D-Star -- W8RNL Settings

The Hamilton, Ohio D-STAR gateway of W8RNL

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Call Sign Visibility:

Every ham radio operator can choose whether his/her call sign will appear in the "Live Log" and the "LastHeard" ircDDB lists below or not. For your callsign to appear put "VISsssON" in the YOURCALL (or URcall) field of your radio, along with all the other normal settings, and press PTT once on this repeater, where "s" is a space/blank. The "VISsssON" setting will be stored permanently on the network. You only have to do this procedure once. To turn the visibility feature off, put "VISssOFF" in the YOURCALL (or URcall) field of your radio and press PTT once on this repeater. You can switch from "VISsssON" to "VISssOFF" and vice versa at any time.

Shortened URL:

http://goo.gl/zJNMne

Local Hamilton, Ohio (Near Cincinnati) W8RNL D-Star Repeater:

W8RNL ircDDBgateway Dashboard

ircDDB Live

W8RNL Live

Typical D-STAR system (text version):

Antenna <---> Duplexer <---> D-Star Repeater Module (A or B or C or DD transceiver) <---> 172.16.x.x network <---> Repeater Module Controller <---> Linux Gateway Computer <---> 10.x.x.x network <---> Gateway Router (10.0.0.1) <---> Internet

Digital Voice (DV)

To set callsigns in radio for a gateway call such as communicating on reflectors : 

Mode: DV

UR: CQCQCQ

RPT1:W8RNL  C (There are 2 spaces between the L and the C; C in this example selects the 2 meter module)

RPT2:W8RNL  G (There are 2 spaces between the L and the G; G in this example selects a gateway call for communicating to hams in a reflector)

MY call = the call you got from the FCC

Your callsign must be entered and registered with a local gateway registration page and be approved to use gateway calling. 

Note: All callsigns with a letter after the call sign must include blank spaces between the callsign and the letter. A total of 8 characters must fill the callsign field in the radio. A four character callsign needs three spaces before the letter -- CCCCsssL where C is the callsign, s are spaces, and L is the module letter. A five character callsign needs two spaces before the letter -- CCCCCssL. A six character callsign needs one space before the letter -- CCCCCCsL.

The Icom ID-31A and Icom ID-51A handheld radios have an auto mode which sets callsign data based on internal GPS and internal memory repeater data, however callsign data can also be set manually.

To set radio for Digital Voice (DV):

Set frequency and offset to match module letter selected in callsign fields above

Duplex: DUP+ or DUP- depending on the offset

Mode: DV

Digital Data (DD)

Sending Data: There are two basic modes to transfer data with the Icom ID-1:

Direct is data transfer between two Icom ID-1 radios

The other station would simply put their callsign in their MY field and your callsign in their YOUR field and leave the RPT1 and RPT2 fields blank.

Both should be set to the same frequency and be in simplex (RPS). Both should be in DD mode and the transmit inhibit (TXinh) should be turned off.

Attach the original Icom CAT-5 cable and Icom female-female RJ-45 adapter, provided with the Icom ID-1, between the LAN (Ethernet) port of your PC (or router) and the Ethernet connection on the ID-1. When the ID-1 detects that a PC has been connected to its Ethernet port, the radio will automatically begin trying to contact the other station. If the two radios detect each other, the transmit and receive indicator LEDs will blink, alternating rapidly. 

Note: If you lost the original Icom ID-1 CAT-5 or CAT-5e Ethernet cable and adapter, a substitute can be constructed by providing a crossover cable or crossover adapter in the path between the Icom ID-1 and the PC or router. The Icom ID-1 radio has a male RJ-45 modular plug in a short pigtail. A cable set can be a CAT-5e male-to-male crossover cable (for example 7' gray cable at http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/58-15047 ) with a straight through female-female RJ-45 coupler (similar to http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/72-5588SP ). Alternatively, a straight through Cat-5e cable ( similar to http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/58-15028) and a female-female crossover adapter (for example, http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/83-12913 ) can be used.

Be sure your PC and the other station's PC have their IP address and subnet mask set to compatible settings. For example, if your PC has an IP address of 192.168.1.100 and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 then the other station must also an IP address in the 192.168.1.xxx range. However, the other station cannot use the same ".100" last octet as yours. For example, they can use 192.168.1.101, and their subnet mask should also be set to 255.255.255.0.

Once these steps are done, and the signal level between the two stations is high, you should be able to transfer files between each station. You may both wish to setup a shared folder on your PCs for the other station to drop files into. It's then a simple manner of drag and drop to transfer a file between stations. You may desire to experiment with any of your favorite network based programs to communicate. The possibilities are numerous!

DD Mode - Icom ID-1 Radio Settings for providing a PC with internet connection through gateway router (10.0.0.1) 

DD Mode - Internet Protocol (IP) address settings for connecting a PC to the Internet 

Common public DNS addresses (use one of the following pairs)

OpenDNS:

GoogleDNS:

It is normal to see DPlus [Off] in the status image below. DPlus is active via the G4KLX ircDDBgateway software running on this repeater. 

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