No one from among our net controllers was available to do net control tonight, so Terry VE3NSV kindly stepped forward to do control. Thanks for doing it, Terry – it was very much appreciated.
Take it away, Terry:
The topic of discussion for the net was D-Star vs Astro, what is your preference and why? We had a total of 17 check-ins but not many opinions on either as most people have no idea about either. Time to do some research and present it to your local club or repeater council and make it happen.
KD8CPP Tyler – PARKERSBURG WV – No opinion
WB4ZCP Steve – Little Rock AR – No Opinion
KE4NOY – Matt – MURFREESBORO TN – No Opinion
VE3XLS – Mike – Toronto ON – D-Star
VE3FIS – Toronto – Ride along with Mike (or riding Mike…)
KC0RBC – Harlend -West Saint Paul MN – Likes Icom so D-Star
VE6PWT – Bob – Calgary AB – No Opinion
W8JUZ – Laura – Howell MI – Icom Girl so D-Star
KD8EMM – Ryan -PARKERSBURG WV – No Opinion
VA3AWP – Andrew – Brampton ON – No Opinion
WW4MSK – Wally – BOGART GA – D-Star
KC8TCQ Keith – Napoleon OH – No Opinion
VE3ILE Bill – Scarborough ON – No Opinion
VE3TNH – Ray – BRADFORD, ON No Opinion
KI4HEE Bob – Conway SC – No Opinion
VE3SY – Paul – Petersburg ON – No Opinion
VE3HCD – Max – Niagara Falls ON – No Opinion
Looks to be 17 check-ins for the net that ran close to 40 minutes tonight.
There is now a D-Star repeater in Muskegon County, Michigan. 147.32 MHz.
Yep, D-Star is on my want list. Problem is I can get a real nice HF rig for not much more. The folks around here that have them love them. The ’32 repeater was analog until a few weeks ago. It’s use has drastically increased since going to the D-Star protocol.
Although any radio manufacturer can make D-Star radios, the info to create a computer program to decode D-Star on a PC is not. I would like to see that change so D-Star transmissions could be understood without the need for a D-Star radio.
The SHF D-Stars can be used to connect PCs together and I think that is sweet. D-Star will be a big thing soon.
But don’t worry folks, FM analog won’t disappear anytime soon.