ARLA/CLUSTER: Fwd: On Behalf of N5MIJ - D-STAR International Coordination Council

[João Gonçalves Costa]

--- In dstar_digital  yahoogroups.com, "John D. Hays" <john  ...> 
wrote:

*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
-- 
John D. Hays
Amateur Radio Station K7VE <http://k7ve.ampr.org>
PO Box 1223
Edmonds, WA 98020-1223
<sip:john  ...>

<mailto:john  ...>


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