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.

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

W8RNL ircDDBgateway Dashboard

ircDDB Live

W8RNL Live

Status of W8RNL ircDDB

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 :

2 Meter Band Settings Example:

Set Call Sign Fields as follows:

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: = the call you got from the FCC

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

Set Duplex: DUP+ or DUP- depending on the offset

Set Radio Mode: DV

Notes:

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

  • 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 where C is the callsign, s are spaces, and L is the module letter.

  • A six character callsign needs one space before the letter -- CCCCCCsL where C is the callsign, s are spaces, and L is the module letter.

  • Each Icom radio may use unique label symbols for the fields for a particular model. For example, the ID-51A, ID-31A, IC-91AD, IC-92AD, IC-2820, IC-7100, IC-9100 radios use [ UR: R1: R2: MY: ]. The ID-1, IC-80AD, ID-880H radios use [ UR: RPT1: RPT2: and MY: ]. The ID-800H uses [ UrCALL RTP1 RPT2 MyCALL ]. The IC-v82/UT-115, IC-U82/UT-115, and IC-2200/UT-115 radios use [ YuC R1C R2C MyC ].

To set an ID-31A or ID-51A radio for Digital Voice (DV) and use Reflectors through a local repeater gateway:

The Icom ID-31A and Icom ID-51A handheld radios have an auto mode which sets callsign data based on internal GPS as well as internal memory repeater data, however callsign data can also be set manually. The easy way to communicate through the gateway in the Indianapolis area, with the Icom ID-31A and Icom ID-51A, is to use the D-Star Repeater (DR) button. Holding the "DR" key held for one second results in setting the radio to a convenient digital voice (DR) mode.

The "DR" button is held down. "DV" is visible on the display in place of "FM". The radio is in DV mode along with the corresponding display. Next, highlight the "TO" field by alternately choosing RX->CS (the up function) and DR (the down function). Once the "TO" field is highlighted, press the blue button, and rotate dial knob to select "Your Call Sign" on page 1/2. Press blue button, rotate dial knob to select " Use Repeater", and press blue button. The "TO" field displays "Use Repeater CQCQCQ". If only CQCQCQ appears, repeat process until the "TO" field contains "Use Repeater CQCQCQ".

Highlight the "FROM" field by alternately choosing RX->CS (the up function) and DR (the down function). Once the "FROM" field is highlighted, rotate dial knob to select the desired repeater.

Once "Use Repeater CQCQCQ" is in the "TO" field and the desired repeater is in the "FROM" field, the radio is ready to communicate through the local repeater gateway.

To find the gateway where a call sign was first registered go to:

http://dstar.info/query.html or

http://query.ke5bms.com/index.php or

http://dstar.prgm.org/cgi-bin/dstar-regcheck or

https://wb1gof.dstargateway.org/cgi-bin/dstar-regcheck?

Digital Data (DD)

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

  • Direct beween two Icom ID-1 radios

  • Provide a PC with internet connection through gateway router (10.0.0.1)

Direct is data transfer between two Icom ID-1 radios

  • Frequency: Select a simplex frequency and set both Icom ID-1 radios to this frequency

  • Mode: DD

  • RP (Shift): RPS

  • YOUR: CCCCCCsL Enter the callsign of the station you wish to connect to in the YOUR field. (Could also be format of CCCCsssL or CCCCCssL, see above for code)

  • RPT1: leave blank/empty

  • RPT2: leave blank/empty

  • MY: = the call you got from the FCC

  • TXinh: should be turned OFF (Push [TXinh-Set ] to release transmission inhibit, “RPS” appears instead of “TXinh” indication.)

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 5' cable at with a straight through female-female RJ-45 coupler. Alternatively, a straight through Cat-5e cable and a female-female crossover adapter 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 ".xxx" last octet as yours. For example, they can use 192.168.1.101, 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)

  • Frequency: 1253.0000 MHz

  • Mode: DD

  • RP (Shift): RPS

  • UR: W8RNL

  • RPT1: W8RNL A (2 spaces between callsign and letter "A")

  • RPT2: W8RNL G (2 spaces between callsign and letter "G")

  • MY: = the call you got from the FCC

  • TX Inhibit (TXINH) is turned off - to allow the radio to transmit when the computer wants to send data.

  • Indicator - the transmit and receive indicator LEDs , on the Icom ID-1 radio unit, will flash, alternating rapidly when sending data. See manual for details.

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

  • PC must use assigned IP address assigned at registration (10.x.x.x). To find out which IP address corresponds to a callsign, go to the gateway the callsign is currently registered. Login and view the callsign and IP address in the 10.x.x.x range, where x is a number from 0 to 255. The IP address can also be found at http://dstar.info/query.html or http://query.ke5bms.com/index.php or http://dstar.prgm.org/cgi-bin/dstar-regcheck or https://wb1gof.dstargateway.org/cgi-bin/dstar-regcheck?

  • Subnet Mask is 255.0.0.0

  • Gateway is 10.0.0.1 (WAN IP address if using a router)

  • Use known DNS addresses in your PC network setup … or the easy way is to insert a router between ID-1 and PC and use DHCP with DNS addresses in the router. Note : Neither the Linux Gateway Computer nor the D-STAR Gateway Router (10.0.0.1) have a DNS address in them. The client (your PC or your router) needs to be configured with the DNS addresses, such as those below in order for the browser or other applications on your PC to function properly.

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

OpenDNS:

  • 208.67.222.222

  • 208.67.220.220

GoogleDNS:

  • 8.8.8.8

  • 8.8.4.4

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