ARLA/CLUSTER: JOTA 2012 versus D-Star

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

 I know the Georgia D-STAR movers and shakers pretty well, who own REF030C
(one
of the busiest reflectors out there) and they were enthusiastic to allow
JOTA
participants use it for QSOs last year. I doubt they would mind its use for
JOTA into the future.

Stay away from empty reflectors as they will offer nothing for JOTA
participants
when there is a lull in activity (since, well, they are empty in general
which
is boring for hams, much less scouts looking for action). Using something
like
REF030C will provide plenty of JOTA action and, when there’s a lull in
JOTA-specific participants there will be plenty of good hams to make
contacts
with the scouts.

To answer your questions specifically (in the order they were asked):

1-Would it be useful to have a Reflector offered as a JOTA or full-time
Radio
Scouting calling point? Does one already exist?

It would definitely be useful to have a SINGLE D-STAR reflector designated
for
JOTA use. Unlike the JOTA calling frequencies, where folks should call their
QSO and QSY, this single reflector would serve as a congregation points,
allowing for multiple QSOs and fun throughout the weekend. It takes the
guesswork out of “where can we scare up a JOTA QSO at this time of
day?�)

2-Would it be better for teams/units to 'announce' the repeater/gateway that
they will be monitoring and anyone who wants to contact them simply connect
to
the gateway?

This would be no different than teams/units announcing the HF frequency they
will be monitoring despite the existence of JOTA calling freqs. In practice
it
would work, but the reality is that most of the activity seems to center
around
the JOTA frequencies, and there’s a sense of excitement when tuning into
the
JOTA frequency because you know you’ll hear oodles of stations from all
over
the place. A D-STAR reflector would be no different. If everyone announces
and
keeps to their respective reflector, the potential activity and excitement
is
diluted from the very start and won’t get any more exciting than that. My
suggestion is to encourage a single reflector to focus the activity in a
single
place. If capacity becomes an issue (and I doubt it will) then let the
individual JOTA participants QSY, etc. as they see fit. Everything will take
care of itself.

3-What have been your experiences using D-STAR during JOTA? Useful?
Problematic?

My experience is that it’s been great. It shows off another avenue of ham
radio to its future – youth. The only problem has been no common
reflector,
so activity has been diluted. The committee has an opportunity to address
that
very simply.

4-Are there different considerations for connections from US and non-US
stations?

In terms of D-STAR in general, no. Connecting to a reflector, or D-STAR
configuration in the US isn’t different than the same from another
country.
Announcing that something like REF030C is available for JOTA use is
something
that would be understood by any D-STAR user in the world.

73,

Brian N5ZGT
Albuquerque, NM
Fellow BSA National Radio Scouting Committee member
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