HOME
D-Star is the original Digital Voice protocol designed specifically for Amateur Radio. The protocol is the result of work completed by the Japan Amateur Radio League as an open source protocol. The only part of D-Star that is proprietary is the voice codec chip which does the analog to digital and digital to analog translation. The same series of chips used in all digital voice modes. Icom was the first major radio manufacturer to produce and distribute D-Star radios. Kenwood also was an early producer of D-Star radios. However Kenwood did not distribute D-Star radios in the west, only in Japan, until recently with the Kenwood D74 handheld. With the addition of a USB D-Star Module Flex 6XXX radios also can operate D-Star.
D-Star is both a protocol for radio to radio or simplex operation as well as a protocol for linking of repeaters. D-Star utilizes several different versions of reflectors, which are basically computers which have many inputs and outputs via IP protocol. A repeater linked to a reflector will reflect all the traffic on the reflector, which in turn links those repeaters together. Most D-Star repeaters are agile, and can the user can select which reflector, if any, the repeater should be linked to. Reflectors are grouped by geographic locations, or by interest type, as well as function. This makes it possible for an end user to link the local repeater with a local repeater in another city or another country. Or to link the local repeater to reflector which is focused on radio experimentation or many other topics. This provides the local user with a great many location and interests to be connected to.
D-Star is the only Digital Voice Mode that allows all reflector networks to be accessed by all D-Star equipment. There are no Icom only reflectors or Kenwood only reflector. D-Star also provides a great environment for experimentation in hotspots which link to the very same reflector systems as repeaters. This makes it quite easy for a user removed from local repeaters to still have access to the same networks and even talk to people on the local repeaters.
D-Star has the ability to link and unlink repeaters and reflectors by the end users, as well as a system very similar to “follow me roaming” used in the early days of Cell phones. This means that D-Star requires a onetime validation of a user’s call sign. This registration is completed on a central computer system that verifies that the call sign is a valid call sign. The validation is then spread electronically around the D-Star network. Registration can be completed here:
A tutorial for registration can be found at:
D-STAR Gateway Registration Tutorial
For information concerning D-Star:
Videos of D-Star Presentations at Dayton Hamvention