Unknown Date – Icom enters the construction of the new digital technology by offering the hardware necessary to create this technology.

Kenwood re-brands an Icom radio and distributes it in Japan only.ġ999 – Funded by the Japanese government and administrated by the JARL, investigation was put into finding a new way of bringing digital technology to amateur radio.Ģ001 – D-Star is published as the result of the research. As of December 30, 2008, no other amateur radio equipment manufacturer has chosen to include D-Star technology in their radios. The first manufacturer to offer D-Star compatible radios is Icom. In addition to the over-the-air protocol, D-Star also provides specifications for network connectivity, enabling D-Star radios to be connected to the Internet or other networks and provisions for routing data streams of voice or packet data via amateur radio callsigns.

While there are other digital on-air technologies being used by amateurs that have come from other services, D-Star is one of the first on-air standards to be widely deployed and sold by a major radio manufacturer that is designed specifically for amateur service use.ĭ-Star compatible radios are available on VHF and UHF and microwave amateur radio bands.

D-STAR - Bing Reference: 'D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) is a digital voice and data protocol specification developed as the result of research by the Japan Amateur Radio League to investigate digital technologies for amateur radio.

Echolink ham radio neefs rewrite