[aprssig] Re: D-STAR video on YouTube

[John Habbinga]

> 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, you can see the big picture.  You can transmit APRS formatted data 
over D-STAR with no problems.  You can even use your existing APRS client, 
such as UI-View32 with D-STAR.  Keep in mind that you can still use a TNC 
and use the D-STAR radio for APRS in areas without significant D-STAR 
infrastructure in place.

> 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 is not as disruptive as you might think.  The data will hold off until a 
voice transmission is complete.  When used with some VoIP systems, data can 
be injected into another's voice transmission.  Unless you just have dozens 
of people trying to use one channel for voice at the same time, then you can 
accomodate lots of data and still not interrupt voice communications.

VERY important: D-STAR is not a replacement for APRS, it is simply another 
mode that happens to accomodate APRS formatted traffic very well.