D­-STAR 101 Manual instruction

DSTAR101–BasicSetup&Operation
TalkingtosomebodyonsimplexoronaVHF/UHFrepeaterwithyourVHF/UHFradioisverysimple,youjustneed
toknowthefrequency,offsetandPLtoneifany. However,ifyouhavenotbeenabletogetontheDSTAR
systemwithyourDSTARradio,readonbecauseIhavefinallyfiguredouthowsimpleitreallyis.Ittookmea
whilethough,becausethereisaLOTofinformationoutthere,butmostofitiseithertoofragmentedortoo
muchabouttherepeateritself. So,justputeverythingyouweretoldaboutDSTARasideandfollowalong.
Actually,DSTARisverymuchlikeusingaregularrepeater,andquitesimpleonceyouknowthe4basicterms.
DSTARcompatibleradioshaveaDVmode,justlikethegoodoldFMmode. TheDSTARconfiguration,akaDV
setup,consistsofenteringcallsignsin4fields–MYCALL,URCALL,RPT1andRPT2.
MYCALLYounormallyenteryourowncallsigninMYCALLandneverhavetochangeitaslongasyouusethe
radio.
URCALL–Thisissimplythestationyouwanttocall. Or,tocallanyoneyouenterCQCQCQ
RPT1–Thisisthecallsignofyourlocalrepeaterthatiswithinyourradio’sreach.Ifyoumovetoadifferentcity
thenchangethistothelocalrepeateryoucanaccessoverthere.
RPT2–Isusedopenagatewaytocontactpeoplebeyondyourlocalareaorbeyondyourband.
AfewexampleswillhelpillustratetheirusageusingWW6BAYDSTARrepeateron444.075MHz,+5MHzoffset,
andnoPL.
(a)SIMPLEXOPERATION
MYCALL=K6VUG (mycallsign)
URCALL=CQCQCQorKI6CJD (callsignbeingcalled)
RPT1=blank
RPT2=blank
SelectasimplexFMfrequency,switchtheradiomodetoDV,makesurenooneisusingthefrequency,andpress
PTTandgiveoutyourcallsign. Ifanyoneiswithinrangeandwanttorespondtheywill.That’sit!
(b)BASICREPEATEROPERATION
MYCALL=K6VUG (mycallsign)
URCALL=CQCQCQorKI6CJD (callsignbeingcalled)
RPT1=WW6BAYB (callsignofrepeateron440MHzband)
RPT2=blank
Tunetheradiototherepeater’sfrequencyandoffsetjustlikeyouwoulddoforanyrepeater,pressPTTand
announceyourcallsign.Inthisexample,stationslisteningtotherepeateronthesame(UHF)bandwillhearthe
call.
(c)CROSSBANDREPEATEROPERATION
MYCALL=K6VUG (mycallsign)
URCALL=CQCQCQorKI6CJD (callsignbeingcalled)
RPT1=WW6BAYB (callsignofrepeateron440MHzband)
RPT2=WW6BAYC (callsignofrepeateron144MHzband)
Note:DSTARrepeaterscanbesetuptooperateonseveralbandssimultaneously.So,inthisexample,stations
listeningtotherepeaterontheboththe440MHzbandaswellasthe144MHzbandwillhearthecall.
(d)CALLINGONREMOTEREPEATERSVIAGATEWAY
MYCALL=K6VUG (mycallsign)
URCALL=CQCQCQorKI6CJD (callsignbeingcalled)
RPT1=WW6BAYB (callsignofrepeateron440MHzband)
RPT2=WW6BAYG (callsignofgateway)
Inthisexample,ageneralCQcallcanbeheardbystationslisteningtoanyofthelinkedrepeatersonanyofthe
bandssupportedbytheirrepeaters. Acalltoaspecificcallsignwillpromptthesystemtorouteyourcalltothe
repeaterandbandwherethecallsignwaslastheard.
(e)ECHOTESTINGONTHELOCALREPEATER
MYCALL=K6VUG (mycallsign)
URCALL=CQCQCQ (generalcall)
RPT1=WW6BAYB (callsignofrepeateron440MHzband)
RPT2=WW6BAYE (callsignusedfortheechofunction)

WhenyoupressPTTandsaysomethinglike“<callsign>echotest”,therepeaterwillechobackthevoiceitheard.
MostDSTARrepeatersofferthisconvenienttestfeaturethathelpstoconfirmradiosettingsandvoicequality.
TheseexamplesshouldmakeiteasytounderstandtheconfigurationoftheDSTARradios.Also,observethat
somecasesshownaboveillustratesomeconvenientfeaturesnotgenerallypossibleonregularrepeaters. These
are,infact,someofthebiggestfeaturechangewhenusingDSTARsystem.
That’sallthereistoit. Rememberonlyfourentries–MYCALL,URCALL,RPT1andRPT2controleverything.
MYCALLandRPT1remainunchangedifyouremaininthesamearea,URCALLissimplythedestinationyouare
tryingtocallandRTP2isbasedonthefeaturebeingused.
Lastly,tousethegatewayandotherfeatures,yourcallsignhastoberegisteredintheDSTARsystem,once.
Searchtheinternetornavigatetowww.dstarusers.organdidentifythelocalDSTARrepeaterinyourarea,and
navigatetotherepeaterwebsite(WW6BAYwebsiteiswww.baynet.org)andsignupyourcallsignontheirweb
site.Onceconfirmed,youcanusetheentireDSTARsystemtomakesomereallyinterestingcontactsindistant
countries.
Aftersuccessfullymasteringthesemodes,youwillbewellonyourwaytoenjoythemoreadvancedfeaturesof
thisnewexcitingareaofamateurradio. Congratulateyourself,youdeserveit!
73,
UmeshGhodke
K6VUG