There is some basic stuff that needs to be setup — pretty logical and simple. The critical things are:
- MYCALL — this is set to your amateur call. In my case “WB4SON”
- RPT1 — this is the call sign of the repeater being used plus a channel indicator (the channel indicator MUST be in the 8th position, and is “C” for 2 meters: so in my case it is “W1AAD C” with 2 spaces between the “D” and “C”)
- RPT2 — this the the gateway to the internet, generally the same call as RPT1 with a “G” (so in my case it is “W1AAD G” with 2 spaces between the “D” and “G”)
- URCALL — this is set to “CQCQCQ” unless you are calling a specific station (not just working a random station through a repeater)
Simple enough, right? Well simple except the Icom software that is used to make programming “easier” prevents one from entering anything into the RPT2 field — that isn’t critical enough to prevent contacting local users of the repeater but it would prevent digital signals from making it onto the internet and remote users.
The solution was to setup the radio using the Icom software, download it to the IC-80AD, then use the keyboard to enter the correct RPT2 values. Finally the rig settings were transferred back to the computer and saved.
By the way, putting the radio into the DR mode, even accidentally, really messes things up (even though this button seems to be exactly what you want to press — don’t.)
As for DPRS (Position Reporting), Step One is to get your radio working in the DV mode through your local D-Star repeater by following the information presented above.
Step Two is to decide what your objectives are. Are you looking to share your position data with internet mapping services, or are you trying to report your position so that your fellow hams can see your lat/lon/altitude on their rig’s display. The reason this is important is there are two different modes of configuring the 80AD. The “newest” is called “DVA” and is a bit easier to setup. So if you mostly want to use the internet mapping services, this might be a good choice. But it has two limitations: it doesn’t report your altitude, and that data can’t be shown on most rig’s display. The original mode, called “DVG” overcomes those two limitations, but is harder to setup.
Let’s assume you want to configure your 80AD to use the DVG “GPS Mode”. The required settings are located in several different menu branches, but the general items that need to be configured are as follows:
- Set GPS-TX to DVG (Puts the 80AD into DVG mode)
- Set RMC to ON (Send “Recommended Minimum” GPS Data (position/track — but no altitude)
- Set GGA to ON (Send 3D data including altitude — but no track info)
- Set GLL to OFF (Don’t send position in Loran format)
- Set GSA to OFF (Don’t send satellite data)
- Set VTG to OFF (Don’t send velocity and track data)
- Set GSV to OFF (Don’t send satellites in view)
- Set GPS.ATX to OFF
- Set MESSAG/TX GPS to the correct GPS Message
The parameters RMC/GGA/GLL/GSA/VTG/GSV are all abbreviations for NEMA GPS Strings (like “$GPSRMC”) that are output by the HM-189GPS Speaker/Mic. Those that are turned ON will be sent by the radio. The more strings turned ON, the more time required to send them. I’ve read you should never have more than four turned ON. RMC and GGA are the two most common.