[aprssig] Re: D-STAR video on YouTube

Sun Sep 23 07:46:11 EDT 2007

> NO   You don't see the big picture of everyone else around you, weather
> stations, range circles, objects, weather alerts, telemetry, etc
> produced by APRS.    You won't be seen on the APRS Internet system or
> findu, unless you just happen to be within range of the handful of
> stations running D-Star-to-APRS gateways.

Exactly my point, just couldn't get it out correctly lol.

> AND D-STAR IS EXPENSIVE!!!!

Albeit because of the nice licensing fee Icom has to pay.

> For the privilege to use their Intellectual Property.  Radio
> manufacturers do this every day with the thousands of patents out there.
> The idea that everything in Amateur Radio should be free is something
> that some have espoused here claiming it is "in the spirit of Amateur
> Radio".  I am sorry, but I have been in Amateur Radio longer than most
> that espouse this and "the spirit of Amateur Radio" has never been
> "everything for free".  We have the ability to experiment, yes, but we
> also have the ability to compensate those that do develop new technology
> and we have been since the beginning of Amateur Radio.  Albeit, hams
> have always parted with their money begrudgingly.

So we're paying to become appliance operators now? I've been licensed for 13
years and I'm only 32 years old, so my ham career so far is a short one.
Yes, ham radio does have a cost, but it is possible to still make money if
your selling a product that has open hardware/software. I'll use Scott
Miller's products and the HamHUD project as an example, both are doing real
well I'm sure. (shameless plug, I'm the proud owner of 2 Tracker 2's, an
OT1+ and a HamHUD II :P) Just because something is open doesn't always mean
it's free, but free comes in another aspect and that is the freedom to
change something if one wants to and to further innovate. For me, that is
worth it's weight in gold.

I'm all for new forms of digital communications. D-STAR does look admittedly
cool, but with it being a closed system, how much can we honestly
experiment? Maybe I'm not seeing the big picture, but it looks like to me
that your basically being locked into buying radios from Icom and you
couldn't even build a device yourself without paying a hefty licensing fee.
That is bad in my opinion and NOT in the spirit of Amateur Radio. I keep
seeing Icom advertise "black box" radios, and I cringe everytime I see it.

Is this really where we want to see ham radio go? Do we want to be appliance
operators or keep advancing the radio art? I'm all for change and trying
something new, but I would hope ham radio stays in the experimentation
mentality rather than a gadget "look what I just bought from Best Buy and I
have no clue how it works!" one. How much skill does it take to pull a radio
out of a box and connect it to a PC? Any consumer could do it, especially in
today's world.

73
Stephen
K1LNX

On 9/23/07, AE5PL Lists <HamLists at ametx.com> wrote:
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Stephen H. Smith
> > Posted At: Saturday, September 22, 2007 4:30 PM
> > Subject: [aprssig] Re: D-STAR video on YouTube
> >
> > > Isn't this almost exactly what APRS does today?
> >
> > NO   You don't see the big picture of everyone else around you,
> weather
> > stations, range circles, objects, weather alerts, telemetry, etc
> > produced by APRS.    You won't be seen on the APRS Internet system or
> > findu, unless you just happen to be within range of the handful of
> > stations running D-Star-to-APRS gateways.
>
> Actually, almost every repeater system going into service now acts as a
> D-PRS IGate.  This is sort of taking the Mic-E concept in APRS and
> taking it to a whole new level by applying it to all D-STAR repeaters.
>
> Yes, the built-in GPS functionality of D-STAR radios is designed to be a
> tracker functionality (read "adjunct to voice").  However, nothing
> prevents someone (and many do) from running an APRS client with D-PRS
> Interface and getting that full APRS functionality on the D-STAR voice
> channel.  It's just not "built-in" to the radios like the Kenwood APRS
> radios.
>
> > To be really practical, you wind up going back to the two channels/two
> > radios (one for voice and one for data) as the classic APRS mode of
> > doing things. (Unless of course you use a dual-band radio with one
> band
> > on data and the other on voice.)
>
> As pointed out elsewhere, the type of texting used in APRS can be done
> on the D-STAR voice channel with little adverse effect.
>
> > licensed by a company called DVSI (Digital Voice Systems Inc).   You
> > can't create a D-Star-compatible radio without paying DVSI for the
> > privilege.
>
> For the privilege to use their Intellectual Property.  Radio
> manufacturers do this every day with the thousands of patents out there.
> The idea that everything in Amateur Radio should be free is something
> that some have espoused here claiming it is "in the spirit of Amateur
> Radio".  I am sorry, but I have been in Amateur Radio longer than most
> that espouse this and "the spirit of Amateur Radio" has never been
> "everything for free".  We have the ability to experiment, yes, but we
> also have the ability to compensate those that do develop new technology
> and we have been since the beginning of Amateur Radio.  Albeit, hams
> have always parted with their money begrudgingly.
>
> > Further, currently D-Star is only available on certain Icom radios.
> > (although theoretically it  IS  a format available to all radio mfrs
> if
> > they choose to embrace it and pay royalties to DVSI).
>
> And many are in the process of releasing D-STAR radios.  Don't ask me
> which ones because this information is confidential to the individual
> manufacturers.  This, like any other new technology, is championed by
> one manufacturer (or a few) while others watch to see if there is a
> market to offset their development costs.  If they see sufficient
> interest, they move forward.  If not, they don't (ever notice that
> Kenwood is the only manufacturer with APRS built in to the radio?).
>
> 73,
>
> Pete Loveall AE5PL
> pete at ae5pl.net
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> aprssig mailing list
> aprssig at lists.tapr.org
> https://lists.tapr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aprssig
>

-- 
Stephen Brown - ARS K1LNX
Johnson City, TN EM86uh
"I use FOSS daily to keep my boxen clean!!!"
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.tapr.org/pipermail/aprssig_lists.tapr.org/attachments/20070923/198dc4f1/attachment.html>