Hackaday

A hobbyist named Yeckel has built an open-source D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) transceiver using a LilyGO TTGO T-Beam, an ESP32-based board with a SX1278 radio module and GPS. The project, called D-StarBeacon, supports low-speed data transmission including GPS coordinates, short text messages, and images — enabling beacon-type functions without expensive dedicated radio hardware. Voice decoding was attempted but not achieved. A web interface handles configuration, and an Android app provides the user interface. This is reportedly the only open-source D-STAR radio implementation currently available online.

Simple D-STAR Transceiver Uses Inexpensive Hardware