As more people jump on the D-Star bandwagon more people also run into the headaches of programming their D-Star radios.  Unlike traditional analog radios and repeaters, where all you need to do is worry about the Duplex and CTCSS tone settings, D-Star requires you to know a little more about the programming behind the scenes.  Unless you program your radio precisely as defined by the D-Star specifications you simply won't get very far.

For example, it's not good enough to just know that you are connecting to the W3EOC repeater on 445.075Mhz with a -5.000Mhz split.  You also need to know whether you are connecting to the "A", "B", or "C" port of the repeater.  (In case you were wondering, the "A" port is the 1.2Ghz node, the "B" port is the 440Mhz node, and the "C" port is the 144Mhz node.) 

And the "way" you program all these call signs and ports into your radio is important.  Did you remember to add the necessary number of spaces between the call sign and the port code?  (For example, there are two spaces in "W3EOC  B" but only one space in "KB3CIU C")

All of this is important because the typical D-Star repeater system also supports cross-band repeating within the repeater stack, (1.2Ghz to 144Mhz, for example), and gateway access to other D-Star systems around the world (in here, out in Australia).

If you've ever tried to figure all of this out by reading Icom's radio manuals you probably found yourself ripping out your hair.  Icom's manuals attempt to make it all clear to the novice D-Star user but often come up woefully short.  That's one of the reasons Icom released a supplement to the manuals that makes it all a little bit clearer.

Attached to this post is a copy of the official Icom D-Star programming guide.  It doesn't go into the specifics of how to program individual radios, but it does help make sense of all the various call sign memories, the way the memories work with frequency selection to get you into a specific repeater system, and how to use gateway settings to jump around between systems.  There are helpful diagrams and examples included that go much farther than the obtuse "A2222A" and "A3333A" jargon found in the standard Icom manuals.

Also attached to this post is a copy of a nice PDF file I found on the Internet that helps demystify the often cryptic ID-800H programming process.  If you've ever tried to program an ID-800H you know what I mean.  The D-Star memory settings are mixed in underneath layers of other settings and the switching process between FM and DV (Digital Voice) can be a little confusing at first.

There are some extremely helpful groups on the Internet, both at Google and Yahoo, that also help make the process easier.  Also available is the flagship site for D-Star on the Internet, http://www.dstarusers.org.  At D-Star Users you'll find a repeater listing and other helpful tools to help make your use of D-Star more enjoyable.