More Goodies From Dan

Dan Smith, author of the D-Rats data communications program for D-Star radios, has released a new application for programming of iCom radios.  As with D-Rats, Dan is sharing his efforts with the community as an open source project and welcomes your input.  As an IC-2200 owner I applaud Dan for taking on the challenge of taming a very “computer unfriendly” design. D-Rats is now in version 0.2.x testing by the way

Dan’s post from the Yahoo D-Star Group follows.

Hi all,

I’ve been working on a tool that aims to accomplish the following goals:

- Program as many ICOM radio models as possible with a single app
- Be open-source
- Be cross-platform
- Support open data formats

The result is CHIRP (CHIRP Handles Icom Radio Programming) and is
reasonably functional at this point. It supports the following radios:

- IC-2820H
- IC-2200H
- ID-800H
- IC-91AD
- IC-92AD

Currently, it just imports/exports the memory contents to a CSV file,
with attributes like Name, Frequency, Tone, and Duplex. More will come
in the future, but I think this is a good start.

It’s very rough, and probably very buggy. I have reverse-engineered the
clone protocol and memory formats by just sniffing the wire, so I’m sure
there are plenty of errors at this point. However, if you’d like to
give it a try and report back, it would be much appreciated. If you
have the ICOM-supplied program for your radio, it wouldn’t hurt to make
a backup before you play.

It’s not much yet, but I feel confident that I can turn it into a
reasonable replacement for the jumble of commercial options available.
If you’re interested, check it out here:

http://chirp.danplanet.com

I’m posting this here because people have expressed a desire for this
functionality in this forum. If you know of other places that would be
appropriate for an announcement, please let me know.

Thanks!

–
Dan Smith
dsmith#danplanet.com, s/#/@/
www.danplanet.com
KK7DS

Sunday Morning Roundtable YVR/SFO

Gordon VE7FKY has created a web page with the D-Star programming info needed to take part in the weekly round-table net that uses the VA7ICM gateway to link with K6MDD in the San Fransisco area.  Net time is 0930 local time every Sunday morning and guidelines for check-in are on the site.

FCC Denies “Anti-Digital” PRM

Many of you responded to KAØWFI’s email and posting on this blog regarding a petition to the FCC that would effectively kill Pactor III and other digital modes on the HF bands.  The FCC read your responses and has denied the petitions.

An ARRL story says:

The FCC noted that it had received more than 650 comments and reply comments to this PRM, “most of which oppose the petition.”

Thank you all for giving your feedback to the FCC and squashing PRM-11392.

LinuxFest Northwest April 26 & 27

Bellingham Technical College  is once again hosting LINUXFEST NORTHWEST on Saturday and Sunday April 26 & 27.  Linux is the open-source operating system that is rapidly overtaking Micro$oft as the OS of choice on the new low cost “ultra portable” PCs like the ASUS EEE and the Everex Cloudbook.  Linux is also the host OS for the D-Star Gateway system and the D-Rats communications program, as well as many other Amateur Radio applications. This is a fantastic opportunity to attend some seminars and learn more about Linux and supporting software. Like Linux, the event and seminars are all FREE.  Check their website for a list of presenters. As of this writing the schedule has not been posted yet, so keep checking to get the time and room for presentations you wish to attend.  I have attended the last couple of LFNW and they are not to be missed.

-KNØN

Final Post About D-Rats

OK, This is it; The last post I make about D-Rats!*   I wrote a page to describe how YOU can  try out the D-Rats communications tool for D-Star even if you don’t own a D-Star radio, or any radio, or don’t even have a license. Dan’s REPEATER program does the magic.  I can’t keep up with all the updates anyway… now (0.1.11) he has it tracking GPS data and plotting Google Maps for Pete’s sake.

-KNØN

*this week

Area D-Star Frequencies

I have added a page on the menu bar (at the top of this page) called D-Star Freqs that gives a list of repeater and simplex D-Star frequencies that are in use in the NW Washington area.  Please forward any additions or corrections to kn0n@whatcomradio.org.  Thank you WA7ZWG for contributing to this list.

iCOM G2 Gateway Software Released

iCOM has begun shipping their G2 Gateway software for the D-Star repeater systems.  More information can be found on the iCOM forums.

Overview of upgrade implementation by Texas group: http://www.icomamerica.com/en/support/forums/tm.asp?m=7902

-FLASH- D-Rats Version 0.1.9 Posted

UPDATED - Dan the man has now upped the rev to .9 and has added DDT compression to the XML forms and yenc compression options to the text chat.  For the non-geeks among you, that means a BIG speed increase of up to 300 percent on forms and a chat efficiency approaching 100%  Way cool,

Dan Smith has posted an update to the D-Rats D-Star slow speed communications program on his website. I am adding a D-Star category to the blog so you can easily find (or avoid) these posts. W7CDC and I tested D-Rats last week with some success- text messaging and the quick notes features worked great but the file transfer was a problem for us. I pulled some notes from Dan’s site and we will work with it again soon. Anyone interested in joining us in testing D-Rats on 2 Meters, please drop me an email and we will set up a sked.

First Impressions: iCOM-2200H / UT-118 D-Star Rig

My Foray into D-Star

After month of hearing just how cool this new D-Star thing is from the other folks in the area that have been using the mode, I finally took the plunge.  I decided to go with the iCOM IC-2200H 2 meter single band FM radio with the UT-118 digital D-Star board option.  Cost delivered from HRO was $349.94 before a $20 rebate from iCOM. I do not intend this in any way to be a complete review of the 2200H.  I have not even made an FM contact with this radio, and may never use it in that mode.

Why the IC-2200H?  I ruled out the handhelds because I wanted the power and rugged build. The 2820 is the current flagship VHF/UHF D-Star rig but it has a price tag to match and while it is a true duplex dual-bander, it can only encode/decode a single D-Star data stream.  For example, you could simultaneously monitor a QSO on VHF and a QSO on UHF in FM, but only a single D-Star QSO.  The ID-800 is dual band but in my eyes, adding UHF capability was not worth a near doubling in price over the 2200H/UT118.

Going the money saving, single band route also has a cost in somewhat less ease of use and limited memory for D-Star programming.  The display is a segmented type rather than the beautiful and informative matrix on the 2820.  Much of the information tagged to D-Star that adds to the “cool factor” can only be retrieved by digging down through menus.  In terms of D-Star voice and data RF communication however, this lower cost unit does everything its big brothers can do (on VHF only).  I will leave the technical details of D-Star to other resources, but I will clarify the limited memory issue on the 2200H/UT118.  There is memory storage for 207 channels, but these channels, when storing D-Star information, can contain one each of six “Your Call”, Repeater 1” , and “Repeater 2” call signs.  The 2820 has around 500 memories that can draw upon 60 each of the call groups.

So, there is a reason that this is a lower priced radio, but to me it is worth the trade-off.  I am technically oriented and not afraid to dig though the menus.  I also will probably eventually own a more capable D-Star radio, but after seeing the slow speed data application I knew that I would want a radio dedicated to that task and this 2200H will eventually take on that sole role.

iCOM does not sell the IC-2200H with the D-Star UT-118 module installed, but it is a very simple task.  I am going to show you in the following pictures.  Step one, remove the large selector knob (it is friction fit, just pull it off). Next remove the two screws on either side of the front panel with an Allen wrench (one was hidden behind the knob).  Gently pull the front away from the body of the radio a couple of inches.  Mind the ribbon cable mating the two pieces and do not unplug it.  The first picture is the IC-200H with the front panel removed.  The UT-118 board is wrapped in plastic next to the quarter for scale.

 

Lay the front piece display down and you will see a cream colored connector on the circuit board that is the receptacle for the UT-118.  If you are not wearing a grounding strap, be sure to touch a grounded object to discharge any static before you handle the circuit boards.

 

Plug the UT-118 board in to the receptacle.

 

Replace the front panel, minding that the ribbon connectors are tucked between the devices and not pinched.  Replace the screws and knob.  Done!  There are no jumpers or menu settings; D-Star is now ready to go.  The IC-2200H is pictured on top of my Yaesu FT-8900.

 

I was able make the required entries and have a D-Star QSO on the first try; despite the complexity of the manual and the menu system (the manual is 92 pages by the way, only about 30 pages shy of the 2820’s).  I had built a cable before my radio arrived for use with the slow speed data.  The required cable is three conductors; Rx data, Tx data and ground with a female 9 pin “D” serial plug on one end and a 2.5 mm “micro” three pole (stereo) plug on the other.  The radio speaks RS-232 levels, so no circuitry is needed to match.  Just plug it in to your PC serial port and start communicating with D-Chat or D-Rats.  I had one revelation in using the low speed text capability.  It is effortless to go from typing short messages into the data system to picking up the microphone and talking.  The radio will queue the data and send it during pauses in the voice activity.  If there is not heavy message traffic (sending files) one frequency is very usable for both voice and data.  Very neat.

When you get your D-Star radio, look on 145.100 (Simplex) for the local activity.  I am using a discone antenna at 20 feet and I can make the Surrey BC D-Star repeater easily with 10 watts from Silver Beach.  I forgot to mention that the IC-2200H can deliver 65 Watts, switchable to 25, 10, or 5 watts and the case is fanless with a lot of heat sink fins designed into the case.  The unit did get fairly hot during my use, even at 25 watts.

A note on audio quality: I did not comment on the audio in my first draft because I was already familiar with it from past use of the mode.  The audio from a digital voice signal is decidedly “digital”.  It has a kind of mechanical quality that is a result of changing the human voice into a 2400 bps data stream and back again (no small task by the way).  Voices are very recognizable in terms of knowing who you are talking to, and are”bright”, clear and readable.  It is not as pleasant to listen to as FM, to be sure, but it absolutely gets the message across.  Although the difference is not as pronounced as that between AM and SSB, that will give an idea of the trade-off in audio quality for narrower bandwidth albeit a sharper more readable signal at marginal strengths.

-KNØN

Washington County D-Star Seminar Notes

Hillsboro, Oregon.  Friday, February 22, 2008-  The Washington County Oregon ARES/RACES unit hosted a seminar on their implementation of D-Star for emergency communications.  Pictured above is Dan Smith, KI4IFW (left), author of the D-Rats program and Ken Wilhelmi, N7QQU (right), speaker and host of the event. Whatcom County Undersheriff Carey James KC5DTU, Mike W7SSO, Perry W7CDC, Scott N7SS, and I KNØN attended.  The event was scheduled for 1 pm to 5 pm but got a late start, even though the Washingtonians were there early.

  I was a little disappointed that the seminar intended audience was non-Amateur emergency folks, but the Q & A allowed us to get a lot of useful information.  Unfortunately with the questions and our time budget, we never got to see the high speed 23 cm demonstrated.  Some of the highlights of the event from my perspective:

 1-    Voice D-star was a non-issue.  Their emphasis is on the low speed (UHF/VHF) and high speed (23 cm) data transfer.  I think they tend to rely more on traditional FM to coordinate D-Star data.

 2-    They are convinced that even the low speed data can service the bulk of their emergency communications need, and this is based on simplex usage ONLY.  They just received their 2 meter and 23 cm D-Star repeaters but they are not installed.  They did do extensive testing with borrowed repeaters to determine where to place them, how they can benefit from them, etc. 

 3-    The D-Rats software by Dan Smith will become a huge boon to the use of the slow speed data on D-Star.  The programmer just started writing it one month ago and it already supports some amazing features.  It is written for EmComm use… There is a built in ICS-13 form for example, and I can only salivate at how much more he will have that thing doing over the coming months.  It is shaping up to be a bit like the OUTPOST EmComm packet program, but for D-Star.  In a D-Star supported environment, I see 1200 baud packet gear going back into the closet. 

 4-    Nothing to do with D-Star, but the Washington County ARES unit has developed a PERFORMANCE BASED certification program.  A member must demonstrate the ability to perform tasks before they are certified and allowed to do so during an operation.  They have many categories such as Packet Radio (4 levels), Slow Scan, D-Star Data, D-Star voice, Repeater ops (voice), etc… See the Washco ARES web address below for details.

NOTES:

 The Washington County ARES website is www.washcoares.org.There is a WEALTH of information here.  I will be borrowing plenty from this one, and you should too.

The programming guru who wrote the D-Rats program has this website : http://d-rats.danplanet.com/wiki/FrontPage . Let’s hope he keeps an interest in ham radio and D-Star, because much greater things will be forthcoming.N7SS suggested the HP DL360 as a good 1-U rack mount server for D-Star use.

 www.ServerWorlds.com  was recommended as a supplier for same.

My conclusions:

   Digital DATA communication is a critical need for nearly all of our served agencies and it seems to be an area that they neglect to harden against failure in times of disaster.  This should be our mandate for service to those agencies: moving the data when their networks, Blackberries, and cellphones quit working.  Washington County has shown that even slow speed data via D-Star can fill the need, even without repeaters.  Imagine what we can do with a network of 23 cm high speed radios and repeaters joined to a low speed VHF/UHF Amateur network.

  Suffice to say I was impressed enough to finally make my first foray in to the D-Star arena.  My Icom 2200H with UT-118 digital module is on the way from HRO.  I will post a review here once I have a chance to test it.  I think this is probably the lowest cost route to try the mode if anyone else is interested.  After rebate, the set-up is $329.94 for a 65 watt 2-meter only FM/D-Star (dual mode) rig.

73,  Brian  kn0n@WhatcomRadio.org