Getting started

D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) is an open digital voice and data protocol established by the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL). Equipment and official product information are widely available from Icom America and Icom Japan.

The very first thing to do when working with D-STAR is to configure your station values. These include your call sign in the MY value on your radio (including a short suffix), and a message. With D-STAR, every transmission includes your call-sign, so even a quick "kerchunk" on the air, repeater, or reflector will be sent to other D-STAR users who will be able to see this info in their RX history log.

With D-STAR, this can be very handy because some radios include text-to-speech functions that announce the call-sign of transmissions too short to include the call-sign in a voice transmission. Also, if a listener is not focused on the radio at the moment a transmission is recieved, they can go back and see who was calling.

When operators make a QSO they start with their call sign, and often report on signal strength, their location, and equipment used. After setting your call sign, D-STAR makes it easy to share some of this other info as well. Most D-STAR radios support a "suffix" which is a 4-character value following a slash at the end of the call-sign. The convention is to enter the model number of your radio such as /92AD, /52A, or /5100. This will make it easy for those familiar with these radios to understand your hardware capabilities - such as sending and recieving images and text. Some sites with D-STAR Info on First Steps advise putting your name in the suffix – but this only works for people with four-letter-word names and shorter. You can also look at reflector statistics to get an idea of the popularity of different radio hardware and modes being used on D-STAR and see how others are using this feature. Some suffixes like /DMR or /PNUT refer to cross-mode links or software being used to access the D-STAR system instead of a radio.

While location data can be shared from GPS, oparators often use the TX Message value to share their name and general location, keeping in mind that via reflectors, people anywhere in the world might see this message. One example might be "Mark in Galena, Ohio" keeping in mind that there is a 20 character limit on the message field.

Many radios allow several call signs and messages to be stored allowing them to be changed frequently to reflect the user's current status. This can allow a great deal of information to be sent with brief kerchunks or long-winded ragchew transmissions just the same.

One might think themselves clever to enter some made-up value as their call-sign on D-STAR. This is possible, but only valid call-signs may be used to access the network of D-STAR gateways. Once registered with your local gateway, your call sign is your passport to the wider world, so it pays to ensure this value is set correctly from the start.

Next: register for gateway access, try simplex, review YOUR / RPT1 / RPT2 mnemonics, or watch call sign setup videos.