Got my first taste of D-Star today, after reading the instruction manual, reading a D-Star programming guide posted on the website of the Jersey Cape D-Star users group, I attempted fate and programmed in one of the area D-Star 440 Mhz. repeaters.....and much to my amazement someone answered me.
I then programmed in a 2 meter D-Star repeater, and again I got an answer.
I'm only programming these into memory to access the local repeater and not the gateway, since this radio will be for OEM use only. If and when I get one of these digital radios for myself, I'll go with the ID-880H since one of it's key features is one touch change over from local repeater access to gateway access and back.
I even figured out how to program in a Tx message, and set it to transmit whenever I key the mic......"Ocean City OEM".....kind of an added identifier to let everyone know that the station is not my home QTH, but OEM headquarters.
Programming all the analog repeaters and simplex frequencies was just as easy, if not easier than on my IC-2200H, the D-Star stuff requires a bit more information, I can see why most folks prefer doing this on the computer, programming D-Star repeaters via the front panel is a major league pain in the ass......
There's a learning curve here, and I'm just scratching the surface......
