Friday, November 07, 2014

VE7HSP - A New Callsign for my Free Star* Hotspot


Continuing my learning curve of open source D-Star hot spots and repeaters I have registered a new callsign with Industry Canada and assigned it to my Free Star* simplex hotspot. I chose the new callsign as a play on the word HotSPot.

VE7HSP


For the record, personal / private simplex hotspots are typically assigned the amateur operators primary callsign. This means that your radio and your hotspot all use the same callsign, so I'm kind of bucking the trend with this configuration. I have a motivation though because I'm also working on a Free Star* full duplex repeater for the local club and I wanted to understand all the nuances of hotspots vs. repeaters vs. gateways, etc under this world of D-Star technology. It all seemed a necessary learning curve of reading, trying, researching, asking questions of others, and experimentation.

On a side note I listened in on the PAPA D-Star round table tech net last night and learned a few new things as well.

D-STAR Round Table: (Weekly Net)
Date: Every Thursday
Time: 8:00 PM
Frequency: REFLECTOR 12A & most PAPA D-STAR repeaters.
Comments: Technical net for D-STAR fans. Topics change weekly and questions are welcome.