DStarHotSpotSetup

If you have an ICOM D-Star radio but are not near a D-Star repeater, a Hotspot allows your radio to access DPlus-connected DStar repeaters and reflectors. You can use any analog radio that has a 9600 data port, or gives access to the FM discriminator. I put up the Hotspot because I already had a spare analog radio with Data port, as well as a spare laptop, so this option was incrementally less expensive than the popular DV Access Point or DVAP. In addition, I set my analog radio to 5 watts, giving me somewhat more range than a 10 mw DVAP. Finally, if I later decide to put up my own D-Star compatible repeater, I will have everything I need. There are several hardware options available, and reports on the internet indicate they all are good choices. I have had excellent results from the board I purchased from Mark Phillips G7LTT/NI2O.

Here is how I set up and configured my Mini Hotspot. There's nothing new here -- it was all learned from the primary documentation available. This just assembles what I did in one place in case I need to do the same thing again. But I don't plan to keep this up to date as newer boards and firmware are announced.

Here is all it takes to get the Hotspot up and running:

Step 1 - registers the Hotspot on the DStar network.

Step 2 - installs tools used to configure and test the hotspot board, and for Windows XP, a special USB driver that's needed.

Step 3 - loads firmware onto the MHS board's computer chip.

Step 4 - configures and tests the board using NAWinCFG and NAWinTEST.

Step 5 - downloads the DVAR Hot Spot software, installs and configures it.

Step 1 - Registering the Hotspot on the D-Star network

Since it can take up to 24 hours for a callsign to propagate through the network, try to do this step before your board is ready for use.

Registration is a two step process. If you've never registered, read D-Star Self Registration Instructions and perform steps 1 through 6 of that document. Go to the Registration page of the D-Star repeater closest to you. Typically, if that repeater is KA6XXX, then it will have a DPlus Dashboard page (at http://ka6xxx.dstargateway.org/) with a link to its Registration page. When you receive the confirmation email, you can proceed.
Log on using your callsign (upper case) and password.
Click on the Personal Information tab (upper right of the main page). Shown below this section is what my entry looks like after I completed the updates.
You need one entry with a blank "Initial" column. If you've registered with a gateway in the past, that will already be there.
If you've never registered, do the following steps:
- Click the check-box on the left of the 1st line.
- Enter a blank (press the space bar) in the Initial box.
- Do NOT click the RPT box.
- Enter your callsign in the pcname box.
Next create a "terminal" to be used as your Gateway Auth Callsign when you configure DVAR in Step 5. There is no standard, but many people use a node extension ("Initial" box on this update page) of "N" for simplex hotspots, or "R" for full duplex/repeater hotspots.
- Click on the check-box on the left of the next line.
- Assuming simplex, enter an UPPER CASE "N" in the Initial column.
- Do NOT click the RPT box.
- Enter a unique pcname, for example <callsign>-dvar-s.
Next, decide what you will use for the DVAR Node Callsign in Step 5. Since DV Dongles and DV Access Points currently can not connect to nodes unless their extension is A, B or C, you have a choice. If you don't want them to connect to your Hotspot, then use the N or R terminals for your Node Callsign, and you don't need to create another terminal. But if you want DVDs and DVAPs to connect, you need to create another terminal, as follows:
- Click on the check-box on the left of the next line.
- Enter an Extension letter in the Initial column in UPPER case -- A, B or C.
- Do NOT click the RPT box.
- Enter a unique pcname, for example <callsign>-hotspot.
Click the Update button.
Here is an example of having entered several terminals. For simplex Hotspots, the "R" terminal isn't needed.

It normally takes several hours up to 24 hours for these updates to propagate throughout the network.