Gordon wrote in news:sIKdnZ_ZU4
:

What's next?


http://www.tapr.org/pdf/DStar_brochure.pdf

Icom and the South Carolina State Emergency Preparedness Division, along
with many hospital organizations, is installing a fully-interconnected
Icom D-star DIGITAL amateur radio system across our state to
interconnect emergency communications people to our extensive network of
ham radio operators that did a fantastic, if I may say so myself as a
ham, job of providing both health-and-welfare and emergency
communications to the people of South Carolina with worldwide service
during Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Armed with so many trained emergency
radio operators to provide great communications in terrible conditions
when normal communications simply were swamped or just failed, EPD has
funded many VHF/UHF linked repeater systems across our state over the
hurricane-proof Educational Television microwave and fiber optic
network.

D-star is the latest extension to the already installed system.

Not only will it provide voice, but it also provides data streaming
right to your ham radio handheld Icom D-star walkie....pretty
impressive.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/12/14/1/?nc=1
Icom is working with hundreds of amateur repeater groups and is funding
a great bit of base station hardware to the groups' repeater
installations...in hopes, of course, the hams will ante up and buy D-
star radios from them, at a profit, over their competitors' equipment,
like Yaesu. Icom's laying out a lot of money to make it a reality
across the planet.

http://www.d-staruk.co.uk/categoryre...ategoryid=3684

http://www.soara.org/dstar/

http://www.washcoares.org/d-star/ico...000V-RP4000VD-
Brochure.pdf

Of course, just like in the past, commercial communications interests
like Marisat and their government regulator lackeys will cause massive
footdragging to prevent any such system from becoming a marine radio
until it can be hobbled and rendered useless like DSC/GMDSS for boats.

Next thing you know, some boater will get the idea he could call home on
the D-star data link via Skype for free from 100 miles offshore to the
marine radio D-star repeater on top of the 2,200' TV tower....or talk
directly to the marina in Charleston from his marine D-star radio in Key
West over the internet WITHOUT paying some god-awful $3/min and
$100/month fees to some old marine telephone company. We can't have
that, can we? Of course not!

Dstar CAN provide that internet link to your boat anchored out about 50
miles from a D-star repeater you've been dreaming about. You'll need a
ham license....easy to get, now.