September 13-15, 2002Denver, CO
More than 100 of the most active Amateur Radio digital enthusiasts from around the world turned out in Denver, Colorado, September 13-15 for the 2002 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference. This year's event marked the 21st conference. Agenda topics ranged from APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) to high-speed digital networking and software- defined radio (SDR), among others.
See pictures from the conference.
Proceedings are available.
Friday
Friday's forums were dominated by discussions of APRS. Topics included a discussion of single-wire APRS weather stations, high-altitude balloon tracking and recovery presented by representatives from Edge of Space Sciences, APRS in the Sydney Olympics, and the versatile Findu.com on-line APRS database.
PIC-E II and Findu 
Steve Dimse, K4HG
Tiny-Trak, Wx-Trak, Pic-Pak
Byon, N6BG
APRS and the Olympics
Darryl Smith, VK2DTS
Saturday
Saturday's sessions included forums on the prospect of using consumer wireless devices (popularly known as 802.11b or 'Wi-Fi' devices) to create high-speed Amateur Radio digital networks. A forum on HF digital voice also drew considerable interest. One of Saturday's highlights was a demonstration of the new ICOM D-Star digital radio system. At the heart of DStar is the ID-1 transceiver, which ICOM had on display at the Dayton Hamvention last spring. The ID-1 operates on 1.2 GHz and can communicate using FM analog voice, digital voice, and data. The transceiver can be programmed with a desktop or laptop computer, or it can be operated in a more conventional manner via a remote front panel. ICOM's Ray Novak, KC7JPA, said D-Star will be available in the US in November.
1-Wire APRS Weather Station William Beals, N0XGA
APSWXNET/CWOP - A Beneficial Partnership of NOAA, Amatuer Radio and Other Good Citizens
Russ Chadwick, KB0TVJ
802.11 for Ham Radio
Brad, WA8WDQ
802.11 and Ham Radio
Darryl Smith, VK2DTS
ICOM D-STAR
Ray Novak, KC7JPA, ICON
Debian Linux
Bdale Garbee, KB0G
A Software-Defined Radio for the Masses, Parts 1 and 2
Gerald Youngblood, AC5OG
DDS
Steve Bible, N7HPR
Saturday Banquet
Bruce Perens, K6BP, was the featured speaker at the Saturday evening banquet. His entertaining presentation stressed the notion that individuals, not just corporations, still can innovate and invent. Perens called for grassroots development of Amateur Radio software and hardware according to the Open Source model. He also encouraged the audience to become educators, because, he explained, 'the future strength of Amateur Radio is in our value as technology teachers.'
Banquest Talk
Bruce Perens, K6BP
Sunday Technical Seminar
SDR was another hot topic at the conference and the Sunday seminar was devoted exclusively to that subject. Projects such as GNU Radio promise a day when amateur transceivers will achieve extraordinary levels of flexibility. Under the SDR paradigm, software, rather than the hardware, literally will 'define' the way in which a radio operates. Matt Ettus, N2JMI, presented the Sunday Technical Seminar.
Conference Photos
Over 100 people attended the main technical
presentations.
Bruce Perens, K6BP, was the banquet
keynote speaker.
Besides all the technical talks at the dcc,
there was also a demonstration room
where people brought their projects to
show and tell. there was also a flip-chart
to encourage impromptu discussions.
Matt Ettus, N2JMI, presenting his softwaredefined
radio seminar on sunday, which
ran four hours.
