‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM SEPTEMBER 2007 QST  PAGES 33 AND 100  ‰
POPULARITY AND EVENTUALLY OVERTAKE PERHAPS REPLACE ANALOG OPERATION.  THE
QUESTIONS ARE HOW FAST, AND HOW MESSY, THE PROCESS WILL BE.  MY GUESS IS
NOT FAST BECAUSE OF THE VAST ANALOG INFRASTRUCTURE WE HAVE NOW, AND PRETTY
MESSY BECAUSE OF THE STRAITJACKET OF THA
‰  FROM PAGE 100  ‰
WA0ROI/333 WA2VKS/336 WA4OEJ/343 WA7NB/331 WA8NMN/346 WA9VGY/353 WB2RAJ/336

OPERATION IS PROHIBITED 144R1 144R5 AND 145R5 145R8 BASED ON AN EXCHANGE OF
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE FCCS WILLIAM CROSS, IN WHICH HE EXPRESSED THE
OPINION THAT IF D STAR IS AS DESCRIBED MORE LIKE A STORE AND FORWARD PACKET
SYSTEM THAN A VOICE REPEATER IT ISNT REALLY A REPEATER AND IS NOT SUBJECT
TO REPEATER RULES.  THIS OPINION, AND THE LOGIC BEHIND IT, DOESNT HOLD
WATER WITH MANY FREQUENCY COORDINATORS, BUT THERE ARE SOME REPEATERS ON THE
AIR NOW IN REGIONS OF THE SPECTRUM GENERALLY CONSIDERED NOT TO BE REPEATER
SEGMENTS.  AS D STAR GROWS, ANALOG RADIO USERS, WHO WILL BE IN THE MAJORITY
FOR A LONG TIME TO COME, WILL BEGIN TO HAVE PROBLEMS WITH DIGITAL AND
ANALOG SIGNALS MIXED IN THE SAME SPECTRUM.  A D STAR TRANSMISSION HEARD ON
AN ANALOG RECEIVER SOUNDS LIKE THE RUSH OF OPEN SQUELCH.  EXCEPT YOU CANT
JUST TURN UP THE SQUELCH CONTROL AND MAKE IT GO AWAY.  ALMOST EVERY
REPEATER TODAY HAS SEVERAL NEIGHBORS ON THE SAME CHANNEL 100 TO 200 MILES
AWAY, AND ALMOST EVERY REPEATER USER HEARS ONE OR MORE OF THEIR CO CHANNEL
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W0TM/349 W1ECS/335 W1GX/360 W1IKB/356 W1IQW/330 W1RQ/349 W1YN/343 W2APU/359
W2CNS/338 W2PK/339 W2QXA/346 W2WG/330 W2YE/332 W3HRF/335 W3OP/336 W3QO/356
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APRS AND OTHER NETWORKING OPERATIONS.  BUT HOW WILL D STAR FIT?  BEYOND
USER OPERATION, D STAR HAS INTRODUCED SOME NEW CHALLENGES TO THE WORLD OF
VHF AND UHF REPEATERS.  THE US AND OTHER COUNTRIES WITH SIGNIFICANT V/UHF
OPERATION HAVE BAND PLANS IN PLACE DEVELOPED FOR OUR CURRENT ANALOG
TECHNOLOGY 15 OR 20 KHZ CHANNEL STEPS ON 2 METERS, AND 25 KHZ CHANNEL STEPS
ON 70 CM.  IN ALL BUT THE MOST RURAL AREAS, THE 2 METER BAND IS FULLY
ALLOCATED.  THERES LITTLE OR NO ROOM FOR ADDITIONAL REPEATERS.  IN OUR
BIGGER METRO AREAS, THE 70 CM BAND IS ALSO FULL.  WHERE DO WE PUT NEW D
STAR REPEATERS?  HOW DO WE ACCOMMODATE THIS NEW MODE, AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
ITS MORE EFFICIENT USE OF SPECTRUM D STAR REPEATERS WORK FINE WITH 10 KHZ
CHANNEL STEPS, WHEREAS ANALOG FM REPEATERS WORK BETTER WITH 20 KHZ STEPS.
FREQUENCY COORDINATORS AND REPEATER COUNCILS ARE STRUGGLING WITH THIS
QUESTION NOW.  THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS.  THE HAMS WHO WANT TO RUN D STAR
REPEATERS NOW WONT BE CONTAINED.  SOME ARE TAKING DOWN ANALOG REPEATERS AND
REPLACING THEM WITH DIGITAL MACHINES, FOR THE TIME BEING WASTING SOME
SPECTRUM.  AND SOME ARE SQUEEZING INTO AREAS OF 2 METERS WHERE REPEATER
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OH1MLZ/334 OH3WS/344 PA3ABH/336 PA3CSR/335 PP5SZ/340 PY3BXW/357 RZ3AM/330
S51MA/341 SM3QJ/341 SM5CLE/338 SM6CTC/338 SM7MPM/335 SP5DIR/336 UN7JX/333
VE1AI/346 VE3EXY/330 VE6FR/333 W0BL/358 W0GG/333 W0HH/336 W0SBE/356
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