[aprssig] Re: D-STAR video on YouTube

[Stephen H. Smith]

Stephen - K1LNX wrote:
> Found this on YouTube today:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuPy34EPYf0
>
> 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.   

>
> You can send messages with APRS, and if you were to add voice, and a 
> way to use control the traffic, then you would have something similar, 
> but practically with APRS you would have to be on one freq for voice 
> and one for data.  With DStar one radio and 1 freq pair can handle 
> both voice and data sexlessly.

Since this messaging is going on on the same channel (presumably) as 
voice operation with the same radio, it could become VERY disruptive of 
voice ops if a large amount of text messaging takes place, since other 
VOICE users can't transmit while a text message is being sent.   

It's one thing to have a slight delay on a data-only channel while your 
data transmission waits for a clear channel and it's turn to transmit.  
Real-time  fast-fire  back-and-forth  voice operation would be much less 
usable with random unpredictable delays caused by text message bursts on 
the same channel.

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.)





> Without proprietary hardware/software?
>
> 73
> Stephen
> K1LNX
>
> -- 


If anything, D-Star is MORE proprietary since every D-Star radio 
contains voice codec (analog-to-digital COder-DECoder) software/firmware 
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.   

[Anyone is free to write an APRS application without charge as long as 
you acknowledge that the APRS label is copyright of WB4APR. ]


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).

[APRS can be freely added to any existing radio from any mfr.]





--

Stephen H. Smith    wa8lmf (at) aol.com
EchoLink Node:      14400    [Think bottom of the 2M band]
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> Stephen Brown - ARS K1LNX
> Johnson City, TN EM86uh
> "I use FOSS daily to keep my boxen clean!!!"
>
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