Star Codec Download
Maybell Goodfriend
If you have low performance PC or want to play common videos only, use the Lite version.
The Classic version includes most of codecs with the old codecs that rarely used recently.
You can use 64-bit version for 64-bit Media Players.
StarCodec 64-bit is a version for 64-bit Editions of Windows and include 64-bit codecs only for 64-bit Media Players. StarCodec 64-bit can be installed and used with StarCodec 32-bit version. StarCodec 64-bit can be used in 64-bit Media Players such as Windows Media Player(x64) or Windows Media Center(x64).
In 1998 an investigation into finding a new way of bringing digital technology to amateur radio was started. The process was funded by a ministry of the Japanese government, then called the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and administered by the Japan Amateur Radio League. In 2001, D-STAR was published as the result of the research.[2]
Additionally, gateways operating on the U.S. trust server are asked during initial setup to install DStarMonitor which is an add-on tool that allows the overall system administrators to see the status of each Gateway's local clock and other processes and PIDs needed for normal system operation, and also sends traffic and other data to servers operated under the domain name of "dstarusers.org". By this means a complete tracking of user behaviour is technically possible. Installation of this software also includes JavaAPRSd, a Java-based APRS interface which is utilized on Gateway 2.0 systems to interface between the Icom/D-STAR GPS tracking system called DPRS to the more widely known and utilized amateur radio APRS system.
Like other commercial digital modes (P25, TETRA, DMR, dPMR, NXDN, System Fusion), D-STAR uses a closed-source proprietary voice codec (AMBE) that's patented by Digital Voice Systems, Inc. (DVSI)[16] because it was the highest quality and only codec available in silicon when the system was released. Amateur radio operators do not have access to the specification of this codec or the rights to implement it on their own without buying a licensed product. Amateurs have a long tradition of building, improving upon and experimenting with their own radio designs. The modern digital age equivalent of this would be designing and/or implementing codecs in software. Critics say the proprietary nature of AMBE and its availability only in hardware form (as ICs) discourages innovation. Even critics praise the openness of the rest of the D-STAR standard[citation needed] which can be implemented freely. As of 2017 the patents have expired, as announced by Bruce Perens, K6BP at the 2017 ARRL/TAPR DCC in his State of Digital Voice talk.
In Icom's radio line, D-STAR does significantly add to the cost of a radio, which is a barrier to the adoption of the technology. In 2006 the cost of a D-STAR radio was compared to that of a standard analog radio, and the price difference was nearly double.[21] This is due partly to the per-unit cost for the voice codec hardware and/or license and partly to manufacturer research and development costs that need to be amortized. As is the case with any product, as more units are sold, the R&D portion of the cost will decrease over time. The D-STAR capable radios also cost more than their equivalents from other brands, even before the D-STAR options boards are added (in the UK as of April 2011, Martin Lynch & Sons' website lists the Icom 2820 (without D-STAR) at 489, while the equivalent Yaesu, the FT8800, is listed at just 337).
Many have argued[who?] that the proprietary codec constitutes a form of encryption, and encryption is prohibited by almost every country's amateur radio licence conditions. According to FCC rules, if the algorithm is publicly published or otherwise widely available enough that transmissions are not secret, it is considered encoding rather than encryption. Unfortunately D-STAR uses AMBE, a non-public codec. However, French regulators, in April 2010, have issued a statement that rules D-STAR illegal in France, due to the ability to create a connection to the internet with it and the proprietary nature of the codec used. The French Amateur Radio society, DR@F - Digital Radioamateur France has an online petition against this ruling, calling for the government to allow the mode, as to ban it would deny them 'fundamental rights'.[22]
An advanced software application for use with D-STAR enabled radios. Supports advanced text chat, personal messaging with auto-reply and inbox, e-mail gateway and a beacon mode. GPS Tracking / Logging and a GPS Beacon emulator and Internet linking. New features are added weekly and users can suggest new features through the D-STAR Comms forum. www.dstarcomms.com
Another project is Satoshi Yasuda's (7M3TJZ/AD6GZ) experiments with a UT-118 DV adapter. This project involves interfacing Icom's UT-118 with other manufacturer's amateur radio transceivers. With this project some VHF/UHF/SHF amateur radio transceivers are capable of being adapted for D-STAR operation. This requires access to the receiver's discriminator and to the direct FM modulator of the radio, sometimes available at a 9,600 bit/s packet interface. Satoshi's product is no longer available. There is an alternative available at www.dutch-star.nl
I was checking out the screen grabs for the last episode of Picard season 3 and noticed something. On the message the Federation President sent to tell people to avoid Earth, it said it was listed as using the Myriad codec. But I wonder why that is? Unless I mis heard in the first ep of the season Riker told Picard the D crew came up with it during a mission when they thought communications were compromised. When Riker decoded it, he showed Picard the real location Beverly sent to meet Picard. But that was said to be something known to only 1701 D senior officers back then. That's why Crusher used it since only a past D crew member would now it. And not give her real location since she did not trust general Starfleet.
Also, DVSI made use of the AMBE codec in commerce before some of their patentapplications, potentially invalidating their own patents. There's one ham andintellectual property expert who feels that due to the date of first use incommerce, the important patent claims will expire in 2016.
Bruce Perens supposedly has a report from a patent analyst. It would be nice if hecould share that. There were about more than a dozen patents related to this stuff.However all but a one are expired, and that remaining runs till 2028. It'snearly impossible to tell what patents pertain to what, unless you are some sort oftechnical-codec lawyer with a high IQ. But the short version is when it comes to patents, the rule of thumb is; Expiry: the longer of 17 years from issue date or 20 years from filing date. All the patents for the version of AMBE used in D-Star expired back in 2017per Bruce Perens (source). The remaining patent concerns AMBE+2 used in DMR, Fusion, and NXDN. It was applied for in 2003, but was tardily grantedin 2013, thus making that remaining patent for those modes expire in 2028.
The open source version of AMBE for D-Star, DMR, Fusion have existed since May2010 as mbelib on github with no DMCA takedowns. All of them with the exception of D-Star were figured out from public TIA documents. (The APCO spec required a technical publication of the vocoder details). Some smart folks did there best a while laterin 2013 to prove a point through a reverse engineering and guess-and-test, as the D-Star codec iscompletely undocumented. But sadly it still sounds like it could use work when compared against the audio processed by the chip.
"If anybody wants to continue the research / work, I suggest you look at the osmocom GMR code that Sylvain Munaut worked on. Those phones use a similar codec - I believe with longer frames for the satellite latency. Initially he used thembelib code, enhanced it for things like tone support, but he later rewrote the synthesis code completely. See OsmocomGMR for his presentations and source code." (per aauthor)
DSD+ or dsdplus - Is a closed source Windows fork of DSD that came about in December 2013. It caused the original DSD author to give up his development. (TheseDSD+ guys have gall, as you can pay for fast lane access to new features.)
And on that note; In May 2018 Chinese AMBE (Team6160) started to appear onthe market. It's a WT3080 AMBE 3000 Compatible Device (it does use the 460800baud rate).Apparently, this chip is loaded with the bootleg code that is used in some Chinese DMR radios. (see Nanjing Wutong Microelectronics Center aka: )
Also worth mentioning is the XLX multiprotocol gateway reflector that was started in 2016 by Luc,LX1IQ. This was the first (2016) bridged multiprotocolreflector conception. This brought about some issues of needing physical access to to the server for the AMBE dongle. As well as the single stream limitation using the available hardware AMBEdongles. In the summer of 2017 Florian DF2ET designed a homebrew AMBE-3003 PCB to provide 3 channels. An option for a USB-3006 device was made by LX1IQ and LX3JL by Winter 2017. -3006 This prompted a kickstarter by NW Digital (XC-3006): -channel-usb-ambe-transcoder-for-digital-voice-sy Which provided a small quantity of them by Spring 2018.
The D-Star (left channel) audio, unlike the situation in which there are just two speakers competing for "codec time," the codec has trouble when faced with a (more-or-less) constant background noise - particularly in light of the fact that this noise (the crowd) consists of many voices overlaying each other. With this constant noise, the codec has trouble finding "holes" in which clearly-audible syllables of the speaker can be heard and the voice becomes largely unintelligible. Note: Keep in mind that upon repeated playbacks, one will likely become more-familiar with the text being read and be able to understand more of what is being said that would be the case for a first-time listener despite adverse conditions.