Worthing connects with amateur radio enthusiasts worldwide
Worthing Borough Council is the first Local Authority to host, in conjunction with Worthing & District Amateur Radio Club, a D-Star repeater which allows communication through amateur radio and the internet anywhere in the world.
Worthing & District Amateur Radio Club already hold radio session for the public in the Council’s Museum at weekends throughout the summer. Now, with the installation of their D-Star repeater on Council property in the Town Centre, amateur radio enthusiasts using a simple handportable in the area can talk, free of charge, to other users anywhere in the world.
What is D-STAR?
D-STAR (Digital Smart Technology for Amateur Radio) is an exciting new form of Amateur Radio that utilises digital communication and the Internet. D-STAR allows you to communicate world-wide with other operators who are connected to the D-STAR system. D-STAR radios can talk directly to each other by going through a repeater by using D-STAR voice or data transceivers.
If you travel into a new D-STAR repeater's coverage area and register your location with a short transmission, your location will be quickly updated around the D-STAR network. This allows someone to call you via any other D-STAR repeater, no matter where you may be.
If you call someone registered elsewhere, your voice will be routed to the appropriate repeater in digital form, where it is then heard just as you would expect if you were both using the same repeater.
What can D- STAR do for me?
Repeaters linked with D-STAR can also share information using the same D-STAR link. This information includes repeater operating information and statistics. System designers can add entirely new functions, sharing weather and control information, for example. Another possibility is "smart systems" that track user location via GPS.
Future of D-STAR
Imagine arriving in town as a visitor or on business. Connect a laptop or PDA to your D-STAR handheld, key in a few simple characters, and request a "what's happening" report from a local D-STAR kiosk server. In seconds, you're viewing text listing meetings, clubs, electronics stores, and events. Need a weather check? A few more characters and the screen fills with the current report.
Join the digital Amateur radio revolution today! For more details visit http://www.d-staruk.co.uk
Further information
Further information on Worthing & District Amateur Radio Club can be found at http://www.wadarc.org.uk/
For those technically minded, the repeater details are:
- VHF:
- 145.650 output
- 145.050 input
- Call sign GB7JH C
- UHF:
- 439.7125 output
- 430.7125 input
- Call sign GB7JH B
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