D-Star and South Yorks Repeater Group GB7YD 70cm

I have been involved with amateur radio repeaters and a technical officer and NOV holder for over 30 years. I have worked with modified amateur radio equipment, ex PMR repeaters and home built cavities (Duplexers).

Back in the 70s users were encouraged to contribute to their local repeater. This was some £3 per year, today it would be in the region of £20 to £30.

The South Yorkshire Repeater Group have used in the past Storno repeaters and both G3RKL MK2 Logic and G8CUL Logic.

We are lucky to have a large donation each year from the Barnsley Rally (Great Northern Hamfest). This has provided the group with much needed funds to pay site rents, repairs and upgrading of the equipment. We get very little donations from users - around £200 within the last 5 years. Without the hard work and support of a few local amateurs we would not have a rally or any repeaters.

The Group runs 4 repeaters, GB3NA, GB3SY and, GB3YR these have been upgraded to Kendecom (ACS) purpose built repeaters, Cat 300 controllers and TX/RX cavities, Procom on GB3NA. which again have been bought with monies given by the Great Northern Hamfest. We also run GB7YD Dstar 70cms.

In March last year the group applied for community funding. After four failed applications, the group sought the help of a funding adviser. The group then succeeded in 2 funding bids with almost £14,000 of funding to buy equipment for mechanical and electronic construction, (in the form of transmitters receivers power supplies and cavities.

I have watched the Dstar v analogue and commercial repeaters debate. Each one of our analogue installations costs £1500 for the repeater which includes Ccat 300 controller. The cavities cost for VHF from £1100 plus shipping plus VAT import duties, So £3,000 is the true price.

You can build one yourself for under £200 start looking at rallies or your friends who work within this field.

Dstar - Icom UK are offering a UHF repeater for £1000 plus Vat (£1175) the South Yorkshire Repeater Group took up this offer having got 10 radios within the group and other interested users. Should you have attempted to obtain one from overseas they are possibly not the same spec. A Dstar UHF repeater including controller and cavities would have cost you over £1700 in other countries plus postage import duties and VAT. So the Icom offer is a good one to get this digital mode off the ground.

Dstar opens up a new way of communications with a reasonable priced hand held or mobile transceiver, compared to my first Icom IC240 which cost £200 in 1979 about £800 in today's money and is still in full working order (I have added a ctcss unit )

The group are now looking for funding to build maintain, train and use Dstar to its full extent and are presently looking at a very large funding bid for the South Yorkshire area and possibly other Dstar user groups. This will be around £200,000.

There is funding available and there is not a lot of work involved. Your groups could well benefit from such funding.

Very soon our 2m Dstar repeater we will be on the internet and next will a 23cms repeater then we will have have a full Dstar system

Walt G4XSB and myself will be at Lincoln radio club on the 6th Feb 2008 to give a talk on funding. Take action whilst funding is still available.

73 Ian G3ZHI
http://www.qsl.net/g3zhi - many ham radio links