Overview    Block Diagram     Software     Interfaces     Roadmap     User Manual

DV4
DIGITAL VOICE AND DATA COMMUNICATION

DV4 Overview:

this is the 4th generation of the Digital Voice Controller, which by now has gained so many functions that one can say “it knows almost all digital modes in Ham Radio.”

This product family (incl Generation 3) was primarily developed for digital voice communication, especially D-Star. However with the Concept DV4 all barriers have been removed. Naturally it can operate D-Star perfectly, but in addition also DMR and thanks to loadable free software also most other digital modes like Echolink and the shortwave modes PSK31, RTTY, WSPR etc.

DV4 is a hardware platform supported by a Debian based Operating System that is specially configured for Ham Radio. Only the hardware is a commercial product. All software is licensed under GPL 3.0, thus free and useable by anyone. This opens the possibility to install almost any of the available free software applications. However most are already pre-installed so that the user has no need to configure and only needs to enter personal data (e.g. call sign, name etc).

 

Hardware and Software:

Hardware:

The complete hardware was developed and financed by Helitron Company (DJ0ABR) in cooperation with sr-systems (DG8FAC). This covers the legal requirements such as lead free soldering, disposal and packaging as well as CE signature. HAMs outside the EU can buy the hardware but are responsible by themself to fulfill the legal requirements of their country. Outside EU we prefer shipping to local dealers. So if you are a dealer and are interested in this product please send us an e-mail.

The DV4 units (the hardware) will be available for worldwide ordering directly from the HAM-Onlineshop of Helitron Company once released.

Software:

The complete software is based on Debian-Linux and licensed under GNU Version 3. This means anyone can use this software for own use as long as any development based on it is also published under GNU V3. The licensing rules can be found here. GNU.

The DV4 contains software written by us (e.g. driver, D-Star, WSPR etc) as well as other free software (e.g. PSK31, RTTY etc).

Can one get the source code? Yes, code written by us is freely available. For some additional modules we use licensed binaries and libraries of other programmers (e.g. DCS linking, DMR modules). For these if also under GPL their programmers are responsible.

An Open System:

DV4 is an open system and invites you to experiment yourself. To aid this we have included for all of our software modules simple interfaces. This is where programmers or techs can get access to the hardware and system functions in an easy way.

Examples:

* adjusting volume with a smartphone app
* remote linking to D-Star or DMR reflectors
* adding external announcements
* use of the AMBE codec out of other programs

and much more.