Setting Up Your Radio...

By now you know that D-STAR is different from the repeaters we are used to. We need to program some information into our radios for them to work properly. Since this can be somewhat confusing and intimidating to do by hand, it is recommended that you use the programming software avaialble for your radio.

For a good discussion and examples of manual programming for the ID-800, see AE7Q's ID-800 Usage page.

MyCALL, UrCALL, RPT1 Call and RPT2 Call are the parameters we are going to set up. It is a good idea to set up a memory channel for each person, system and combination of cross band or gateway options you plan to use. This let's you get on the air quickly by having the necessary info already programmed in your radio... just turn to a memory channel and go.

For details on programming your radio to use the various gateway features, see our Features page.

MYCALL

This identifies your radio. We have more than one ham in our house, so I would program each of our calls into a different memory. That way, if my daughter gets her homework done, she can borrow my radio to talk to her friends.

URCALL

This is the station you want to talk to. Most of the time we set this to "CQCQCQ" as we will be calling "CQ" or doing ragchew/roundtable work. When using the gateway, URCALL will designate who you want to contact or the gateway feature you want to use. To use the gateway to route your traffic, program URCALL for the station you want to contact. The gateway will do a database check and send your traffic to the last location the callsign was heard. Again, set up a memory channel for each of your frequent gateway contacts.

RPT1 Call

This is the callsign of the local repeater you use to access the D-STAR network. The 8th character in the callsign is the "switch", and corresponds to the band you are transmitting on. Insert spaces as necessary so that the switch is in the 8th position. The "_" represents a space. D-STAR "switch" convention designates A as 1.2 GHz, B as 70cm, and C as 2 meters. Below is the WA6IRC DV repeater configuration:

23cm DV 1286.100-	70cm DV 447.040-	2M DV 147.560 -2.555
WA6IRC_A	WA6IRC_B	WA6IRC_C

RPT2 Call

RPT1 Call is the local repeater we use to access the D-STAR system, and RPT2 Call designates where we want our traffic to go to. We can choose one of the other modules, or the gateway, WA6IRC_G. For your traffic to be heard by linked gateways or DV Dongle users, please set RPT2 Call to the callsign of the gateway you are using. Remember to add spaces as nessesary to put the "switch" in the 8th position so the system knows where to send your traffic. We recommend setting your RPT2 Call to WA6IRC_G so linked gateways and DV Dongle users can hear you.

Gateway CQ D-STAR Calculator

Here is a handy tool for figuring out D-STAR Gateway CQ programming parameters: D-STAR Calculator. Select a port to access WA6IRC, your destination gateway and band to see a customized list of programming parameters. Click here for more D-STAR Calculator info.

EXAMPLES

Below is a programming example of our recommended configuration for single module use, in this case the 2 meter module, WA6IRC_C. This setup allows DV Dongle users and linked gateways & reflectors to hear your traffic. Note that RPT2 Call is set to WA6IRC_G. Set RPT1 Call to the band you will be transmitting on.

Frequency

Call Sign

Operating Freq	Dup	Offset Freq	Mode	Your	Rpt1	Rpt2	Call Type
147.5600	-DUP	2.5550	DV	CQCQCQ	WA6IRC C	WA6IRC G	2M Port & Gateway

The example below shows programming for gateway CQ calls to K6MDD A, B and C modules. URCALL is set to /K6MDD_A, B or C. For the first three entries, we are accessing the system on 70cm, thus RPT1 Call is set to WA6IRC_B. The last entries access the system on 23cm, so RPT1 Call is set to WA6IRC_A. All entries use the gateway, so RPT2 Call is set to WA6IRC_G.

Frequency

Call Sign

Operating Freq	Dup	Offset Freq	Mode	Your	Rpt1	Rpt2	Call Type
147.5600	-DUP	2.5550	DV	/K6MDD A	WA6IRC C	WA6IRC G	Gateway CQ to K6MDD A
147.5600	-DUP	2.5550	DV	/K6MDD B	WA6IRC C	WA6IRC G	Gateway CQ to K6MDD B
147.5600	-DUP	2.5550	DV	/K6MDD C	WA6IRC C	WA6IRC G	Gateway CQ to K6MDD C
447.0400	-DUP	5.0000	DV	/K6MDD A	WA6IRC B	WA6IRC G	Gateway CQ to K6MDD A
447.0400	-DUP	5.0000	DV	/K6MDD B	WA6IRC B	WA6IRC G	Gateway CQ to K6MDD B
447.0400	-DUP	5.0000	DV	/K6MDD C	WA6IRC B	WA6IRC G	Gateway CQ to K6MDD C

Below is a table summarizing what we have just talked about. The first row shows the recomended default single port configuration. Note that RPT2 Call is set to WA6IRC_G. This allows connected gateways and DV Dongle users to hear your traffic. The next two rows demonstrate crosbanding to both the local 70 and 23cm ports and simulcasting on all three local ports. The fourth demonstrates calling a specific station, KC1RON, using the gateway to find Ron, while the last shows how to call "CQ" thru the gateway to a remote system 70cm port, in this case K6MDD_B. In each case you are transmitting on 70cm. Click here here for a couple other examples. For a good discussion and examples of manual programming for the ID-800, see AE7Q's ID-800 Usage page.

CALL TYPE	MYCALL	URCALL	RPT1 CALL	RPT2 CALL
70cm MODULE & GATEWAY QSO	KB6THO	CQCQCQ	WA6IRC_B	WA6IRC_G
70cm to 23cm LOCAL CROSSBAND	KB6THO	CQCQCQ	WA6IRC_B	WA6IRC_A
ALL LOCAL PORT SIMULCAST	KB6THO	WA6IRC _ _	WA6IRC_B	WA6IRC_G
CALLSIGN CALL	KB6THO	KC1RON	WA6IRC_B	WA6IRC_G
REMOTE GATEWAY CQ	KB6THO	/K6MDD_B	WA6IRC_B	WA6IRC_G

WA6IRC D-STAR Single Band Programming Parameters

For single band operation we recommend programming RPT2 Call with WA6IRC_G. As mentioned above, this allows connected gateways and DV Dongle users to hear your traffic. Below is a table showing programming parameters for single band operation.

Frequency

Call Sign

Operating Freq	Dup	Offset Freq	Mode	Your	Rpt1	Rpt2	Call Type
147.5600	-DUP	2.5550	DV	CQCQCQ	WA6IRC C	WA6IRC G	2M Port & Gateway
447.0400	-DUP	5.0000	DV	CQCQCQ	WA6IRC B	WA6IRC G	70cm Port & Gateway
1286.1000	-DUP	12.0000	DV	CQCQCQ	WA6IRC A	WA6IRC G	23cm Port & Gateway

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