The bottom of the UT-123 has a single connector that snaps into the chassis of the IC-2820.

Here’s the RF connector that attaches the GPS antenna to the transceiver.

Please note that the GPS antenna socket is in the middle-front of the transceiver body and is NOT designed to be used with the control head affixed to the transceiver body. If you wish to run the GPS (for DPRS or whatnot) you will have to use the control head in a ‘remote’ location from the transceiver.

Now that you have DStar you will have to familiarize yourself with some interesting menu settings to make it work.

Sorry, but the DStar mode will NOT work ‘out of the box’ without your having to set things up on your radio. This is plug-n-fiddleWithIt…

You first need to get to the menu mode by hitting the ‘F’ button on the right and then the far right bottom button ‘MENU’ will take you to the top level setup menu. Scroll up and down with the right hand frequency knob.

Select the ‘CALL SIGN MEMORY’ and hit the right side frequency selection knob/button. From there you can see the three main categories of callsign configurations. For most of us you can LEAVE THE YOUR CALL SIGN memory set to the default (which should be CQCQCQ — double check this on your radio!).

Scroll down using the frequency knob and select the ‘MY CALL SIGN MEMORY’ mode and hit the right side frequency button.

You now can enter your callsign.

Note the prompts at the bottom of the screen. The arrows allow you to move the cursor forward and back, CLR clears the display, ABC is for selecting letters and 12/ is for selecting numbers or symbols.

Dstar allows you to add some funky suffixes to your call if you wish. In my case, my IC-2820 is normally used in my trusty ’79 GMC van— and I have a ‘/VAN’ appended to my callsign to denote this. This is separate from a text field that you can also append to your transmissions if desired.

While the variance in the display color in this photo has everything to do with my camera (or possibly an errant mouse click in Photoshop) rest assured the IC-2820 can indeed produce a display of that color! While it cannot do as many colors as an FT-857, it does allow you some choices. I’m old fashioned and prefer standard amber.

If you’re planning to operate through a repeater you should program in a ‘RPT CALL SIGN MEMORY’ for the repeater.

While the DStar IC-2820 can ‘automatically’ set itself up to operate through a local repeater, be advised that you will have to kerchunk the repeater a few times whenever you turn the rig onto that channel in order that the repeater and your 2820 ‘handshake’ the parameters. I would highly advise that you program in your local repeaters in the RPT CALL SIGN MEMORY so that your first couple of calls on the repeater don’t end up in the bit bucket. Remember that old saying ‘if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around…’ Well, the corollary is ‘if a DStar user didn’t program the repeater memory and makes a call…’

Programming a repeater memory isn’t hard, but you MUST remember that it is customary to have a letter in the 8th character position to denote the frequency band of the repeater. All two meter repeaters use a ‘C’, 70cm repeaters use a ‘B’, and if you’re running 1.2ghz you get to put an ‘A’ in that 8th position.

If you cannot understand what I mean by ’8th character position’ then PLEASE, PLEASE!, stay on analog and forget about DStar!!! Perhaps a less technology intense pastime would be better for you (longer life, less frustrations, etc).

When you’re done setting up your callsigns you can find this dandy little menu somewhere in the menu tree that will display what you have setup.

There is a position for ‘RPT2′ and that is used for those who will be linking via a gateway to either another regional repeater or via the internet.

Back at the main menu you have more selections to choose from and setup. You will want to select the DV SET MODE and hit the right side frequency button to advance to the next set of menus.

From the DV Set Mode menu you can enable the radio to operate through that repeater you just added to memory.

At this point you should be able to key up your transmitter and emit a DStar transmission.

As you can see in the upper left of the display, the DV indicates you are in DStar mode on that side of the transceiver (the FM on the right is for analog).

The photo shows my transmission and it is calling for another station (the ‘your’) of callsign CQCQCQ which is the default CQ for DStar.

When I unkeyed from the above transmission the repeater almost immediately dropped it’s carrier and then about two seconds (ok, perhaps it’s three) the repeater keyed up again and transmitted an acknowledgement back to my radio which caused the ‘YOUR?:WI0OK C/’ response. This signifies that my transmission was indeed relayed by the repeater and gives it’s callsign. If I do NOT get this acknowledgement then I know that my transmission was not relayed by the repeater and something is wrong.

D-Star Training in Palm Coast last Saturday

Jun 21

Posted by mikelee in D-Star Radio Programming, D-Star Users | No Comments

A brief training class at the Flagler Public Library last Saturday, 19-June-2010. About 10 people in attendance. We didn’t spend much time actually programming radios, but talking about D-Star technology and how to use the system. Dove into the particulars of the NEFL-Dstar system construction and plans.

Next time, we’ll do a workshop concentrated on programming.

We will distribute programming files (or have links to where you can download) on this blog. Stay tuned for sometime mid-this-week.

ID-880H Dual Band D-STAR READY TRANCEIVER

Jun 9

Posted by N4FPS in D-Star Radio Programming | No Comments

 

ID-880H Dual Band D-STAR Radio

The purpose of this article is to give a general overview of the ID-880H and to provide a little insight into information that is available to assist you with programming this radio.  It would take way too much space in a blog article to give detailed instructions on how to program each section of the radio.  So the next best thing is to inform you of resources that are already available to help you with the process.  

 The ICOM ID-880H is a fully functional 2 meter and 70 cm mobile Transceiver capable of 50 watts output. This radio will do FM analog, Digital Voice and Slow Speed Digital Data Modes out of the box with no add-on boards.  The radio will also receive WFM and AM. The 880 is also fully capable of sending and receiving DPRS using a 3rd party GPS Receiver. The ID-880H has a detachable, magnetic head for those who want to remotely install the radio.

ID-880H Controls

MEMORY CHANNELS

*The Id-880H has 1000 Regular memory Channels and two Call Channels.
*In addition there are 25 pairs of Scan Edge Memories.
*The radio also has 26 Memory Banks, A-Z. You can group up to 100 Memory channels in each of the 26 Memory Banks.
*That’s allot of memory and the various Memory Banks allow you to theme your groups for specific use or need.
*The ID-880H also allows you to store up to 60 UR calls for easy access to link to your favorite Repeaters and Reflectors without
 having to manually punch them in each time.

 PROGRAMMING RESOURCES

Ok so where are these resources that can help me program all this stuff in and tell me which buttons to push and knobs to twist? The first thing to do with your new ID-880H manual is to skim over the parts that tell you where to hook in the coax and what each of the buttons are for. Then carefully place the manual back in its plastic cover and store it away in the box, so that it stays new and fresh for that day when you decide to sell the radio.  You can brag about having the original manual, box and non-smoking environment things to get a better price for the rig.  You can see that I don’t particularly put much faith in the manual as a true users guide to operating the radio.

 The next step is to purchase a “Nifty Mini-Manual for the ID-880H.  This and hoards of other manuals by Nifty are available at http://www.niftyaccessories.com. The Nifty Mini-Manual will carefully and methodically walk you through each and every menu and programming aspect of the radio. The Manual is an 8.5×5.5 inch, 23 page manual professionally bound on water proof cardstock paper.  The manual is a life saver and makes programming as simple as 1, 2, 3. I have to say that I did not find it possible to get intimately comfortable with programming the ID-880H until I purchased the Nifty Manual and went step by step through the process.

 Having said that about the Nifty Manual, I want to put in a plug for programming software. If you are entering multiple frequencies and memory channels you will want to set yourself up with programming software and the proper cable.  I recommend the RT Systems software which can be found at http://www.rtsystemsinc.com/index.cfm. RT systems has the software and programming cable for all D-STAR radios and most others as well.  Some folks are also having great success with the free ICOM software which is available from the ICOM website for the ID-880H.  You will still need to purchase the programming cable from ICOM or build one yourself.  I have used both the ICOM and RT Systems Software and find that the RT Systems Software is much better and extremely user friendly.