I just got back from the Huntsville Hamfest — it actually is continuing tomorrow, but I only wanted to stay in a motel for one night. Huntsville is always the biggest hamfest in Alabama, but this year it was especially large because it was also this year’s ARRL national convention, and earlier in the week Huntsville was also host to the Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference. I guess that makes Alabama the center of ham radio for a few days! The crowds proved to be a bit much for the space, I think, especially around the bigger commercial dealers. (It’s a gear driven hobby after all, and for a lot of us hamfests are our best chance to do some in-person shopping.)
One of the popular topics this year — and one I am very interested in — is D-STAR digital communications for ham radio. D-STAR is fully digital; in less bandwidth than a conventional FM voice or packet channel, it fits a digitized voice stream with error correction and a low speed data stream which can be used for messages or automatic GPS position reporting. D-STAR repeaters can route calls across the Internet, with the ability to find users by their callsign no matter where they actually are. And in the 1.2 GHz band (where there is room for this kind of thing), it supports IP networking at 128kbps — and it doesn’t even require any special software, as the radio for that mode has an ethernet jack for direct connection to a computer.
As it happens, Alabama is currently the biggest hotbed of D-STAR activity in the country. One reason for that is its potential for emergency communications. After a disaster, hams could bring in a portable D-STAR repeater and satellite Internet almost immediately, allowing aid workers to have access to their own e-mail and intranet web applications. And with callsign routing of voice calls, it would be easy for field workers and coordinators at home base to contact one another, all using bands and modes available to nearly every ham, not just those with HF capability.
At the D-STAR introduction panel, the room was packed, which is something I have hardly ever seen at a hamfest panel, especially at a fest with multiple tracks of programming. Every time I went past one of the radio dealer booths, someone was buying a D-STAR radio or accessories for one. (Icom has got to be loving Alabama right now, since they are the only company making D-STAR stuff at the moment.) And for me, it’s the most exciting development in ham radio to come along in quite a while.
All in all, a really good hamfest, even though I’m missing half of it including some of the advanced D-STAR discussions. I will of course go back next year, even though I’m sure it won’t be quite as big.