[Dstar] Australian D-Star Network News

Wed Feb 4 22:46:02 CST 2009

G'day,

Here is an update on the status of the Australian National D-Star Network.

NSW D-Star Launch

The Official NSW Launch of D-Star will take place ay the Wyong Field Day
this Sunday at 11:30 am.

After the launch there will be a D-Star presentation and demonstration.
During the day there will be D-Star radio programming for VK2RDS & VK2RWN at
the Icom stand. So bring your new D-Star radio to be programmed for NSW.

VK2RDS & VK2RWN Internationally Connected.

Both VK2RDS & VK2RWN have had their Gateway servers installed and registered
on the International D-Star network. The systems are currently in the
commissioning stage. D-Star operators wishing to register for Gateway access
on either of these systems can go to
http://www.dstar.org.au/registration.htm 

The general guide for D-Star registration is that you register on the D-Star
repeater that is closest to your home QTH.

VK3RWN Maintenance

The 23cm DV RF module was taken off air, retuned to improve receiver
performance and reinstalled last week.

The 70cm DV module has been taken off air this week for retuning.

A long power outage at the VK3RWN site impacted the operations of the
Gateway server. The Gateway server is currently offline which means the
repeater system is not currently connected to the International D-Star
network. It will take some time to sort out the gateway problems and bring
it back online.

D-Star Repeater Status

VK2RWN - Commissioning on all bands except 23cm DD & DV. Gateway
operational.

VK2RDS - Commissioning on all bands except 23cm DD. Gateway operational.

VK3RBA - Operational (Currently no gateway connection)

VK3RDK - Commissioning. (Currently no gateway connection)

VK3RWN - Operational

-         70cm DV off air for maintenance.

-         Gateway server off line for maintenance.

VK3RMM - Testing on 70cm (Currently no gateway connection)

VK4RWN - Operational

-         2mtrs Tx back on high power (25W)

-         70cm DV& 23cm DV off air

-         There are known issues with the linking functions (Dplus). This is
being investigated.

VK4RDS - Operational, Testing Gateway

VK4RBX - Not Operational

VK5REX - Operational

VK5RWN - Operational on all bands except 23cm DD

VK6RWN - Operational on all bands except 23cm DV

-         There are known issues with incoming audio from remote station
becoming choppy. This is being investigated.

VK8RAD - Check with local repeater operators.

For more details visit www.dstar.org.au <http://www.dstar.org.au/>  or
http://www.wia.org.au/members/repeaters/data/

Weekly Nets

The WIA D-Star repeaters port C connect to the following nets each week:

EMDRC Net

 <http://www.emdrc.com.au/> www.emdrc.com.au

Thursday 8pm ESST (10:00 UTC)

VK3RWN C

Note:- This net is running locally only due to the Gateway outage.

Ozark Mountain D-STAR Net

http://www.w0omd.org/

Monday 11am ESST  (02:00 UTC)

W0OMD C

If you would like your local D-Star repeater to participate in other D-Star
nets please email me.

A list of D-Star nets can be found at http://www.dstarinfo.com/Nets/Nets.htm

Reflector Connections.

The following connections are established on Reflector 003

VK2RDS Port B is connected to Reflector 003 B

VK2RWN Port B is connected to Reflector 003 B

VK3RWN Port B is connected to Reflector 003 B

VK4RDS Port C is connected to Reflector 003 C

VK4RWN Port B is connected to Reflector 003 B

VK5REX Port B is connected to Reflector 003 B or VK5RWN C

VK5RWN Port B is connected to Reflector 003 B

VK6RWN Port B is connected to Reflector 003 B

Reflector REF003 port B is the Australian National D-Star connection port.

NOTE: The D-Star linking application occasionally has problems. If you are
taking on a link (such as port B) and getting no response it is possible
that the linking system may need to be reset. Please place an email
notification of the problem on this list for assistance.

DPRS Beacons

Remember to set your Auto transmit beacon rate for DPRS to 10 Minutes for
mobiles and 30 Minutes for home stations. If your station is unattended turn
off all DPRS beacons.

Linking (Dplus)

The Linking and Unlink functions on Ports A & C of all WIA D-Star repeaters
is available to operators.

Linking allows operators on the local D-Star repeater port to link to a
remote D-Star reflector or repeater port without the operator needing to
program anything special in their URCALL field. This enables a virtual
repeater to be set up between the local port and one or more (if using a
reflector) remote D-Star repeater ports around the world.

Operational hints;

-         The local WIA repeater systems are configured to automatically
unlink the connection in 15 minutes if there is no local RF activity.

-         At selected times when nets are scheduled the repeater system will
automatically drop any links, temporarily disable operator linking on the
port and set the system up for the net. After the net is completed
operations will be restored to normal.

-         The local WIA repeater will transmit a link status text message to
all radios on the RF port every 10 minutes.

-         An voice announcement indicating the port you are on is linked
will be played every 15 minutes.

For details on how to use D-Star linking please read the Guide at
http://www.dstar.org.au/Australian_D-Star_Repeater_Linking_User_Guide_V1.1.p
df

WIA D-Star repeater Port Bs are not enabled for operator link control.

Non WIA D-Star repeaters may or may not have operator linking available.

Multicasting.

A Multicast group has been set up on all VK D-Star repeaters port C to allow
you to call multiple VK remote repeaters.

By placing /VKC in URCall of your radio you enable Multicast for the VKC
Multicast group.

The VK Multicast group currently has VK2RDS C, VK2RWN C, VK3RWN C, VK4RWN C,
VK5RWN C, VK5REX B, VK6RWN C and VK3RWW B as group members.

All operators taking part in a Multicast group net must have /VKC in their
URCall. After you have completed the Multicast group net you must 'Hang up'
by placing CQCQCQ in URCall.

When you wish to establish a Multicast net place /VKC in URCall, announce
that you are using the /VKC Multicast group so that other local and remote
operators can configure their URCall and take part in the Multicast net.
Then see who joins in the fun.

This current VKC Multicast group has been set up as an experiment to enable
everyone to see how D-Star Multicasting works. Why not give it a go and see
what happens.

You can use Callsign Routing, Node Linking or Multicasting when you wish to
call any remote operators. For help with radio configurations for Routing
visit the D-Star Calculator at
<http://www.dstarinfo.com/Calculator/Default.htm>
www.dstarinfo.com/Calculator/Default.htm

More information on D-Star is at www.dstar.org.au <http://www.dstar.org.au/>

Cheers,

Richard

VK3JFK

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