I went the DV Mega route (there are many ways to do this) on a Raspberry-PI2 using the kit from Gigaparts http://www.gigaparts.com/Product-Lines/Starter-Kits-Package-Deals/Raspberry-Pi2-DV-MEGA-Dual-Band-Bundle.html I also bought a 2A, 12v power supply and the Raspberry case to fit both boards. Total cost (as of May 2016) $310 and easy to assemble. A picture (see below) of my finished project with a WiFi dongle, the DV Mega board on top with Antenna attached and Raspberry Pi2 below, everything in the case and power-in in the upper right corner. You will need a HDMI monitor and keyboard/mouse with ​​dongle to use temporally to set it up. 

​Once this was set up it has worked flawlessly. The great thing about the kit IMHO is it comes with a mini-SD card with all of the software installed and uses the Maryland D-Star build – see http://maryland-dstar.org/ for more information. Using “PuTTY”, I installed the client “Tight VNC” software on the Pi and the server portion on my desktop – now I can log into the Raspberry Pi through my network and make changes and update software easily.

Frankly, my biggest problem was getting the ICOM ID51A Plus programming set up. For that I purchased RT System software http://www.rtsystemsinc.com/Default.asp for the programming. Even that was daunting at first but I found an .icf file on the Maryland-dstar site and customized it for my needs. Getting that all set took the longest time but once I had it right, “slick” is the word. If you decide to make this leap, I would be glad to share my .icf file if you need or want it to get started.​