It a new year, 2010. So what happened to W7MOT DStar ?

Sometimes it seems we are so busy and into our hobby that it's difficult to appreciate what has been accomplished. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew there was more to DStar than just some new fad with some difficult to understand features. The system sounded complex. The features a bit mistifying, and how to run one of these systems haunted me, because I know that complex things just have more to pay attention to and more opportunity for something to go amiss. I figured this project would be a club project demanding more membership involvement than just a plain Jane analog FM digi repeater with a few mountain top links. For those not into DStar, you're missing something special and different. For those into DStar one needs to stop and comprehend what massive amounts of technology application when into making the system work. Is it successful? Many think the jury is still out. Many think it is all designed wrong with badly applied standards and mis-understood common technology (mostly the Not Invented Here crowd). My experience with DStar seems to support the idea it is expanding. As Amateur Radio hobbiest, this is a jump, making the old concept of repeaters much more trivial in the overall picture. You gotta be a good repeater person just to get the right to talk about DStar. One measure of success is how much is it catching on. I've got a few numbers to share about growth at just W7MOT.

Here are some interesting demographics on our registered population.
(remember, one only registeres on ONE Dstar Gateway, and the reason for registering with a particular site at the time of registeration may have changed several times. So the reason today is not necessarily the reason at the time of registration.)

• The site has 33 registered callsign user:
• 1 user is W7MOT which is the Gateway.
• 32 actual users.
• 10 are members of MARCA or ARA.
• 22 are users at large (Phoenix is home but mostly travel) (some travel and call Phoenix home)
• 1 is DX registered.

History of W7MOT operations:

• MARCA began discussing DStar: August 2006
• AA7OO designated as Administrator and Project Manager: August
• MARCA Purchase a DStar System: September 2006
• MARCA partnered with ARA who would provided the Site and facilities on White Tanks: Feburary 2007
• Facilitizing the White Tanks site: February 2007 thru March 2008
• Frequency allocation with ARCA: January 2007
• The system was first assembled in the Motorola Lab: October 2006
• The system repeaters went live standalone at the Motorola DStar Lab: January 2007
  • 2 registered users.
• The system was then moved to the AA7OO Lab for final build in May of 2007 and registered in USTrust Directory.
  • 2 registered users.
• The system was moved to White Tanks (standalone, no Internet): March 2008
  • 4 registered users.
• The system is fully operational with Internet: April 2008
  • 5 registered users.
  End of 2009 the system has 33 registered users.

Registration requests is yet another interesting growth activity different from users.
The registration process validates US Trust Directory, FCC License, Email confirmation, MARCA or ARA membership, and Administrators Discression Factor.
Year Requests Approved
2007         2               2
2008        22            15
2009        25            16

Over this same time period there have been many changes to DStar.

• Upgrade from DStar G1 to G2 (total rebuild of Linux server and DStar gateway)
• The release and addition of Dplus and its features.
  • Automatic Repeater Identification.
  • DStar DVDongle.
• DStar Monitor DSM and it's features.
• Automated Updates via a Scheduler.jar
• Reconfiguration for Remote Repeater and System control.
• Stablization of Internet RF Link.
• Many Linux updates and patches.

And several external services were added:

• Arizona Reflector REF009C
• Inclusion of W7MOT Registration on www.w7mot.org
• Inclusion of W7MOT Dashboard on www.w7mot.org
• W7MOT DStar Newsletter

And how did the rest of the world compare?

• By the end of 2006; there were less than 35 systems worldwide
• By the end of 2007; there were less than 60 systems worldwide
• By the end of 2008; there were less than 200 systems worldwide
• By the end of 2009; there are 560 DStar systems worldwide
• There are about 10,800 registered users worldwide (its a upward moving target)
• There are about 12 new registrations per day worldwide
• There are about 1,600 QSOs every 5 minutes worldwide.

All of this could not possibly be accomplished by any one individual.
(hopefully, I've not left overlooked someone's active participation)
N7ZPY           AC7FN          W7JSW
KD7KDO        KD7DCA        N0RMZ
N7TWW        N7MK             N7ISR
KC7KMP        K7LKL            WB9EXL
N7ZVJ           N7UV             KE7FEH
KE7FEG        W7ITM           KE7CLI
AC7R           KJ7KY             KD7CAC
AA7OO

The administrators of W7MOT are:

• AA7OO Norm Johnson
• W9FYI Justin Mann
• N7ZPY Dave Hall
• KD7KDO Paul Bennett
• N7TWW Chris Radicke
• N7MK Mark Krotz

What do Administrators Do?

• AA7OO is the system's lead Administrator.
• Those on the list primarily have the ability to "link" and "unlink" repeaters. You may contact any administrator to handle LINK requests.
• DStar Registrations are handled by AA7OO.
• AA7OO and KD7KDO are "control operators" and oversee functional operation of the system. Contact AA7OO or KD7KDO with any repeater problems or difficulties.

What are we going to do this next year?

1. It's been suggested to start a DStar NET of some kind or subject.
2. We need to have some type of "Repeater Linking Process" and method to request links quickly.
3. DStar Newsletter with Happenings and Contests

What should we do with our DStar system. Go to www.w7mot.org >> Forum >> (http://www.w7mot.net/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=80) Dstar and share what you think we need. You must be a least a "registered GUEST" or "Registered MARCA" to view and post Forum "threads and replies".