[Dstar] comments...

[Adrian]

Looking at comments made here and some of the mudslinging, I must say;

I congratulate the clubs that took on the WIA - Icom Dstar  repeaters.

This was an exciting time for VK Dstar and we expected the system to be
a national success.

However in cases were the local system administrator has lost and had no 
real
interest in Dstar, we have seen that system decline in functionality and 
users.

For instance VK4RWN had A & B modules removed for an Icom upgrade around
Christmas 2008. This was done and returned to the local repeater admin*,
but never re-installed. This operator* now is not even registered on dstar,
which speaks for itself.

I congratulate Richard VK3JFK on implementing dplus linking, and 
resolving other
issues on the VK4RWN gateway.
At this stage the 2m antenna setup requires repair to see this system 
operational again

The most successful repeaters I feel will be the privately owned and 
local club
repeaters, where local RF & gateway administration is done by those with 
keen interest.
Club meetings promoting and educating hams on dstar operation is 
essential to
see the success of the mode, with administrators and users forming one 
group.

In situations where dstar administration becomes closed shop and 
secretive, with
a lack of communication with users, we will always see an ¨us and them¨ 
attitude.

I admire the EMDRC club; activities, net and enthusiasm, which have been 
a backbone to the
success of D-Star in VK3.

Lets hope the WIA take another look at some of their repeaters and find 
people genuinely
interested to run them.

73

vk4tux