[amsat-bb] Re: D-STAR experiment on Cubesat

[Satoshi Yasuda]

Hi All,

> It is my understanding that it is simple a relabeled Icom radio.  If
> it really weren't an issue for other manufacturers, one might
> reasonably ask why we aren't seeing D-Star radios from other
> manufacturers.  Granted, there could be other reasons, but something
> is apparently keeping other manufacturers from building these radios.
> This means that essentially we are in a single source situation, where
> we can expect D-Star to remain fairly expensive.   Indeed, the codec
> chip costs $20, but we see the price differential for these radios to
> be well over $100, even on an HT which is fairly expensive to begin
> with.  That's a pretty high markup.  (IC-91AD is $524, IC-91A is $408
> at universal radio).  The UT-118 to do an upgrade is $189.   The DV-
> Dongle is $200.

 D-STAR radio needs not only the AMBE codec chip but also linear codec, GMSK
modem chip and control cpu. (see
http://d-star.dyndns.org/IC-2200H/IC-2200H052.jpg UT-115 is same as UT-118.)
So, I think D-STAR rig is over $100 higher than normal analog rig, (Analog
part of D-STAR rig is same as normal analog rig.)

Satoshi Yasuda 7m3tjz/ad6gz