Hello everybody and welcome to the first “normal” episode of the Everything Hamradio Podcast. In this episode we are talking about DStar
DStar
Some of the questions that we talk about in this episode are:
What is DStar?
What are the differences between Digital and Analog
Pros
Quality of Audio
Other information beside just your voice being transmitted. You Call sign, location and possible other things go out every time you transmit as well.
Can download all the repeaters in the US and put into your radio. Radio can find repeaters that are close to you
Repeaters often connected to the internet
Cons
From the outside looking in, DStar seems to have a steep learning curve
Analog radios can not talk on DStar repeaters
DStar can easily cover a large area because you can link together multiple repeaters in the area over the internet or if installed over a 1.2 or 2.4 GHz link.
Original cost of radios were high but has recently come down and is nearly in line with other radios.
We talk about the different radios that are available for use with DStar as well as some accessories that you can use. Check out this post and this post for more information about DStar and the DStar radios and accessories.
Ham Radio Club Spotlight
In this episode we talk about the Mansfield-Johnson Amateur Radio Service club in Mansfield, Texas. This club is another club that is local for me and that is a fast growing club. The have about 49 members and growing. They have two radios, one on 1.25 meters and one on 70 cm. They also have access to a 2 meter repeater that they use as well. You can find more information about this club at here.
