D-StarCom v0.15

A simple command-line-based program
for the exchange of common data between D-Star radios

D-StarCom is a program for assisting in the mass loading of "frequency memories" ("channels") between the following Icom D-Star radios & software:

User knowledge requirements: Before you read any further, you need to know that D-StarCom is a command line program that runs in a command-line ("DOS"-type) window, under either Microsoft Windows or the x86 variants of Linux.

Proper usage requires a knowledge of intermediate command line operation (eg, piping/redirection). In order to use D-StarCom effectively, you will also have to understand & edit CSV (ASCII "Comma Separated Values") format files.

If you do not immediately understand the following commands, you do not have the required knowledge of intermediate command line operation to use the program effectively. Please do not ask for assistance in gaining this knowledge; it is available elsewhere on the Internet and from books.

D-StarCom does not read & write to the radios directly; rather it extracts & updates the channels in files created by Icom's software.

The general model for use is:

1. You use Icom's software for the target radio and possibly one or more source radios, to save the settings from those radios to Icom-format file(s).
2. You use D-StarCom to extract the channels from those Icom-format files, to ASCII files in CSV ("Comma Separated Values") format.
3. You optionally edit and/or merge/combine the CSV files with an ASCII editor, spreadsheet, or database program of your choice. In the case of the IC-91A/AD & IC-92AD radios, you may wish to copy data from a different "page" in the same radio.
4. You run D-StarCom again to use your edited CSV file to update the target radio's Icom-format file.
5. You run Icom's software for the target radio again, loading the modified target radio's Icom-format file and verifying that your changes are correct.
6. Using Icom's software for the target radio, you upload the settings to that radio.

As you can see, D-StarCom runs in two modes:

Extraction:

It extracts channels from the source radio's Icom-format file. To run in this mode, enter at the command prompt:

DStarCom  IcomSourceFilename.icf

The above command will display programmed channels information on the screen in CSV format. However, typically you will redirect this information to a file; eg:

DStarCom  IcomSourceFilename.icf  > ChannelsFilename.csv

Modification:

It updates channels in the target radio's Icom-format file. To run in this mode, enter at the command prompt:

DStarCom  OldIcomTargetFilename.icf  NewIcomTargetFilename.icf  < ChannelsFilename.csv

Programmed channels information from the ChannelsFilename.csv will be merged with the OldIcomTargetFilename.icf, and written to a new file named NewIcomTargetFilename.icf. Channel information in the Icom-format file that is not replaced by data from the CSV-format file, is left unchanged.

The D-StarCom program automatically recognizes the type of radio from the Icom-format file.

Reference information

Here are the fields that are present in the CSV-format file. Notes:

• As of version 0.10 of this software, the fields have been realigned to conform to those emitted and expected by Icom's newer software, and the requisite field name header record has been added.
• Except as noted below, each field must be present, regardless of whether a particular model radio supports values for that field. When a CSV file is used to update a radio's Icom-format file, those fields that are not applicable to that model radio are ignored.

Field name	Comments
Page	The Icom software page "ID" for the entry. This field is not emitted or expected by Icom's software.
CH No	Memory position number within the Icom software page.
Frequency	The receiving frequency in MHz. Only values supported by the radio can be used.
Dup	Duplex mode: OFF, DUP-, or DUP+.
Offset	The transmitting frequency offset in MHz. Only values supported by the radio can be used.
TS	The tuning step in kHz. Only values supported by the radio can be used.
Power	The power level: Low, Mid, or High. This field is only present for the ID-800H radio.
Mode	Modulation mode: FM, FM-N, WFM, AM, AM-N, DV, DD, etc.
Name	A value assigned by the user. Note that some radios have restrictions on what characters can be in the name. D-StarCom does not currently check for this.
SKIP	Skip, PSkip, or OFF. Used for marking channels to skip when scanning.
TONE	The tone encoding/decoding mode to use: TONE, TSQL, DTCS, or OFF.
Repeater Tone	The tone requency to transmit, in Hz. Only values supported by the radio can be used.
TSQL Frequency	The tone requency to unsquelch the receiver, in Hz. Only values supported by the radio can be used.
DTCS Code	Only values supported by the radio can be used.
DTCS Polarity	BOTH N (Tn-Rn), TN-RR, TR-RN, or BOTH R (Tr-Rr).
DV SQL	DSQL (Icom's name for Callsign squelch), CSQL (Icom's name for Digital code squelch), or OFF.
DV CSQL Code	CSQL (Digital squelch code) code (00-99).
Your Call Sign	See the Icom manual.
RPT1 Call Sign	See the Icom manual.
RPT2 Call Sign	See the Icom manual.

This program is currently BETA software, and you are advised to use Icom's software for the radio to verify that valid values are going to be uploaded to the radio. In particular, if you use banks, verify that the "bank index" is set correctly.

Linux note: When D-StarCom creates a new Icom-format file on Linux, it writes the file with the standard Linux "LF" line endings, as opposed to the "CR-LF" line endings in Windows. Apparently, the Icom programs will accept their Icom-format file with Linux line endings. In any case, you can always use the Linux unix2dos utility to convert the Icom-format file to Windows line endings.

Download:

• DStarCom.zip, which include the Windows & Linux versions of D-StarCom (named DStarCom.exe & DStarCom, respectively), along with this ReadMe file.
• DStarCom-src.zip, which include the C++ source files and Makefile (both Windows & Linux compatible).

Support: You can ask questions in the D-StarCom forum.

Release history:

• v0.15 (2010-11-22): Support the 6.25kHz tuning step in the ID-800H.
• v0.14 (2010-09-22): Minor bug fixes and other internal, non-functional changes.
• v0.13 (2010-09-21): Minor bug fixes and other internal, non-functional changes.
• v0.12 (2010-09-19): Released under the GPL.
• v0.11 (2010-09-18): Support for the ID-880H.
• v0.10 (2010-09-17): Reorder CSV fields, add field name header for Icom software compatibility.
• v0.09 (2010-09-10): Support for the IC-92AD.
• v0.08 (2007-11-04): Populate the repeater table in the IC-91A/AD when loading. Handle using "Your Call" values from the repeater table in the ID-800H.
• v0.07 (2007-08-07): Handle empty tuning step fields; clarify instructions.
• v0.06 (2007-05-29): Support non-standard frequencies on the IC-91A/AD & ID-800H (eg, multiples of 6.25kHz).
• v0.05 (2007-05-17): Recognize numeric fields after Excel has reformatted them. Fix CSQL/DSQL on IC-2820H.
• v0.04 (2007-04-30): Major rewrite, for future flexibility in data formats.
• v0.03 (2007-04-27): Support for IC-2820H.
• v0.02 (2007-04-11): Added band/index copying support.
• v0.01 (2007-04-10): Initial release.

GNU General Public License (GPL)

D-StarCom copyright © 2007 by Dean K. Gibson.

Please refer interested parties to the D-StarCom web site and the D-StarCom forum.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 2 of the License.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA