Both systems have their pro's and con's. I have my preference which is the dongle and for some good reasons.

Let's start with the radio. The main problem is that at this moment in time there are insufficient people with these radio's, at least this is the case in my local area to enable radio to radio sessions. 

One of the other downfalls of the radio is the out of range degrading of signal or rather the lack of it when mobile. At least with an analog radio you do get a chance to relay the fact that you are going into an area of bad reception. With the Dstar radio's you just drop out completely. That is if you can find someone with a radio to talk to in the first place.

You can send both data and voice at the same time and even send short messages. but again it is dependent on other users. The digital radio's have aprs ( automatic position reporting system ) fitted which basically means that your location is tracked and the information is been relayed for others to access via various sites on the internet. This could be a good thing if you become ill whilst on a walk or a drive.

The last thing which in my opinion is the main reason not to buy a radio. Is the price! dependent upon the choice of radio be it a hand held or a mobile it could be a £350 - £500 although these prices are not exact you can be assured they wont be far from the mark! 

So lets put things into perspective. The price is high, and the chance of speaking to someone locally on the radio is remote this leaves only one option. The use of the Dstar repeater system. These repeaters are not available in every area and unless you can access then directly then you are stuffed! in essence what you have bought is an expensive 2mtr or 2mtr and 70cms radio.

Thats the cons out off the way. The pro's are that they look good and are constructed quite well.

DV Dongle 

Now for the dongle! just plug into a usb port on your computer. They only access through an internet connection be it broadband cable or whatever, and only via Dstar repeaters or reflectors but because you only need to be on the internet then you can access from anywhere in the world. If you are using the three boadband even in the middle of a field if you wish!.

Dongle to radio does not work at the moment but the software upgrades might make it possible in the near future. dongle to dongle does work but only through computer IP addesses I must admit i would rather use skype for this purpose. you have a facillity for a message with the dongle users although I have not looked into this with much gusto.

One thing about the dongle is that you can monitor all repeater modes ie. 2mtrs 70cms and 1.2 gigs at the same time by using the asterichs command on the dongle software.

The outgoing audio is also good on the dongle as well. Now for the price!. Around £200 pounds brand new in the box as they say. 

Lets face it if you have a radio you will proberbly only use it on a repeater anyway. So buy a dongle an save your money. Well thats my opinion you will have to make your own mind up.

73 DE M3ULT

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