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Folks: Thanks for all the information about D-Star ID-1 / DD / 1240-1300 MHz repeaters and other infrastructure, especially the more detailed responses I received off-list. I appreciate the degree of detail you furnished, but that was a bit beyond my needs for the article I'm working on. In my query, I only wanted to demonstrate that there are still pockets of ID-1 usage in the US, to justify the POSSIBILITY (at this moment, only a wild fantasy of mine) that there could be some project started to create an equivalent of an ID-1 as an open source project and not wait for Icom. Here's the article that will appear in the 2021-09-10 issue of my newsletter Zero Retries (Zero Retries 0009). If you'd like to subscribe and follow along with this fantasy, you can subscribe (it's free) at . Thanks again for the help! Steve Stroh N8GNJ Create an Equivalent of the Icom ID-1 Radio Using 2021 Technology ?was developed in the early 2000s. The ID-1 included Icom’s D-Star Digital Data (DD) mode - data rate of 128 kbps using a 100 kHz channel on the 1240-1300 MHz band. The ID-1 had a transmit power output of 10 watts. Icom also offered a “DD mode” repeater module (also required a D-Star Repeater Controller), but in truth, it wasn’t really a repeater, but was more of a digipeater (didn’t transmit and receive full duplex).?It was a reasonable effort for the time, and the capability of Icom at the time. The ID-1 was hobbled by poor networking implementation, and very high price. Although Icom has recently discontinued the ID-1, the DD mode was continued in the??radio. There are occasional hints and rumors that Icom will release a new ID-1 / DD / 1240 - 1300 MHz repeater module. The D-Star DD mode - ID-1 user radios and ID-1 repeaters on 1240 - 1300 MHz, are still in use in a number of areas. I put out a query to the?开云体育 D-STAR23cm mailing list?and was told that there are active D-Star DD repeaters in these areas:
(See the list for details on these systems.) The networking capability of the ID-1 and the ID-1 repeater was… less than optimum, even for the early 2000s. That’s perhaps understandable given that Icom is a radio company, not a networking company. We can do much better in 2021, even embedding something as “simple” as a $35 Raspberry Pi 3 (or?). The Vancouver, BC D-Star DD users implemented some?. In researching this, I was reminded by several correspondents that the D-Star specification is open… albeit mostly written in Japanese. That’s not the same as “closed” or “proprietary to Icom”. It just means that the details of implementation are a bit harder to discern than in a specification that was developed in English. If this effort were to get some momentum, there are many Japanese Amateur Radio Operators that are, if not fluent in English, at least conversant in English. I’ve met a number of them at Digital Communications Conferences and have had delightful conversations with them. One source of contact is the?. Using 2021 technology, it seems reasonable that an open source equivalent of the ID-1 / DD mode on 1240-1300 MHz could be developed. One primary cost reduction that could be made would be to not include a voice subsystem (no codec, no microphone, no speaker) or a front panel unit. With ample compute power, perhaps faster data speeds could be achieved (similar to New Packet Radio, which uses the same 100 kHz channel size to achieve 500 kbps) and incorporate forward error correction… and of course, much better networking. Steve Stroh stevestroh@... Editor Zero Retries Newsletter - |
