|
Dear Drats list friends,
I am curious about how to practice Drats over an RF link, I live in Atlanta and we have two very active DStar repeaters, W4DOC and WX4GPB.? Is there a specific reflector or repeater where I can find drats users to casually chat or nets to check in? I could link my local repeaters and practice some there.
Thank you,
KK4ODA
Sent from
|
You could set up your own Ratflector. After that you connect your DTAR radio to your ratflector via USB/Serial cable. That is what I do for our local ARES. BUT I only connect the RF link to our DSTAR repeater for drills, practice and emergencies. Other than that the DRATS Ratflector is IP only, no RF.
I wouldn't link DRATS data over over a DSTAR repeater without specific permission. It's not voice and people may get angry if like you said, these repeaters are active.
Instead if there are nets on the machines, contact the club conducting the nets and see if they would like to do a DRATS type of net after the voice net.
Keith kc2oon
|
Hi Keith,
I would like to add my two cents since I am new to this ham radio as hobby and to D-Star. I own my radio for about 3 weeks and the problem with D-Star is that you can not really use it.? You can not link really anything to your local repeater it will always upset someone, does not matter if this is Drats or a reflector. I have heard 2 people on D-Star last week and I am guessing that nobody is using this system from the fear of upsetting someone. At this point I use my ID 31A for FM only, since all the action is there.?
I have started to investigate APRS and it looks much more promising. There seems to be a dedicated frequency for APRS digipeaters. I have dialed my scanner to this frequency and I can hear data bursts coming here and there. Since I only own ID 31A which does not do 2m I can not test it.
What I do not get at all is the idea of setting up DVAP and using radio like a cordless phone around the house. Topic for a different story :-)?Again, I am new to this and I may be missing something, but my first impression is that the system does not work.?
Thank you!
Tom
From: "kc2oon@... [d-rats_group]"
To: d-rats_group@...
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 6:57 AM
Subject: [d-rats_group] Re: Simple drats question
?
You could set up your own Ratflector. After that you connect your DTAR radio to your ratflector via USB/Serial cable. That is what I do for our local ARES. BUT I only connect the RF link to our DSTAR repeater for drills, practice and emergencies. Other than that the DRATS Ratflector is IP only, no RF.
I wouldn't link DRATS data over over a DSTAR repeater without specific permission. It's not voice and people may get angry if like you said, these repeaters are active.
Instead if there are nets on the machines, contact the club conducting the nets and see if they would like to do a DRATS type of net after the voice net.
Keith kc2oon
|
We have a Georgia Ratflector, gaares.ratflector.com, that can be accessed via Internet. ?We also dedicated REF030D for data (D-RATS) traffic. ?We normally have
the WD4STR C repeater in Lawrenceville dedicated for D-RATS traffic, but it is being relocated this week.? You may want to try Internet access before linking a repeater, but in all cases, it’s good to announce you intentions to relink a repeater somewhere
else as a courtesy.
?
During the SE D-STAR Weather Net on Sunday evenings at 9:00pm, we also have a D-RATS net running on the sewx.ratflector.com Ratflector.
?
John WB4QDX
?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: d-rats_group@... [mailto:d-rats_group@...]
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 6:44 AM
To: d-rats_group@...
Subject: [d-rats_group] Simple drats question
?
?
Dear Drats list friends,
I am curious about how to practice Drats over an RF link, I live in Atlanta and we have two very active DStar repeaters, W4DOC and WX4GPB.? Is there a specific reflector or repeater where I can find drats users to casually chat or nets to check in? I could
link my local repeaters and practice some there.
Thank you,
KK4ODA
Sent from
|
Well lets go through that.
Nobody is stopping you from using your local DSTAR repeater as long as you are using digital voice.? As far as linking, some people get upset, some don't. If there isn't much action on a repeater I wouldn't think linking would be an issue.
APRS. I LOVE APRS. And you actually CAN test it. Here's how. Download a program called Dire Wolf for APRS. You can simply place your computers microphone in front of your scanner speaker and Dire Wolf will decode the signals and display them on your PC.
Want to get fancier? Download APRSISCE/32. It's free as well. Load that up and follow Dire Wolf instructions on how to use Dire Wolf with APRSISCE. Now the data Dire Wolf hears will be displayed on a MAP ON YOUR PC. VERY cool. ALL FREE!
All instructions are withing the software and on youtube even.?
Keith kc2oon
|
Tom:
Where do you live?? In my home area and just about every place I travel, people don’t mind unlinking a repeater and relinking it somewhere else for a QSO.? As
a courtesy, it’s always good to announce your intentions to relink in case someone is monitoring for a specific station.? D-RATS can be a different issue.? Since voice stations can’t tell that you are running data (they just hear the repeater key up with no
audio), you may want to look for D-RATS nets for a time to relink.
?
John WB4QDX
?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: d-rats_group@... [mailto:d-rats_group@...]
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 11:35 AM
To: d-rats_group@...
Subject: Re: [d-rats_group] Re: Simple drats question
?
?
I would like to add my two cents since I am new to this ham radio as hobby and to D-Star. I own my radio for about 3 weeks and the problem
with D-Star is that you can not really use it.?
You can not link really anything to your local repeater it will always upset someone, does not matter if this is Drats or a reflector.
I have heard 2 people on D-Star last week and I am guessing that nobody is using this system from the fear of upsetting someone. At this point I use my ID 31A for FM only, since all the action is there.?
I have started to investigate APRS and it looks much more promising. There seems to be a dedicated frequency for APRS digipeaters. I have
dialed my scanner to this frequency and I can hear data bursts coming here and there. Since I only own ID 31A which does not do 2m I can not test it.
What I do not get at all is the idea of setting up DVAP and using radio like a cordless phone around the house. Topic for a different
story :-)?Again, I am new to this and I may be missing something, but my first impression is that the system does not work.?
?
?
?
You could set up your own Ratflector. After that you connect your DTAR radio to your ratflector via USB/Serial cable. That is what I do for our local
ARES. BUT I only connect the RF link to our DSTAR repeater for drills, practice and emergencies. Other than that the DRATS Ratflector is IP only, no RF.
I wouldn't link DRATS data over over a DSTAR repeater without specific permission. It's not voice and people may get angry if like you said, these repeaters
are active.
Instead if there are nets on the machines, contact the club conducting the nets and see if they would like to do a DRATS type of net after the voice net.
?
|
I am still learning this stuff, but as I understand it, you can QSO with a ham on a different D-Star repeater with out linking the repeaters. It is a matter of setting a route in your and possibly in the other ham's radio.
D-rats should be able to be used in the same fashion.
Of course there is the issue of pre-configuring the routes on every radio it is needed on, if the routes are needed on both radios.
It looks like if you use a GMSK modem and a custom d-rats program, it can use the same method to route through a different repeater, but dynamically.
It is something that I want to look into more once I get employed again.
-John
wb8tyw@...
--
Looking for Software Engineering work, either remote or in an affordable southern city.
|
Hi John,
I live in Mississauga and I work in TO. There are at least 3 repeaters in the area that I know about and I do not hear anybody on them. Except for the Tuesday Net at 8PM on YZZ,?
I could not even test the radio for the longest time because there was nobody to talk to.?
This is why I am looking at APRS since it seems to have its own dedicated frequency 144.390MHz. D-Star does have something like this.
Like I said I am new to this and I may be very wrong about many things.?
Thank your for your reply.
Tom
P.S. It would be great to have some dedicated frequency (and digipeaters) on UHF so if I want to run something like APRS I can.
From: "John Davis wb4qdx@... [d-rats_group]"
To: "d-rats_group@..."
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 11:52 AM
Subject: RE: [d-rats_group] Re: Simple drats question
?
Tom:
Where do you live?? In my home area and just about every place I travel, people don’t mind unlinking a repeater and relinking it somewhere else for a QSO.? As
a courtesy, it’s always good to announce your intentions to relink in case someone is monitoring for a specific station.? D-RATS can be a different issue.? Since voice stations can’t tell that you are running data (they just hear the repeater key up with no
audio), you may want to look for D-RATS nets for a time to relink.
?
John WB4QDX
?
From: d-rats_group@... [mailto:d-rats_group@...]
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 11:35 AM
To: d-rats_group@...
Subject: Re: [d-rats_group] Re: Simple drats question
?
?
I would like to add my two cents since I am new to this ham radio as hobby and to D-Star. I own my radio for about 3 weeks and the problem
with D-Star is that you can not really use it.?
You can not link really anything to your local repeater it will always upset someone, does not matter if this is Drats or a reflector.
I have heard 2 people on D-Star last week and I am guessing that nobody is using this system from the fear of upsetting someone. At this point I use my ID 31A for FM only, since all the action is there.?
I have started to investigate APRS and it looks much more promising. There seems to be a dedicated frequency for APRS digipeaters. I have
dialed my scanner to this frequency and I can hear data bursts coming here and there. Since I only own ID 31A which does not do 2m I can not test it.
What I do not get at all is the idea of setting up DVAP and using radio like a cordless phone around the house. Topic for a different
story :-)?Again, I am new to this and I may be missing something, but my first impression is that the system does not work.?
?
?
?
You could set up your own Ratflector. After that you connect your DTAR radio to your ratflector via USB/Serial cable. That is what I do for our local
ARES. BUT I only connect the RF link to our DSTAR repeater for drills, practice and emergencies. Other than that the DRATS Ratflector is IP only, no RF.
I wouldn't link DRATS data over over a DSTAR repeater without specific permission. It's not voice and people may get angry if like you said, these repeaters
are active.
Instead if there are nets on the machines, contact the club conducting the nets and see if they would like to do a DRATS type of net after the voice net.
?
|
Hi Keith,
I am thinking about APRSdroid and baofeng radio. I have seen people on Youtube using it with great success. This setup should not be crazy expensive and very mobile.?
In the meantime I will try the Dire Wolf software. Perhaps even tonight since I am more and more interested in this technology.
Thank you for your response.
Tom
From: "kc2oon@... [d-rats_group]"
To: d-rats_group@...
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 11:51 AM
Subject: Re: [d-rats_group] Re: Simple drats question
?
Well lets go through that.
Nobody is stopping you from using your local DSTAR repeater as long as you are using digital voice.? As far as linking, some people get upset, some don't. If there isn't much action on a repeater I wouldn't think linking would be an issue.
APRS. I LOVE APRS. And you actually CAN test it. Here's how. Download a program called Dire Wolf for APRS. You can simply place your computers microphone in front of your scanner speaker and Dire Wolf will decode the signals and display them on your PC.
Want to get fancier? Download APRSISCE/32. It's free as well. Load that up and follow Dire Wolf instructions on how to use Dire Wolf with APRSISCE. Now the data Dire Wolf hears will be displayed on a MAP ON YOUR PC. VERY cool. ALL FREE!
All instructions are withing the software and on youtube even.?
Keith kc2oon
|
For under $45 you can have the whole deal. I run this setup with a laptop. It actually works quite well.
| | | | | | I hade to make the Baofeng radio to TNC /Sound Card cable because the Baofeng is designed to key up the radio when the Grounds of the Speaker and microphon... | | | | Preview by Yahoo | | | ?
Keith kc2oon
|
Hi Keith,
Thank you for the tip with the APRS software. I got it working instantly! Most of the packets are too distorted to be decoded by the Dire Wolf by within about 10 min I got information on Jeep going up Hurontario Street. Awesome!?
Indeed I can "send" packets as well - I hear them in the headset. This is soo cool!
Thanks again!
Tom
From: "kc2oon@... [d-rats_group]"
To: d-rats_group@...
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 2:34 PM
Subject: Re: [d-rats_group] Re: Simple drats question
?
For under $45 you can have the whole deal. I run this setup with a laptop. It actually works quite well.
| | | | | | I hade to make the Baofeng radio to TNC /Sound Card cable because the Baofeng is designed to key up the radio when the Grounds of the Speaker and microphon... | | | | Preview by Yahoo | | |
?
Keith kc2oon
|
If the packets are distorted, make sure the volume on your scanner is adjusted low enough so that the "audio level" in the Dire Wolf display next to the station isn't above 70 or so. 50 is the best actually.? It will say: station name audio level = 50 (**/**). Where ** will be digits, 50 being the audio level.
If you need help with the Dire Wolf config file to get APRSISCE/32 working, just let me know.
Keith kc2oon
|
Thank you again. There is no problem with volume settings. The stations are simply too far to be received on small antenna. I have iCom R6 scanner with an upgraded antenna but it is still a handheld device.?
Needless to say I got a few good packets and I was able to see them logged in Dire Wolf. At the same time an icon showing a car has been displayed on APRSICE. ( I had to disable Internet connector as this application sucks in tons of information of the internet)
The whole thing was trivial to setup. I did not know this kind of software existed.?
It is really cool. I need to get Baofeng radio so I can transmit on 2m. This way I should be able to send/receive messages without D-Star/D-Rats limitations.
Regards,
Tom
From: "kc2oon@... [d-rats_group]"
To: d-rats_group@...
Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 6:23 AM
Subject: Re: [d-rats_group] Re: Simple drats question
?
If the packets are distorted, make sure the volume on your scanner is adjusted low enough so that the "audio level" in the Dire Wolf display next to the station isn't above 70 or so. 50 is the best actually.? It will say: station name audio level = 50 (**/**). Where ** will be digits, 50 being the audio level.
If you need help with the Dire Wolf config file to get APRSISCE/32 working, just let me know.
Keith kc2oon
|
Keith, ASEC SNJ Section.