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)