complex for a mobile station to do without taking their eyes off the road, it is recommended that
users "Link to Repeaters" rather than using D-Star "Source Routing" (If you don't understand
these terms take a look at the D-Star Calculator again).
DV Dongle
The DV Dongle allows you to get onto the D-Star system using your computer - this is useful
where there is no local coverage, or while you save up for a D-Star radio!
The installation is straightforward; simply plug the DV Dongle into a USB 2.0 port, and Windows
will automatically start the "Found New Hardware Wizard" and should detect an FTDI FT232R USB
serial port. The driver should be automatically installed by Windows.
The normal installation installed the Java Runtime Environment and the DV-Tool application itself.
We recommend that you install the latest
which works better and has more
features than the current release.
Once installed and running, the DV Dongle Tool software will automatically connect to the D-Star
Server and download a list of gateways (repeaters and reflectors. Some local dongle users
connect to reflector 24, the Michigan reflector to which W8SHI is usually linked, along with many
other of the Michigan repeaters.
DV Access Point
The DV Access Point Dongle, released in January 2010 by Internet Labs, provides another way to
connect to the D-Star network using your computer.
A nice write-up on the DV Access Point Dongle is
D-PRS Calculator