NARRI - D-Star

NARRI - D STAR INFORMATION PAGE

The name D-Star stands for “Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio the JARL standard for Digital Voice and Digital Data on VHF/UHF/Above. N7ARR is the primary NARRI club call sign. A second NARRI club call sign is N7NDS. It will be used on an addition NARRI Gateway for which D-Star repeaters will be added.

Shown here is the NARRI D-Star Gateway in Las Vegas with its D-Star repeaters associated with the N7ARR D-Star Gateway. From top to bottom: the Gateway computer, the controller, UHF Angle linear preamp/filter package, and the UHF duplexer.

UHF repeater (Module B) on 446.800 (-) 5.000 MHz; the repeater is equipped with an Angle Linear 18 dB Pre-amp package with two band-pass filters . A single band pass filter is provided for the transmitter.

VHF (Module C) on 145.175 (-) 0.600 MHz,

1.2 GHz DV (Module A) on 1,293.9 MHz (-) 22 and DD on 1,251.0 MHz.

See who is directly connected to the N7ARR Gateway and where the repeaters are connected to by viewing the N7ARR Gateway Dash Board https://n7arr.dstargateway.org/

The above repeaters can connect to D-Star system Gateways and Reflectors using the DPlus linking software on the N7ARR Gateway

The National Simplex Calling Frequency is 145.670 for D-Star

The NARRI D-Star Gateway repeaters have a 45 mile plus range in the Greater Las Vegas area coverage into the sleeping rooms of most "Las Vegas Strip" hotels. It is very popular with visitors

NARRI also operates the Western D-Star Reflector REF014 with five conference channels. Several Nets are held on REF014: the ARRL Pacific Division Western D-Star Reflector 14 Net on Thursday at 1830 Pacific time on REF014B. The Yahoo Group is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Western_D-Star_Reflector_14. Also the famous Sunday Morning Get-Together is held on REF014A at 0730 Pacific time which is open to all. Several other

Go to https://n7arr.dstargateway.org/Dstar.do to register and obtain a ‘license” for use of the N7ARR Gateway. Let Kent W7AOR know by e-mail w7aor@narri.org that you completed the first part registration and then log back in to complete the final step. Click here for assistance withregistration

RADIO SETUP TO USE N7ARR LAS VEGAS D-STAR REPEATERS

While in Las Vegas, setup your D-Star radio with the following, or substitute your local Gateway in place of N7ARR. Program in the information below under "menu/call sign", in your settings:

For NARRI UHF Repeater Operation

UR:CQCQCQ

Rpt1: N7ARR--B

Rpt2: N7ARR--G

MY: <W7AOR>

For NARRI VHF Repeater Operation

UR:CQCQCQ

Rpt1: N7ARR--C

Rpt2: N7ARR--G

MY: <W7AOR>

For NARRI 1.2 GHz Repeater Operation

UR:CQCQCQ

Rpt1: N7ARR--A

Rpt2: N7ARR--G

MY: <W7AOR>

Note: Use your own call sign in place of W7AOR. Each call sign location (Rpt1 and Rpt2) can hold up to eight characters. The 8th character (B and G in the above example ) is the “Switch” and is necessary for controlling the repeater. Spaces are required to position the switch character into the 8th character location UR is the destination.

See the NARRI system operations manual, that is provided to NARRI members, for programming details.

Link to a handy programmer that makes programming easy. DSTAR INFO RADIO PROGRAMMER

Link to a list of all D-Star repeaters sorted by state. LIST OF ALL D-STAR REPEATERS

For NARRI Western D-Star Reflector REF014

NARRI owns and operates D-Star reflector number as the Western D-Star Reflector REF014. It is a high bandwidth server with three Channels: A, Band C. D-Star Gateways and DV Dongles are free to connect any of the three channels. D-Star owners have asked to have a 1.2G technical net on REF014A. REF014B has Emcom priority and REF014C is a hangout for Northern California, Nevada and Oregon plus visiting gateways and dongles.

Click this link D-STAR REFLECTOR REF014 to see who is connected to REF014.

What is the connection status of the Repeater/Gateway?

The basic way to determine where a Repeater/Gateway is linked to is setup your radio to ask for connection information: Using the two meter module and the N7ARR Gateway as an example

UR::N7ARR--I (note the I for information in space 8)

Rpt1: N7ARR--C

Rpt2: N7ARR--G

MY: <W7AOR>

The instructions for linking, via N7ARR Gateway, to REF014 are provided below.

UR:REF014AL (connects to channel A, REF014A or make UR REF014CL for connecting to REF014C. After connecting, change UR to CQCQCQ .)

Rpt1: N7ARR--C

Rpt2: N7ARR--G

MY: <W7AOR>

Note: If a NARRI repeater is linked to REF014, do not connect directly to the N7ARR Gateway, connect to the appropriate REF014 channel (module) after seeing where the NARRI repeater connected.

Contact Kent W7AOR@narri.org for further instructions, as needed, for connecting to the REF014 or other D-Star questions.

ANALOG vs DIGITAL COVERAGE

Analoge means that the original information is retransmitted to the receiver/listener without any manipulation. The received information is analogous to the original information. Analog signals are continuous electrical signals that vary in time. Most of the time, the variations follow that of the non-electric (original) signal. Therefore, the two are analogous hence the name analog.

Digital means that the original recorded information is juggled to enable it to be preserved without any loss of quality. Digital signals are non-continuous, they change in individual steps. They consist of pulses or digits with discrete levels or values. The value of each pulse is constant, but there is an abrupt change from one digit to the next. Digital signals have two amplitude levels called nodes. The value of which are specified as one of two possibilities such as 1 or 0, HIGH or LOW, TRUE or FALSE and so on. In reality, the values are anywhere within specific ranges and we define values within a given range.

There are proponents for both digital and analogue. More repeaters are analogue at this time.

ICOM IMPLEMENTATION OF D-STAR

ICOM implemented the D-Star standard with the following equipment:

Digital Voice (with simultaneous low rate data) on 2 meters
Digital Voice (with simultaneous low rate data) on 70 centimeters
Digital Voice (with simultaneous low rate data) on 23 centimeters
Digital Data (128Kbps) on 23 centimeters
Point-to-Point Backbone (10 Mbps) on 10 GHz. band
Internet Gateways

INTEREACT WITH THE D-STAR SYSTEM USING A DVDONGLE or DVAP DONGLE

The DV Dongle connects to your PC or Apple Mac via a USB port and provides encoding and decoding of compressed audio using the DVSI AMBE2000 full duplex vocoder DSP chip. This allows uses to connect to Gateways and Reflectors onthe D Star System. This devise requires a PC or Mac with 2+GHz CPU and 512 MB RAM , two USB-2 full speed ports , a head set (Logitech preferred), and Broad Band internet. See DVDongle.com for more information.

The DV Access Point (DVAP) Dongle connects to your PC or Intel based Mac via a USB port and provides a 2 meter Access Point for use with a D-STAR radio. Using an Internet connection, a user may connect to and communicate with D-STAR gateways and reflectors around the world. You can down load the Linux software for the DVAP at:http://www.dvapdongle.com/downloads/DVAPTool-linux.tgzSeehttp://www.dvapdongle.comfor more information.