Greetings from the front range of Colorado! The W0CDS D-Star stack is located on Mt. Thorodin northwest of Denver at an elevation of 10,500 feet ASL. The 23cm coverage is quite good in the Denver area, so if you are ever in the area with an ID-1 then you should be able to get into the machine via DV with a whip antenna on the car. There are also many locations in Denver and the immediate suburbs where you can access the internet via the DD mode with just a whip antenna on the car, but that's while parked, of course, not moving.
Some basic observations noted:
- You must have a strong, solid signal between stations in order to make DD mode successful. That doesn't always mean line-of-sight is required. I have established DD mode connections between my car and my house at 10 miles without line-of-sight. I also can establish a DD mode connection between my house and the W0CDS stack at 50 miles without line-of-sight by using a 23 element Yagi at the house.
- Using D-RATS in the DV mode works very well. Since the data channel in DV mode does not provide error correction, again you must have a strong signal between stations in order to achieve a good bit error rate.
- The ID-1 has been a good rugged radio for me. It's an ideal radio for ARES communications due to the data capabilities and the more secure nature of being digital and being on 23cm.
Feel free to connect to port A on W0CDS and give a shout. I often monitor while commuting and at home. I'm always willing to help out with scheduled demos if you need to show your local officials what D-Star can do, or if you just want to try out D-RATS on your ID-1.
73 de Gary, WB5PJB
Castle Rock, CO
