[Dstar] Australian D-Star Network News

Tue Mar 10 11:37:43 EST 2009

G'day,

Here is the current status of the Australian National D-Star Network.

VK2RDS

The VK2RDS technical admin team are working on an ADSL uplink problem that
is causing some jitter (poor audio) on the Gateway output to the
International D-Star Network. To give the RF uses the best possible
experience and minimise the effects, direct DV-Dongle connectivity has been
temporarily removed. If any DV-Dongle user wishes to talk to an operator on
VK2RDS they need to go via reflector 3 B, which is connected to VK2RDS B.

VK2RWN

The Gateway at VK2RWN has been experiencing a few outages over the past
month. The VK2RWN technical admin team is investigating the cause.

VK3RMM

The installation of the VK3RMM 70cm D-Star repeater has been completed. The
system is now fully operational on 70cm. There have been good reports from
operators in Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong who are using this repeater.
There is no Gateway connected to this repeater.

VK3RWN Maintenance

Maintenance has been completed on both the 23cm & 70cm DV RF modules and
they are back on-air. Reports of improved performance on 23cm and 70cm have
been receive from many people including Jeff VK3BZ who can now access VK3RWN
B in selected areas when he is on his "morning constitutional" (morning
walk).

Repairs to the Gateway server have been completed and the server is now
awaiting installation back at the site.

VK4RWN

Modules A & B have been removed for maintenance.  A duplicate IP address /
Callsign problem has recently been fixed. Linking and DV-Dongle access to
the VK4RWN Gateway will now be reliable. Remember that when using linking
from RF place CQCQCQ in the UR field in your radio after the link is
established. Do Not place any other callsigns in the UR field in your radio
as this may cause your communications to the remote D-Star system to fail.
Read
http://www.dstar.org.au/Australian_D-Star_Repeater_Linking_User_Guide_V1.1.p
df for a full explanation.

D-Star Repeater Status Summary

VK2RWN - Operational on all bands except 23cm DD & DV. 

-         Gateway operational.

VK2RDS - Operational on all bands except 23cm DD. 

-         Gateway operational. 

-         Limited DV-Dongle access.

VK3RBA - Operational 

-         Currently No gateway connection

VK3RDK - Commissioning. 

-         Currently no gateway connection

VK3RWN - Operational 

-         Gateway server off line for maintenance.

VK3RMM -Operational on 70cm 

-         Currently no gateway connection

VK4RWN - Operational

-         70cm DV& 23cm DV off air

VK4RDS - Operational

-         Testing Gateway

VK4RBX - Not Operational

VK5REX - Operational

-         Experimentation continues with Home Brew equipment

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 intermittently 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 12noon 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.dstar.org.au/reflectors.htm
and 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.

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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