-- Birmingham, Alabama

The K4DSO repeater is a fully configured D-STAR repeater system located southeast of downtown Birmingham, Alabama on Double Oak Mountain. The repeater is sponsored by the Birmingham Amateur Radio Club (www.w4cue.com) and has been on the air since 2006.

The call of the repeater, K4DSO, was the call of Lil Bankston. Lil was a wonderful lady, a long time member of the Birmingham Club, a tremendous supporter of amateur radio and of the Birmingham Club. The club chose to use her former call on this repeater in honor of her, her support of the club and for constantly working to support amateur radio.

The repeater operates on the following frequencies:

145.410 MHz (-0.600) Digital Voice Port ID: K4DSO C

443.200 MHz (+5.000) Digital Voice Port ID: K4DSO B

1283.4 MHz (+12.000) Digital Voice Port ID: K4DSO A

1250.0 MHz (simplex) Digital Data Port ID: K4DSO A

General Information

DSTAR NET: A net is held each Tuesday evening at 8:30 Central time (0130 GMT). The primary repeater for this net is the K4DSO – 2 meter (Port C) repeater. Other Alabama repeaters join via gateway linking for a large area net. Linking is done via the reflector designated “REF058 – Port B”. All Alabama D-STAR repeaters are encouraged to link into the reflector and join the statewide net. Dongle users should connect directly to REF058 – Port B in order to participate in the net. Ken Adkisson, WB4FAY, is the net manager.

Trustee: Ken Adkisson, WB4FAY, serves as the trustee. Ken can be reached via email at ken@wb4fay.com

Gateway Administrators: Ken Adkisson, WB4FAY, serves as the primary administrator and Mike Burns, KE4DZU, serves as backup. They can be reached via email at admin@k4dso.com

Gateway Self Registration Web Link: All gateway users must self register on a single D-STAR repeater somewhere in the D-STAR network. It is suggested that this registration be done on a local D-STAR repeater – one that has a foot print that covers your home location. If you chose to register at the K4DSO repeater, please review the following user guide BEFORE beginning the registration process. Once you have reviewed the guide, then proceed to the self registration web page.

USER GUIDE: https://k4dso.com/registration_guide.pdf

NOTE: It is our policy to only approve registrations for stations that are within the RF footprint of the K4DSO repeater. It is recommended that you request registration via a D-STAR repeater within your local area. If you feel there are extenuating circumstances and would like to register via K4DSO from outside the area, please contact the administrator(s) via the email address listed above.

K4DSO Dashboard : https://k4dso.dstargateway.org

Click the 'Registration' Link on the Dashboard page for access to the D-STAR user registration page.

D-STAR Calculator

For help with how to program the call signs (MYCALL, RPT1, RPT2, URCALL), follow this link to the D-STAR Calculator provided by Ed Woodrick, WA4YIH.

News

February 21, 2010:  WB4FAY released a new version of the 'dplusreport' program (Version 0.8b) and a new set of audio recordings for use of 'monlink'. Gateway administrator information is available for dplusreport and monlink.

May 3, 2008: An amplifier was added to the two meter module (Port C) to attempt to remove some of the spotty coverage areas within the Birmingham area.

April 28, 2008: The DPLUS software module was upgraded to the version 2.0 which is the first production (non-beta) release for the G2 D-STAR gateways. Also, the drop dead date for the original gateway software version has now been set. On June 1, 2008 the version 1 trust server will be turned off. At that time, only G2 gateways will be supported.

April 22, 2008: The DPLUS software module has been updated to version Beta 7. This expected to be the last beta release and a full production release should be available within a few days.

April 19, 2008:  The W4KCQ D-STAR repeater in Tuscaloosa, AL switched the gateway to G2 this morning.  We can now again communicate between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa via the gateway.  (WB4FAY)

April 19, 2008: The DstarMonitor software was made available this morning and was immediately loaded onto the K4DSO gateway. With this installation, the ‘heard’ list at http://www.dstarusers.org is now being updated in real time. The new heard list also indicates the G1/G2 status of each repeater. The DPRS updates are now being sent to the server in Texas but they have not switched to update from the G2 database instead of the G1 database. This change is expected soon. (WB4FAY)

April 19, 2008: The internet connection for the K4DSO gateway was lost during the night – presumably during the storm. After a trip to the site about 9:00 AM, I found that the telephone surge protector had tripped. The protector is non-resettable so it has been bypassed while a new one is obtained. The gateway is again connected to the internet and fully operational. (WB4FAY)

April 13, 2008: The repeater gateway was upgraded to the new ICOM version (G2). There continue to be issues with this software that are being worked by the ICOM engineers. However, a decision was made to continue with the upgrade plans on this repeater. As software fixes are available, these can be installed remotely by the system administrator. Until some of the issues are resolved, the ‘heard list’ at www.dstarusers.org is not being updated. Another impact of the migration to the G2 software is that ALL GATEWAY USERS MUST SELF REGISTER. (WB4FAY)