K7HIO.NET

It's no secret that K7HIO has been ahead of the rest of the area in using low-speed D-STAR for quite some time now.  Since 2008, we have been transferring files and messages around the county using D-RATS with much success.

The hi-speed D-STAR has taken longer to get into place because of the cost of the equipment, lack of antennas, and short coax runs.  Six months ago (almost to the day), KK7DS put the county's hi-speed data repeater module up in our cabinet on top of the Synopsys building in Hillsboro.  Aside from a little bit of testing a few days later, it has been dormant...until now.

With the recent move to Ronler and the installation of a 1.2GHz antenna, we are in a position to have a more permanent hi-speed station setup.  This afternoon, KK7DS brought it online in anticipation of our upcoming ACES drill on April 3rd.

Although not designed to work client-to-client, careful routing configuration at the access point enables the EOC to access the internet via the station at KK7DS' QTH.  We now have a wireless network connected to the ID-1, which allows our laptops to share the hi-speed D-STAR connection for Internet connectivity.  Even though we're slated to get a permanent wired internet connection there in the coming months, this D-STAR link to the internet gives us a good opportunity to practice using the hi-speed hardware to push data around.

In our upcoming drill, we hope to send messages via the following modes:

• VHF voice
• Winlink VHF with Airmail
• Winlink HF with Airmail
• Low-speed D-STAR using the D-RATS Winlink gateway
• Hi-speed D-STAR over the internet with Airmail