ARVN: Amateur Radio//Video news
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ARVN Presents the
ARRL and TAPR
2008 Digital Communications Conference
6 DVD Set


Update: The TAPR, SDR and D-STAR forum DVDs
from the 2009 Dayton Hamvention are now available. Click here.
The 2009 DCC DVD set is now available. Click here.

The 2008 DCC was a three-day conference held in late September near Chicago (same location as the 2009 DCC). It featured twenty-one presentations from hams on the leading edge of digital communication, including D-STAR, a variety of programs for packet, AMSAT/SuitSat2, Winlink2000 and advanced Software Defined Radio. ARVN recorded it all, and presents the conference on six DVDs.
2008
ORDER
HERE
The DVDs are organized as much as possible around common topics. Each DVD has four presentations (details are below), and most presentations run about 45 minutes (good for club meeting programs, if your club leans a bit technical). DVD 5 is introductory sessions for those just learning about some of these subjects. And DVD 6 holds the Sunday Seminar, an in-depth look at a single subject. This time, Phil Harman VK4APH explored the design of the Mercury software-defined receiver. Mercury's A/D converter is almost at the antenna connector. A band-pass filter comes first, but then everything is done in the digital domain! Phil says that performance matches or exceeds the best analog receivers on the market. This session runs a little over three hours. Invite some friends over to see it.
You can buy individual DVDs covering the area you're interested in for $15 each (+ $3 shipping, $4 international), or the whole set for $75 (still $3 shipping, $4 international. That's a savings of $30. The DVDs are produced in NTSC standard definition video.

Watch the Preview here. Order 'em below:

And see the whole Welcome Session on the KN4AQ YouTube channel.
Here are the details (order the complete set at the bottom of the list):

DVD 1
Packet Radio
  • Nick Luther K9NL – Weather Data Distrubition over AX.25. Thought 1200 bps packet is too slow for images? Nick makes it work..
  • John Blowsky KB2SCS – EcomSCS and GatewaySCS. Real e-mail clients for packet radio mail.
  • Paul Wiedemeier KE5LKY – UDPcast for IP Multicast over Packet Radio. Better data distribution to multiple stations.
  • Eric Westgard NY9D – It’s the Network. Minnesota Packet and D-STAR data Network.
 DVD 1
$15
plus shipping
2008
ORDER
HERE

DVD 2
Software Defined Radio
  • Matt Ettus N2MJI – USRP2 Universal Software Radio Peripheral.
  • Paul Rinaldo W4RI – SDR Outlook. The regulatory envronment for Software Defined Radio. Yes, someone doesn't like it.
  • Scott Cowling WA2DFI – HPSDR Update. How HPSDR, TAPR and AMSAT work together to develop cutting edge technology, and where things stand now.
  • Jerry Shirar N9XR – Clocking the Data. Crystals and the Pierce Oscillator.
 DVD 2
$15
plus shipping
2008
ORDER
HERE


DVD 3
Winlink2000,
APRS,
D-STAR
  • Victor Poor W5SMM – Winlink2000 Update. A complete rebuild to better handle emergency communications.
  • Rick Muething KN6KB – WINMOR, a Sound Card mode for Winlink. Performance rivaling PACTOR II and III; far less expensive.
  • Bob Bruninga WB4APR – APRS Initiatives since 2004. There's lots more to APRS than position tracking, and Bob has big plans.
  • Pete Loveall AE5PL – D-STAR Uncovered. How D-STAR really works, from one of the K5TIT guys.
   The Radio Society of Tuscon watched WB4APR's APRS talk as their February club meeting program, and sent this comment:
   It was absolutely outstanding!!!  Well received by.all!  Due directly to this presentation, we have at least 15 more APRS stations on the air. Sometimes, technology which has been out for quite a few years is taken for granted and it can stagnate.  With all the new Techs out there now, this is new stuff many have not been exposed to.
   We will be using many more of your videos in the future.
Randy Malick, KF0X
President
DVD 3
$15
plus shipping
2008
ORDER
HERE


DVD 4
AMSAT,
Publishing
  • Steven Bible N7HPR – SuitSat 2 Update. SuitSat 1 was a rush project, literally "pushed out the door." SuitSat 2 will be a real satellite with serious capabilities.(It'll be pushed out the door, too.)
  • Tom Clark K3IO – AMSAT Eagle GEO. Tom's proposal for a geosynchronous Amateur Radio satellite.Hint: 1200 MHz is now practically DC.
  • Larry Wolfgang WR1B – Writing for QEX, QST. You've developed a great project. Now get paid to tell the world about it.  Here's how.
  • Joe Lynch N6CL – Writing for CQ, CQ VHF. A little bit lighter side of technical writing.
DVD 4
$15
plus shipping
2008
ORDER
HERE


DVD 5
Introductory
Sessions
  • Mel Whitten K0PFX – HF Digital Voice. A good grounding in WinDRM, FDMDV and the AOR modem digital voice modes for HF.
  • Mark Thompson WB9QZB – D-STAR Voice and Data. Answers to your questions on how to operate D-STAR.
  • Pete Loveall AE5PL – DPRS (D-STAR GPS System). Pete wrote DPRS to better utilize the GPS and low-speed data functionality of the DV mode. ICOM makes direct use of it in the newer radios.
  • Dan Smith KK7DS – D-RATS messaging for D-STAR. Dan wrote D-RATS to make D-STAR low-speed text chat multi-platform. Then he threw in the kitchen sink.
DVD 5
$15
plus shipping
2008
ORDER
HERE


DVD 6
Sunday Seminar
 Software Defined Radio
"Through the Looking Glass"
Phil Harman VK6APH leads you on an entertaining, detailed trip through the design of the Mercury SDR receiver. With the A/D converter preceeded only by a bandpass filter, Mercury does everything in software, at a price hams can afford. It is the leading edge in ham radio technology.

The preview for this DVD is the last 90 seconds of the preview video (above). Focused like a laser? Go to 6:55 in and play (right after the D-RATS segment).
Wooohhh! If you are using Mercury and wonder why and how this receiver is so good, you should (or you must) buy this video! It's a very professional video, and it is very much more pleasant to hear Phil than to read any technical paper about DDC, decimation, etc.

Great job, Phil, TAPR and ARVN (Amateur Radio Video News)!
73, Roland, F8CHK
(from HPSDR mailing list)

DVD 6
$15
plus shipping
2008
ORDER
HERE

6 DVD Set
(get'em all)
All 6 DVDs for $75
But still just $3 shipping/$4 international (that's due to a quirk in the way PayPal lets me calculate shipping - the extra postage is part of the $75 price).
Save $30 over buying DVDs separately
 6 DVD SET
$75
plus shipping
2008
ORDER
HERE


Video Production Credits
Thanks to Greg Braun N9CHA (above) and Dick Illman AH6EZ (right) for production assistance. Greg provided two cameras, and shot all three days, including all the footage in the Intro room on Saturday. Dick shot audience Q&A in the main room on Saturday. I was on camera in the main room all three days - KN4AQ.

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