I posted this on another Forum, and wanted to put it here, too. Hopefully I have it in the correct area.
I have recently purchased a D-Star capable radio. I bought it, versus a regular radio because of a friend telling me "How great D-Star is."
After asking him a number of questions, which were unanswered, I have joined this group hoping to get some help.
The radio is quality, good transmit, receive, audio quality, etc. So far, extremely OVERPRICED vs performance, even on sale.
I haven't found anything directed to D-Star beginners. (Other than the Icom HT, ID-31, maybe) I have found a few Videos on YouTube, but I believe there has to be something else. I've got the basic understanding, but can't find anything as to how to implement the all of the features, including the two different speeds of data.
One example is, I was told/shown how to set up one D-Star repeater. (Even though the repeater isn't connected to the internet) In the set up process, it is set up to "all" people (having one of the settings to CQCQCQ). While having all of the same settings for the same repeater, but changing the CQCQCQ to an individuals Call Sign. When asking "Why?" I was told that we could have a direct link, or something like that. He then went on to set up the same repeater, same Freq, 10-15 more times, but changing only the individuals call sign.
I was appreciating the help, but immediately thought that this was a waste of resource and time. There has to be a better way to utilize this.
Another source of frustration is the ICOM programming software, What a Pain In The @rse!! This also seems to be OVERPRICED and UnderPerforming. I have used other programming software, and this $ucks.
I have had to search out CHIRP, and even though I haven't got it to work, it seems to be more user friendly.
I am sure that others have had similar feelings. Are there any YouTube videos, or other things that can make my Icom Life easier?
Thanks for the time and the links.......
I have recently purchased a D-Star capable radio. I bought it, versus a regular radio because of a friend telling me "How great D-Star is."
After asking him a number of questions, which were unanswered, I have joined this group hoping to get some help.
The radio is quality, good transmit, receive, audio quality, etc. So far, extremely OVERPRICED vs performance, even on sale.
I haven't found anything directed to D-Star beginners. (Other than the Icom HT, ID-31, maybe) I have found a few Videos on YouTube, but I believe there has to be something else. I've got the basic understanding, but can't find anything as to how to implement the all of the features, including the two different speeds of data.
One example is, I was told/shown how to set up one D-Star repeater. (Even though the repeater isn't connected to the internet) In the set up process, it is set up to "all" people (having one of the settings to CQCQCQ). While having all of the same settings for the same repeater, but changing the CQCQCQ to an individuals Call Sign. When asking "Why?" I was told that we could have a direct link, or something like that. He then went on to set up the same repeater, same Freq, 10-15 more times, but changing only the individuals call sign.
I was appreciating the help, but immediately thought that this was a waste of resource and time. There has to be a better way to utilize this.
Another source of frustration is the ICOM programming software, What a Pain In The @rse!! This also seems to be OVERPRICED and UnderPerforming. I have used other programming software, and this $ucks.
I have had to search out CHIRP, and even though I haven't got it to work, it seems to be more user friendly.
I am sure that others have had similar feelings. Are there any YouTube videos, or other things that can make my Icom Life easier?
Thanks for the time and the links.......