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Row: 6074m in 30 minutes. Had to push the heart rate up to get the 6K. Probably should have done a lighter workout coming off a day of rest after that last great row. 
D-Star: Hope or Hype? 
I finally clarified my concerns about the new digital amateur radio standard, D-Star, developed in Japan and being introduced to the US by Icom America. The standard introduces digital voice and data protocols with call-signs as an address for attempting connections. The high-speed data provides for linking access points over the Internet and making calls to stations, by call sign, connected to other access points. It also allows for connection to the Internet (at 128Kb/s, not a bad speed).
I asked the Icom America D-Star forums a series of questions, perhaps naively put and perhaps less objective and factual than they should have been. You can read the response (you MAY have to register, if you care).
| | First and most obvious is that the first responder, who was Icom's trainer and evangelist at one time, implicitly says that the same rules that apply to packet apply to D-STAR. All transmissions have to be "in the clear", no encryption, and no commercial content. That puts the onus on the sysop to tie down the gateway so that bad traffic is not "possible" from the Internet side and unlikely from the D-Star side. The comment is made in the response that "There are ways to filter this, which have been covered before." |
| | All the references to "have been covered before" refer to discussions a decade ago when the FCC clamped down (stomped) on packet radio bulletin boards. Today, bulletin board sysops filter and moderate email from anything other than known feeds and deny any meaningful access to the internet. The Web is a seething cauldron of violating content and a sysop is liable for violations as much as the end-user. To open up Web access to information sites, the sysop is going to need to put a very restrictive proxy in place and only allow port 80 access to the controlled sites. |
| | This is all well and good if D-STAR is a Voice Over IP solution for amateur radio with a lot more flexibility than IRLP or Echolink. It is seriously problematic for any other access to the Internet unless Part 97 is relaxed and the amateur bands can be used for casual personal communications if not general carriage of internet traffic. |
| | If that's not done, we'll need to politely thank the FCC, ARRL, and JARL and invest in legal unlicensed band data where we can carry what we want and not have to worry about either side of the equation being fools who can get us in legal hot water with the Feds. That means Icom and the US will lose a valuable investment by amateurs in a truly useful digital overlay that could make a huge difference in times of need. |
On further consideration, D-STAR is still as restricted as Packet on the data side and subject to the same luddite restrictions. How sad. The incentive to invest is quite small, similar to that of Packet, which is virtually none.
Another day
My assistant, Jordan, and I had an adventur packed day. Fire Department (volunteer) training and a trip to San Francisco (the City).
| | We went though a chapter of the FEMA approved Incident Control System (ICS) documentation. Then we went out and cleaned up the communications truck for an hour. |
| | Then Jordan and I went to San Francisco and walked the Embarcadero to the main Fisherman's Wharf area (the Cannery). A visit to Lark in the Morning, a pipe and tabor (a frame drum, actually), later and we walked back down Coumbus. Lovely lunch at Trattoria Pinochio and then back to the house. Lovely day if a little chilly. |
| | We did not buy the $450 D Irish flute. We did not buy the $200 dancing master's violin. We did not play with the bull terrier puppy (Jordan needed another half-hour to get over the getting to know you drill). Oh well. |
Puddles of sunlight
Many people stop to complement Jordan's looks. A few take the time to get him to relax and let them pet him. It's funny, but none of them treat me as other than a translator for the dog.
There was a dixieland band in one of the bars at Broadway and Columbus today. The sound of a trombone ripped through the timid noise of the automobile tires. Live, acoustic music is different. It has energy that recordings and reproduction gear never offers. We crossed the street and listened through the open windows ... open in spite of temperatures in the 40s. Then we moved on.
Jordan was in a pigeon chasing mood. He chased and they flew a few yards away. He had a grand time. He kept looking at me for confirmation that he was the mighty hunter and commander of the sidewalk. It reminded me of our national leadership. I can forgive him. He's a dog.
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Watching Orinda. Watching the world.
Last modified: Sunday, March 12, 2006 at 1:33 AM.
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