The 27th Annual
ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference
September 26-28, 2008 - Chicago, Illinois
Updates
Keep an eye on this space for the latest updates on the DCC.
- The Sunday Seminar is Announced! Click here for more information
Introduction
Mark your calendar and start making plans to attend the premier technical conference of the year, the 27th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 26-28, 2008, in Chicago, Illinois. The conference location is the Holiday Inn Hotel, Elk Grove Village IL
The ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference is an international forum for radio amateurs to meet, publish their work, and present new ideas and techniques. Presenters and attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about recent hardware and software advances, theories, experimental results, and practical applications.
Topics include, but are not limited to: Software defined radio (SDR), digital voice (D-Star, P25, WinDRM, FDMDV, G4GUO), digital satellite communications, Global Position System (GPS), precision timing, Automatic Position Reporting SystemŪ (APRS), short messaging (a mode of APRS), Digital Signal Processing (DSP), HF digital modes, Internet interoperability with amateur radio networks, spread spectrum, IEEE 802.11 and other Part 15 license-exempt systems adaptable for Amateur Radio, using TCP/IP networking over amateur radio, mesh and peer to peer wireless networking, emergency and Homeland Defense backup digital communications, using Linux in amateur radio, updates on AX.25 and other wireless networking protocols.
Call for Papers
Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 27th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 26-28, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois and publication in the Conference Proceedings. Annual conference proceedings are published by the ARRL. Presentation at the conference is not required for publication. Submission of papers are due by July 31st, 2008 and should be submitted to
Maty Weinberg, ARRL
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111
or via the Internet to maty@arrl.org
Register for the Conference
General Information
- Technical and introductory sessions will be presented all day Friday and Saturday.
- Friday Evening Social. Join others at the conference for a Friday evening social get together.
- Saturday Evening Banquet with an invited speaker that concludes with award presentations and prize drawing.
- The ever-popular Sunday Seminar that focuses on a topic and provides an in-depth four-hour presentation by an expert in the field.
Three-Day Conference
(Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Technical Sessions
-
This is a must attend conference for technically inclined amateurs.
Now, more than ever, amateur radio needs this great meeting of the minds
to demonstrate a continued need for our current frequency allocations by
pushing forward and documenting our achievements. The ARRL and TAPR
Digital Communications Conference is the best way to record our
accomplishments and challenge each other to do more.
Just review past DCC proceedings to the see the depth of topics presented since 1981.
Introductory Sessions
-
The ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference is for all levels
of technical experience, not just for the expert. Not only is the
conference technically stimulating, it is a weekend of fun for all who
have more than a casual interest in any aspect of amateur digital
electronics and communications.
Introductory sessions are scheduled throughout the conference to introduce new technical topics for beginners and experts alike. Here are some of the introductory seminars scheduled:
Friday Evening Session
-
Firday evening sessions return to DCC. Many of you may remember that
the PRUG group from Japan hosted these sessions 1998 through 2000.
This year D-STAR Digital Voice and Data will be the focus of the DCC
Friday evening session. Pioneers and leaders in D-STAR digital voice &
data technology will be presenting the technical innovations in D-STAR
and how it's being used worldwide.
In addition to the Friday evening session, Icom will be at the DCC demonstrating D-STAR radios in the demonstation room. TAPR's 70cm and 23cm D-STAR digital voice and data repeaters (KT7APR) with internet gateway will be on the air.
If you are registered for the DCC on Friday or Saturday, admission to the Friday night D-STAR event is included. If you only want to attend the D-STAR Friday night event a $10 admission is required to defray conference room costs.
use the order button below only if you will attend the Friday evening session only. Other wise use the regular DCC registration. If you decide later to register for either or both days of the DCC the $10 will be credited towards the registration.
The price for the D-Star Session is:
-
$ 10 US for members of TAPR
$ 10 US for non-members
+ shipping/handling if applicable.
(Place Web Order)
REMEMBER only use the button above if not registering for other DCC events.
Banquet Speaker
-
Each year the conferences invites top amateurs in the field to speak. Past speakers have included Geoff Baehr, N6LXA, Chief Network Officer of Sun Microsystems, Dale Hatfield, W0IFO, Chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, Yutaka Sakurai, JF1LZQ, Vice President of Japan's Packet Radio User's Group, and Ken Kaplan, N0GZ, who wrote the OS/9 operating system.
This year's banquet speaker is: TBA
Sunday Seminar
-
Each year the conference holds a in-depth four-hour seminar on Sunday. Past seminars have included such topics as Software Defined Radios, Spread Spectrum Design and Theory, RD Design and Deployment, PICmicro MCU design and development, Packet Radio Networks with Millions or Billions of Stations, and others. Seminars are given by experts in their field.
This year's Sunday seminar will be:
Software Radio Through the Looking-Glass
Phil Harman, VK6APH
One of the most exciting, and rapidly evolving, aspects of Ham Radio is that of Software Defined Radios. What was initially left to technical minded experimenters is now starting to move into the main stream. The latest SDRs offer performance equal to the best analogue radios on the market.
For those brought up on analogue radios there is quite a learning curve to understand exactly how these new radios work, what they do well and what shortcomings they have.
Phil will guide us through the basics of SDRs right up to the very latest techniques that digitise signals directly at the antenna socket. Using diagrams and a minimum of math he will cover such subjects as front end design, mixers, why we need I and Q signals, digital up and down conversion, AGC techniques, noise blanking and high efficiency Power Amplifiers.
The presentation will be highly interactive, so be sure to bring along that question that has been puzzling you for so long!
Biography:
Phil Harman, VK6APH, has held a ham license for over 40 years. For much of this time he has worked on leading edge RF techniques related to receivers and transmitters. Phil's current passion is the development of fully digital HF radios. Phil co-writes the Software Defined Radio column in the RSGB Radio Communications journal and also co-authored the SDR chapter in the latest RSGB Handbook.
Demonstration Room
-
Each year at the DCC a separate (and lockable) room is
provided for people to bring and show off their latest projects. Tables
and power will be provided. Bring your equipment and display for all to
see, learn, and ask questions about. Be sure to bring a small sign and/or
flyer naming and describing your project.
Hotel
Conference presentations, meetings, and seminars will be held at the
Holiday Inn Hotel Elk Grove Village, IL.
It is highly recommended that you book your room prior to arriving.
A block of rooms at the special DCC room rate of $89.00 single/double.
This special rate is good until September 7, 2008 or until the block of rooms are all sold out.
To book your room, call the hotel directly (phone numbers below) and mention the group code TAPR DCC when making reservations.
Be sure to book your rooms early!
Holiday Inn Hotel Elk Grove Village
1000 Busse Road
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Phone: (847) 437-6010
Fax: (847) 806-9369
Internet: http://www.hielkgrove.com
Transportation
-
The nearest airport is the
Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD).
The Holiday Inn Hotel Elk Grove Village provides a complimentary airport shuttle service.
Contact the hotel front desk for availability and scheduling.
Details on Call for Papers
-
Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the ARRL and TAPR
Digital Communications Conference for publication in the Conference Proceedings.
- Software defined radio (SDR)
- Digital voice (D-Star, P25, WinDRM, FDMDV, DRMDV, G4GUO)
- Digital satellite communications
- Global position system
- Precise Timing
- Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS)
- Short messaging (a mode of APRS)
- Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
- HF digital modes
- Internet interoperability with Amateur Radio networks
- Spread spectrum
- IEEE 802.11 and other Part 15 license-exempt systems adaptable for Amateur Radio
- Using TCP/IP networking over Amateur Radio
- Mesh and peer to peer wireless networking
- Emergency and Homeland Defense backup digital communications in Amateur Radio
- Updates on AX.25 and other wireless networking protocols
- Topics that advanced the amateur radio art
Annual conference proceedings are published by the ARRL. Presentation at the conference is not required for publication.
The ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference is an international forum for radio amateurs to meet, publish their work, and present new ideas and techniques. Presenters and attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about recent hardware and software advances, theories, experimental results, and practical applications. Topics include, but are not limited to:
Submission Guide Lines
-
Anyone interested in digital communications is invited to submit a paper for publication in the Conference Proceedings. Presentation at the Conference is not required for publication. If you know of someone who is doing great things with digital communications, be sure to personally tell them about this!
- Papers should be on 8-1/2 X 11 inch paper with the following margins: left and right, 0.75 inch; top, 0.8 inch; and bottom, 1 inch (very important).
- Structure of paper should be (see single column example below, two column should follow a similar format):
- Title
- Author(s) with affiliation
- Abstract (200 words or less)
- Key words (3-5)
- Body
- Reference List
- Papers can be in one- or two-column format.
- Use 12-point Times Roman for the main body of text; do not number pages.
- Photos and drawings should have good contrast. Note: a photocopy gives a good indication of print quality.
- Electronic submissions can be made in any of the following formats:
- Adobe Acrobat PDF;
- Microsoft Word
- Reference citations and other topics not explicitly discussed in this list should follow a recognized standard format (APA, IEEE, etc).
- A biographical page is to be included with the manuscript. It should contain Name, Address, Phone, and E-mail for each author as well as a short descriptive paragraph about the first author. The bio page will be used to contact authors concerning the conference and presentation schedule.
See above for deadlines and where to submit your paper.
Some quick guidelines:
-
A formal release form is not required, but indicate that the paper is being sent for use in the Proceedings of the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference. You are only giving permission for your paper to be printed in the Proceedings.
Example Single Column Page Layout
Two column would be similar in nature, but with two columns.
