D-STAR International Coordination Council
Since late summer of 2008, several people have been working to create an organization that would help us to develop the D-STAR technology within a consistent framework, and to gain the consent and assistance of key organizations already associated with D-STAR. We are now ready to discuss the results of those efforts.
This notice is to announce the formation of the D-STAR International Coordination Council. The D-STAR ICC will provide documentation, consistency, and a framework within which new development and testing can take place. This organization has the support of the JARL, ICOM, and several key individuals associated with the D-STAR network. Some of the specific purposes of the organization are to:
- support the cooperation and coordination of development efforts for products, systems, and services related to the ongoing operation of the International D-STAR network and related technologies.
- provide a unified forum for expressing the needs and desires of the D-STAR user community to relevant manufacturers and other organizations.
- define additional items that are not covered by the D-STAR standard, but are agreed by signatories as essential to the deployment of D-STAR networks in particular the regulatory aspects and issues of operators' licenses.
- ensure interoperability between differing manufacturers of D-STAR application tools or equipment.
From the high-level objectives, you can see that the key organizations are interested in working with the User Community to enhance the D-STAR capabilities. This is a HUGE step for us!
A prime consideration is the fact that the D-STAR ICC is supported by the JARL, who owns the D-STAR protocol, and by ICOM, the current major manufacturer of commercial D-STAR equipment. This means that we won’t be operating independently, but in cooperation to move D-STAR forward.
Since this will be a world-wide effort, there is still much work to accomplish in order to establish an effective organization. We expect to have most of the details worked out in the next few weeks, and to begin work on some key tasks, such as creating comprehensive documentation for the two primary D-STAR protocols – the Over-the-Air protocol, and the Gateway-to-Gateway protocol. While we are working to get these published, we also intend to create some standards for development and testing that will allow a developer to gain “D-STAR Compatibility” status for new efforts.
As the new organization develops, we’ll have information available for you at the web site
http://WWW.D-STAR-ICC.Org. If you’re interested in creating and maintaining that web site, please contact N5MIJ at D-STAR-ICC.Org, and put “D-STAR ICC Web Site” in the subject line.
D-Star is growing and evolving. Here’s a chance for us to positively impact that evolution.
73,
Jim McClellan, N5MIJ
