GB7DC

I have been playing with some Digital D-Star radio over the past few months and have now come to a point where I want to take the experiments to the next level and put something on the air to bring D-Star into the area as we currently have no local D-Star coverage.

I have had the kind offer of a local radio site on a hill top with excellent coverage into Derby for the project. Upon assessing what work and money would be involved in using this radio site I have for now decided to put that idea on the back burner as the cost involved can not really be justified at this time as I am unsure how popular a D-Star repeater is going to be to the local amateur community.

Because I still want to play with this new technology I have applied for a UHF 70cm NOV to run a Digital D-Star repeater from my home QTH as this is the easiest and cheapest way to provide at least some coverage into the local area. I am going with the call sign GB7DC for this project.

I have already built the repeater and tested it with very good results so now only need the relevant paperwork before I can go live on the air.

Below is the equipment & typical spec I am planning on using for the project.

Repeater Call sign	GB7DC               (Keeper Dominic G7NPW)
Location	Chaddesden Derby East Midlands. England. (Near Pentagon Island)
Locator	IO92GW (SK33)
Height M ASL	Approximately 70 m
TX Frequency	439.**** MHz
RX Frequency	430.**** MHz
Class of Emission	8K00F3WWN
Antenna	Omni Directional 3db @ 7m AGL
Access Methods	RPT1  GB7DC  B    RPT2  GB7DC  G
Transmitter	Simoco PRF10  Up to 25w ERP
Receiver	Simoco PRF10
Logic	Satoshi GMSK Node Adaptor v2.06 or G4KLX PC Controller
Software	Unknown At The Moment
Duplexer	Motorola 6 Cavity UHF Duplexer & AFL Circulator/Isolator

The coverage is not expected to be amazing from this location but should provide sufficient access to locals to have a go at D-Star. Predicted coverage maps will be published shortly. I realise the prospect of going "DIGITAL" seems to be met with mixed feelings much the same as Packet Radio did. But to be honest we need to embrace this new technology or we are going to get left behind as other regions, countries progress.

Please let me know if you support this project and any views or questions you have and I will try my best to answer them. Thanks for reading this info.

73 Dominic G7NPW