While the obvious way to access the D-STAR system is to get a D-STAR radio, there are numerous other ways.
- We can access D-STAR through the following methods:
- Commercially available radios from Icom
- Talk to the D-STAR network using a PC and the DVDongle
- Modify many radios to talk D-STAR using the Icom D-STAR modules
- Listen and decode D-STAR signals using a basic receiver
- Interface with the gateway software
- When you get a commercially available radio, you get the following features:
- Talking to other D-STAR users
- Talking to other D-STAR systems on any frequency they support (144, 440, 1200 MHz)
- Sending low speed data from computers by connecting to a D-STAR radio
- Sending high speed data from computers by connecting to an Icom ID-1
- The following requires minor homebrew, some commercial does exist *:
- Decode D-STAR signals using basic receiver
* while some commercial interfaces exist, many tend to connect to standard audio
ports, not the 9600 baud ports. May require different connectors
- The following requires significant homebrew
- Connect Icom D-STAR module to radio with controller
- The following is available to repeater owners as additions to the gateway:
- Customized IDs
- DVDongle Access Controls
- EchoTest
- DPRS/APRS linkage
- At this time, the following solutions are NOT available:
- Using PC software and the DVDongle, transmit from a standard radio. (probably short lived)
- Encode or decode anything without the AMBE chip.
- Replace the gateway software
- Connect into the gateway as another gateway
- Convince other manufacturers to implement D-STAR
- Send or receive DV Data from anything but a D-STAR radio (This is a very trivial solution, just not done yet)