The Colorado Council of Amateur Radio Clubs (CCARC) and Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) teamed up to encourage the adoption of D-STAR technology in Colorado. To date, there are no D-STAR machines on the air in the state so HRO offered to provide equipment to a suitable ham radio group to help get things started. The CCARC, the repeater coordinating body for the state, agreed to assist in the selection process. According to the letter from the CCARC and HRO, the equipment grant was awarded to the Colorado D-STAR Association, a newly-formed group of radio amateurs in Colorado. The donated gear is a “full stack” of ICOM D-STAR repeaters: 2M, 70 cm and 1.2 GHz.
This is a very creative way to get the ball rolling on a new technology for ham radio. Yes, HRO has a vested interest in having a D-STAR machine on the air in the Denver area….they will sell more D-STAR radios. But it is good to see that they coughed up some equipment to help get this going.
The ICOM web page on D-STAR is here. For an overview of D-STAR technology, see my CQ VHF article.
There is an article posted on the ARRL web site: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/05/08/10086/