how do I find a station

[KE5KTU]

I am playing with the idea of adding d star, but I want to know if it will do something specific. I have not been able to find the answer, so perhaps someone can help.
Assume that I do not have internet acess, assume that I am not familiar with the area that I am in, however there is a specific station I want to call, and I have found a d star repeater. The question is, will I be able to use d star to talk to the station I want to.
Question two, assume I do not know exactly where I am, but I have found a d star repeater. The station that wants to talk to me does not know where I am. Will that station be able to find and talk to me ?
Thanks in advance for your answers.
Jake, KE5KTU

[n5ebw]

I am playing with the idea of adding d star, but I want to know if it will do something specific. I have not been able to find the answer, so perhaps someone can help.
Assume that I do not have internet acess, assume that I am not familiar with the area that I am in, however there is a specific station I want to call, and I have found a d star repeater. The question is, will I be able to use d star to talk to the station I want to.

As long as you are registered with at least one gateway on the trust server, you can call the station from the "found" repeater provided you know the RF frequencies and callsign of the repeater you are using.  Just program in the callsign of the station you are wanting to call in "URCALL" and make sure you are using the gateway in RPT2.  The traffic will route to the last repeater system that operator keyed down on.

Question two, assume I do not know exactly where I am, but I have found a d star repeater. The station that wants to talk to me does not know where I am. Will that station be able to find and talk to me ?
Thanks in advance for your answers.
Jake, KE5KTU

As long as you have keyed down on that repeater to let the database know you are there, all traffic will route to you when they program your callsign in the "URCALL" field of their radio.  This, of course, implies again, that both of you are registered on a gateway somewhere.  This also implies you have set up your radio correctly to talk to that D-Star repeater locally.

[KE5KTU]

Ok, so if I understand you correctly I will be able to find my station I am looking for. By registering, that means as long as I have transmitted on the d star repeater that I am in range of and the same for the other station I am wanting to talk to.
If you are up for another question. Will the station i am talking to and me tie up two repeaters, or will the digital allow multiple users at the same time. I am curious as I do not know a lot about d star and I hate tieing up a lot of repeaters if unecessary.
Thanks for the information.
Jake

[n5ebw]

Ok, so if I understand you correctly I will be able to find my station I am looking for. By registering, that means as long as I have transmitted on the d star repeater that I am in range of and the same for the other station I am wanting to talk to.
If you are up for another question. Will the station i am talking to and me tie up two repeaters, or will the digital allow multiple users at the same time. I am curious as I do not know a lot about d star and I hate tieing up a lot of repeaters if unecessary.
Thanks for the information.
Jake

Clarify for me what you mean by "station I am looking for"?

When you make a gateway call, you are tying up two repeaters,  because you are activating RF components on both sides. The repeater you are talking to locally, and the one your audio is coming out on across the gateway.

[KE5KTU]

ok, by that I mean if I wanted to talk to you N5EBW and I don't know where you are. If I am on a d star repeater in New York, all I would need to do is put your call sign in my radio and it would "route" to you ?

[n5ebw]

Correct, provided you have already programmed in the local repeater information for the one you are talking directly to.

[KE5KTU]

ok, thank you very much.

[Pete AE5PL]

Ok, so if I understand you correctly I will be able to find my station I am looking for. By registering, that means as long as I have transmitted on the d star repeater that I am in range of and the same for the other station I am wanting to talk to.

"Registering on a gateway" means you must have physically registered with a gateway in the network.  This should normally be done with the gateway located nearest to you.  Registration is controlled by the owner of the gateway.  Use the repeater directory on this site to determine the closest repeater/gateway to you.

If you are up for another question. Will the station i am talking to and me tie up two repeaters, or will the digital allow multiple users at the same time. I am curious as I do not know a lot about d star and I hate tieing up a lot of repeaters if unecessary.
Thanks for the information.
Jake

Yes, you will tie up both repeaters for the time of your transmissions.  D-STAR is a digital protocol, but not a multiplexed protocol.  It is a streaming protocol that basically says "When I am transmitting, I have the frequency".

Hope this helps.

73,

Pete AE5PL

[WY0X]

An additional comment that isn't very clear in the above posts.  Everyone's being careful to point out that you must be registered on a Gateway, but they've forgotten to point out the ultra-obvious to you...

BOTH the system you are on, and the system your friend is on MUST be equipped with a Gateway (which also means they're connected to the Internet).

It's certainly possible in your travels you will come across "stand-alone" D-STAR repeaters with no Gateway and no Internet access.  In some cases, the owner/operators are still working on getting Internet circuits to the repeater site, in other cases, they'll never be connected to the Internet.

Just a little "gotcha" that wasn't covered... both systems MUST have a Gateway and Internet access, for any of the above features to apply.  No Gateway, no linking... it's just a repeater then.