Introduction to D-Star

D-Star (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) is a protocol for digital and voice communications for Amateurs that is becoming established world wide. It combines the long-held advantages Amateur radio operators have enjoyed with short and long-distance RF communications with the advantages provided by digital transmission modes for both voice and data.

There is a growing number of users who are taking advantage of the network of RF repeaters and reflectors that are connected in a flexible (and user-controlled) world wide network

As with all new technologies, it can sometimes be a bit daunting for newcomers to understand how to get "on air" with D-Star. These documents are designed to help you get started and are derived from some presentations made to the EMDRC members during several meetings by Susan VK3ANZ.

For those who want to get started quickly, there is the "Newbies Guide to D-Star" that will tell you how to configure your radio and get you talking with others.

If you want to get a bit more of an understanding about how D-Star goes together, then the "D-Star Overview" will show you come of the concepts that make D-Star work.

There is a growing list of devices that tap into the D-Star infrastructure in various ways and provide additional capabilities to Amateurs and many of these are touched on in this document. One in particular, the DV Dongle, is expanded on in the "DV Document Overview" document.

The EMDRC hold a regular Dstar net every Thursday evening at 8.00 pm, all welcome to join.

The D-Star repeater was donated by Icom and is installed at Olinda. The repeater operates on 146.9125 Mhz and is connected to the gateway and uses the call sign VK3RWN. The connection to the gateway enables users to dial up a station without any prior knowledge of where that station is located, the gateway searches for the repeater that were last used by that station.