Welcome to DSTAR.fans, a site for fans of D-STAR!
ARRL Field Day is an annual event that takes place the 4th full weekend in June. The 2025 event will be held on January 28th-29th, 2025.
This is a great opportunity to get out and test your gear in the cold weather, while running D-STAR.
Winter Field Day is an annual event that takes place the last full weekend in January. The 2025 event will be held on January 25th-26th, 2025.
This is a great opportunity to get out and test your gear in the cold weather, while running D-STAR.
The D-STAR QSO party is back, over the holiday period from
TBD.
The purpose is to encourage D-STAR operators to communicate with as many other operators worldwide but also to encourage the picture-sending function found in the latest D-STAR radios.
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. 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.
It's easy to make use of D-STAR without any repeaters or hotspots. Start by setting your radio for 145.6700 (the National 2m D-STAR Calling Frequency) and put your radio into DV mode. Just key the mic and you're operating with D-STAR!
Here are a few other frequencies to try:
| 2m | 70cm |
|---|---|
| 145.6000 DV | 441.0000 DV |
| 145.6700 DV (Calling) | 445.6700 DV |
HF from 6-80 Meters more on that below.
D-STAR simplex operation allows you to:
With a supported radio and these apps, one can unlock some really neat features like Text Messaging chats.
While you don't need to register to use D-STAR, it's required to use features that require the internet Gateway functions of repeaters, such as linking to other repeaters, or using reflectors. You'll probably want to do this sooner rather than later, so might as well get properly registered right away.
This registration site is provided by volunteers to enable D-STAR enthusiasts who do not have a local gateway system to register with; a place to register for access to the D-STAR network. You must have a valid amateur radio license issued in your country of origin to register here. D-STAR Gateway System (REGIST)
When using a Gateway, one can simply press and hold the [RX→CS] button (or [ENT] on Kenwood) for 1 second to respond to the last station heard.
REF 062 A
REF 091 C
REF 055 D - Picture Net Wed @ 02:30 UTC
REF 014 C
REF 038 A - Ohio Reflector
REF 030 C - Southeast USA
REF 001 C - International
XRF 621 A - Ham Radio Crash Course Cross-mode Reflector
Reflector Statistics - Amassed by IU4PRC, but if you look at the suffixes most D-STAR network traffic is from people that aren't using D-STAR capable radios. For example, when the site listed 10,818 D-STAR users per month, when I filtered the non-radio suffixes the numbers were more like 9,940 D-STAR users per year. I submitted feedback on these issues, maybe he'll improve it - or maybe we'll have time to submit a pull request since it's an Open Source project.
Last Heard allows you to see which stations have been connecting through an Internet gatway from a repeater or some other digital device like a hot spot or DV Dongle. It also shows you where the repeater or reflector is located.
Here is a link to my Intro to D-STAR slide deck.
The Charlotte Digital Radio Group has created this succinct double-sided hand-out.
Doozy - No repeater nearby? No hotspot? Got an Icom radio and Windows 10 or Windows 11? Just connect your radio to your Windows PC with a USB datacable and connect it to your favorite DSTAR reflector/repeater. Wou can make QSO’s via your Windows PC on DSTAR ( DPLUS, DEXTRA, DCS and XLX ).
Peanut - On the Peanut you can talk with HAM amateurs around the world via an Android device, network radio or Windows PC. Peanut is free and only for HAM radio amateurs.
D-RATS - A multi-platform integrated tool for communication using D-STAR radios. With only a pair of radios (or an entire repeater stack) a variety of data transmission methods are supported, including:
Icom RS-BA1 IP Remote Control Software - This software allows remote control of some Icom radios including the popular QRP radio, the IC-705. On this page, we explain some of the details of using the app to control D-STAR capabilities of supporting radios.
If another station is using the Gateway feature of a repeater they should announce their source repeater (for example W8CMH B).
That info allows you to set RPT1 and RPT2 to your local module and gateway, then set YOUR to /W8CMHâ–ªB (for the example above).
One of the most common mistakes is to try to speak to a Gateway user with YOUR set to CQCQCQ and no Gateway set. Only local repeater users will hear you.
Luckily, most Icom radios have an [RX→CS] button. Pressing it sets your radio to communicate directly with the last station heard. This takes the guess work out of configuring your radio for a quick reply. Be sure to refer to your radio's manual for specifics.
Pressing the RX→CS button again after the conversation is over typically returns the radio to your previous settings.
W8CMH - Columbus, OH
W8DIG - Columbus, OH
You can also use repeaters via Original Routing or Repeater Linking.
To help remind me which Call Sign (CS) value is which, I use these tricks to keep the values straight.
YOUR is where I put YOUR call sign, repeater, or reflector.
RPT1 rhymes with FROM.
RPT2 rhymes with TO.
Beyond that, the main thing to remember is that RPT2 must be set to a repeater Gateway to use features of D-STAR that make use of the Internet.
It takes some practice, but hopefully these memonics will help.
APRS is a neat technology for sharing info on your QTH, or sharing your position while mobile. Some use it when traveling off the grid to leave a trace of the route they ended up taking in the event of an emergency. Still others use APRS to commune with nearby hams.
D-STAR transmissions contain location information where available (if the radio GPS is active and the feature is turned on), so similar functionality is automatic among D-STAR users. In the spirit of cross-compatibility though, the D-PRS feature was added; allowing the D-STAR location information to be shared on the APRS network.
To enable this, all one needs to do is use the Gateway function to communicate with a D-PRS capable repeater.
You can check your status on sites such as APRS.fi by searching for your call sign.
"this is the greatest amount of fun i've had with a handheld radio yet XD thanks to you" - EI9LC
The site is maintained by Mark, KE8BZW
To contribute, please consider joining the DSTAR.fans Discord server, or email KE8BZW via his contact info on QRZ linked above.