FRRL D-STAR Forum, Sat. Jan. 5, 2008
The FRRL D-Star Forum was held on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 from 8:30 AM until 12 noon.
This was an opportunity to discover the new
mode of D-Star, learn about the equipment and
meet the growing community of active area hams
who are interested in Digital Data and Voice. There
was 3 presentations as well as operating
demonstrations of the capabilities of D-Star.
Attendees were invited to bring their D-Star radios to have the
latest updated area frequencies downloaded to their radios.
LOCATION:
Papa G's Route 47 in Elburn, Illinois
Papa G's is located on the west side of 47 just
one block south of the railroad tracks in downtown
Elburn. Attendees met in the room at the rear of the
restaurant.
TIME:
Breakfast commenced at 8:30AM for coffee, rolls
and other treats, which were included.
The first of three 45-minute presentations started at
9:00 AM.
ADMISSION:
There was a small admission charge
to defray the cost of the meeting room:
$6.00 for FRRL members
$7.00 for non-FRRL members.
The admission was waived to all hams joining
the FRRL at this event. There were 37 attendees and 5 new members joined.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
0900 - 0945 Session I: "What is D-Star?"
This was a basic introduction
to the mode of operation and an
overview of the combined
data and voice digital
systems. An explanation of the
world-wide Gateway system was
presented.
0945 - 1000 Break
10:00 - 10:45 Session II: "Programming the D-Star Radio"
A complete description of the 4 callsigns
that make a D-Star contact, and how to
make a gateway contact without manually
programming the radio.
10:45 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 11:45 Session III: "Data and Voice demonstrations"
An introduction to the DATA capabilities
that are built-in to the radios. Included
topics are D-APRS, D-Chat, and 1.2 GHz High Speed
operation.
11:45 - 12:00 Session IV: "The future plans of the FRRL system"
A review of the recent changes in pictures.
ALSO - a brief introduction to the Digital Voice
USB dongle, homebrew D-Star radios and other
new advances was presented...
12:00 Optional Lunch -
Turkey Sandwich or Spaghetti
ADDITIONAL $6.50 per person
Attendees were invited to contact DSTAR (at) FRRL (dot) ORG if they had planned on attending. There was ample
room available - there was room tp accommodate far more than the anticipated 20
attendees (37 showed up!). The general public was invited, you did not need to be
an FRRL member to attend!
- 73, Kermit W9XA
Pictures from the event
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