- Allstar-Digital - lists.keekles.org

Bridging AllStarLink to other modes.
by Steve Zingman 05 Jan '18

05 Jan '18

I was forwarded a post from Doug WA3DSP concerning interconnection to other services/modes on the HAMVOIP list. I have seen in the past that Doug considers himself the guardian of all good audio and AllStarLink. That is open to discussion. I think this needs to be addressed in the community. Great audio quality is a hallmark of AllStarLink and no one wants to compromise that. Another feature that singles out AllStarLink is flexibility. People have done some amazing things with AllStarLink. There are nodes and hubs that control what type of traffic pass through the node or hub. There are quite a few nodes and hubs that welcome experimentation. Connecting a foreign mode or service to a AllStarLink node is never a good idea without prior discussion. One of the many features of AllStarLink that drew me in over 10 years ago, was the ability to add features and devices. One very important fact is that it is open source. Well, at least the official AllStarLink distribution is. Channel drivers are available for EchoLink, D-Star, TLB and USRP. If it's not there, it can be added. AllStarLink welcomes people to add to and modify the open source available in github. If you have an idea, bring it up, submit a pull request and let's see how it fits. People are going to extend the capabilities of AllStarLink, that is a given. Those extensions may not be to everyone's liking. Under the banner of DVSwitch, a few of us have been building tools for bridging between different voice networks. One of those is AllStarLink. It does not matter if the purpose of the bridge is to expose analog users to the capabilities of a digital network or to display the capabilities of AllStarLink to a group of digital voice users that are not aware of a large network of open source analog nodes. There are quite a few hams that do not know about AllStarLink. This gives them a taste. I'm pretty sure every one of the digital voice radios in use support analog. Do we really want to display a negative attitude to other communities? I can tell you that not everyone on the digital voice networks want to see a bridge to analog. They don't want "those noisy analog signals" on their network. This is not a discussion of which voice mode is better. Nor is it about how to make digital voice sound better. I tell people building bridges the same thing, Don't just drop a analog bridge onto a digital channel without discussion first. One digital network I have seen is reporting over 10K calls per hour. (That might be a interesting stat to collect for AllStarLink) Bridging networks is not the purpose of AllStarLink and I would rather not see discussions of various networks on the AllStarLink user list. There are other places for that. The open source nature of AllStarLink lends itself to extension. Just be aware what you are doing and who it will effect. 73, Steve N4IRS

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2 Weeks Left ...
by John D. Hays 29 Dec '17

29 Dec '17

Did you get some Christmas money? Put it to good use :) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/985312845/6-channel-usb-ambe-transcode… -- ------------------------------ John D. Hays Edmonds, WA K7VE <http://k7ve.org/blog> <http://twitter.com/#!/john_hays>

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XCode-3006 Update
by John D. Hays 19 Dec '17

19 Dec '17

The Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/985312845/6-channel-usb-ambe-transcode… is a little over 25% funded. We need more reflector or bridge operators to pledge in the next 3 weeks, in order to fully fund the build. This is an all or none funding project. Please pledge to help it become a reality. The risk is as low as can be expected. If you just use the reflectors or bridges and would like to help out, there are lower pledge levels to support the project. Every pledge goes to the goal total. -- ------------------------------ John D. Hays Edmonds, WA K7VE <http://k7ve.org/blog> <http://twitter.com/#!/john_hays>

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Re: [Allstar Digital] Software AMBE
by Steve 15 Dec '17

15 Dec '17

I decided to repost the kickstarter message and Bryan's (software) comment on the google digital voice forum. I think it might have a better chance of getting a discussion going and Bruce chiming in. If this is important to you, please join the discussion: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/digitalvoice

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Software AMBE
by Steve 15 Dec '17

15 Dec '17

Bryan, I'd like to see at least a serious discussion about this. But I am not even sure Bruce is on this list. And I consider him the resident expert. I know when Bruce has brought the idea of invalidating the patents. But then he was busy working with Chris Testa on their HT of the future. So the idea took a back seat. I believe that SDR/HT project has been tabled. I have asked a few times unsuccessfully about at least getting a copy of the patent annalists report that he has mentioned. I don't really have an immediate use for a way to transcode the various AMBE streams. Though I do have a place with a nice fat internet connection that is home to a P25 and DMR repeater. And a D-Star system on the other end of the 802.11 link. So the idea does interest me. I do have $100 that I would donate immediately to pretty much any sort of software AMBE project as I feel money is better spent on something that the entire community would benefit from vs buying a hardware thing that really only I can use. >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giZi4Y7FlwM#t=00h38m10s > >Well, it does beg the question.... > >Could NW Digital Radio and Bruce work together to slay that dragon?

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Re: [Allstar Digital] 6 Channel USB AMBE Transcoder Kickstarter Has Started
by Steve 14 Dec '17

14 Dec '17

Oct 19, 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giZi4Y7FlwM#t=00h38m10s Either way, I do feel the 6 channel hardware approach makes some sense. I would also prefer at this point that we work on something in software. John, I re-posted your message to https://groups.io/g/DVSwitch/

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Testing/update
by Bryan Fields 14 Dec '17

14 Dec '17

I didn't catch this before, but I've moved the domain for this list to lists.allstarlink.org away from lists.keekles.org. This is in keeping with AllStarLink, Inc. becoming the organization behind Allstar development and maintaining the network. The lists.keekles.org email address will continue to work (it's in the same local namespace), but the archives will be at lists.allstarlink.org. All email sent will now come from this new domain. Please hit me up if you have any issues. Thank you and 73, -- Bryan Fields 727-409-1194 - Voice http://bryanfields.net

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6 Channel USB AMBE Transcoder Kickstarter Has Started
by John D. Hays 14 Dec '17

14 Dec '17

I am pleased to announce the launch of a Kickstarter for a 6 Channel USB AMBE device <https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/985312845/6-channel-usb-ambe-transcode…> which is compatible with the XLX Reflector System. The XLX system creates reflectors for the DCS, DExtra, and DPLUS systems and also supports integration with DMR. To transcode AMBE+ (D-STAR) and AMBE+2 (DMR/YSF/dPMR/NXDN/P25-Phase 2/...) requires a hardware solution. This can be accomplished using pairs of ThumbDVs or other USB based AMBE-3000 devices. Reflector systems may have multiple reflectors (A-Z) that require transcoding simultaneously, which requires multiple streams available and that is where the XCode-3006 comes to the rescue. The folks behind the XLX system designed a board that can provide up to 6 streams on a single USB port and it is in operation now at XLX950 (XRF950/DCS950/...) which is using the board to cross connect with DMR. NW Digital Radio is running a Kickstarter to fund an initial build of 50 of these units. 50 units is the minimum production run in order to keep costs down. This is where you can help: If you run a reflector, you can obtain a XCode-3006 via a pledge on the Kickstarter at one of two levels. If you use a reflector, you can help the operator of that reflector by helping them obtain a XCode-3006 via the kickstarter. If you just like the idea of a six channel AMBE transcoder, and want to help out, there are pledge levels for supporters like you. This can only happen if we meet the funding goal set for the Kickstarter, and we only have 30 days to reach it. Having this board available opens the opportunity for other projects such as: Analog <--> DV Gateways (eg. Allstar, Echolink, ... to your favorite DV system) DV --> Analog Streaming for online monitoring of DV systems ... The link to the Kickstarter is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/985312845/6-channel-usb-ambe-transcode… ------------------------------ John D. Hays Edmonds, WA K7VE <http://k7ve.org/blog> <http://twitter.com/#!/john_hays>

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P25 to ASL
by Steve Zingman 19 Nov '17

19 Nov '17

We are ALPHA testing a software only P25 to analog bridge. For now it is connected to the North America MMDVM P25 reflector and outputting analog on AllStar node 2600 and Echolink N4IRS-L It is receive ONLY. There is still a lot of work to do. Steve N4IRS, Milke N4IRR -- --- "What is IMBE_Bridge?"

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NW Digital Radio is offering a discount on 2 or more ThumbDV
by John D. Hays 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

http://nwdigitalradio.com/special-pricing-on-the-purchase-of-multiple-thumb… -- ------------------------------ John D. Hays Edmonds, WA K7VE <http://k7ve.org/blog> <http://twitter.com/#!/john_hays>

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