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Posted: 4/27/2016 12:07:27 AM EDT
This thread is an offshoot of "The HT Thread" and the "Source for Marine VHF Radio reviews?". I had mentioned that I was getting a portable DMR repeater and there was some interest about it.
I wrote up some information over in this blog post, http://competition-dynamics.com/blog/cd-upgrades-field-communications-for-2016/ but I'll repost a bunch of it here and expand a little bit. I am head of an organization that runs big field-style shooting matches. The smallest parcel of land we use is 1000 acres; the largest we've used was approx 230 square miles; and right now we're using about 40 square miles for our 2016 adventure race. These are typically out in the middle of nowhere with no cell coverage (unless you happen to be on top of the mountain). This presents a logistical challenge for match operations. Staff need to be able to communicate, and in some cases, competitors need to communicate with staff as well. We had evolved from using bubble pack radios, to VHF, to VHF with a mountaintop human relay. I was originally looking for a VHF repeater solution and found Tactical Repeater http://www.tacticalrepeater.com/. This is a side business for Kent, whose main job is owning and running a very large (I believe the dominant) linked commercial DMR system in CO, WY, and NE. Kent oriented me to DMR for maximum coverage and flexibility. I bought two of the Connect Systems DMR radios (under $200 each) and tested them out for a couple months. They basically blew away analog VHF/UHF for everything we were trying to do. In testing UHF DMR in simplex mode, I found on typical terrain or on road convoys, the DMR radios gave us approx 2-3x the distance and had many fewer coverage holes in a given set of terrain. Another anecdote, from the basement of my house in Fort Collins, I can hit the Boulder area DMR-MARC repeater, using a HT, in DMR mode. This is pretty amazing considering the distance and stuff in the way. On analog UHF, I am lucky to hit the local Fort Collins (Horsetooth) repeater from the exact same position. Only problem, the DMR repeaters Kent deals with are fixed position enterprise-level units, and the "manpack" repeaters he builds are typically built around ultra low power VHF/UHF. So I did a bunch of research online and found the Hytera RD965 repeater. It's small, a little larger than an old Hayes Courier HST modem. The downside compared to the other manpack repeaters was going to be its power requirements. I said that I didn't mind if we needed to have more batteries or solar panels, so we just went ahead with the project. The idea is that we ID the best mountain-top position for the repeater to give maximal coverage of the event area, drive/hike it up there, and then leave it there for about to two weeks, until we're done with the site. The repeater is to run autonomously during that time. Anyway, this is what he came up with: The RD965 Packaged into a Pelican 1500 The Pelican case is fully sealed and operates closed, out in the elements. It contains the repeater, 40 Ah of reserve battery power, a charge controller, and a custom-tuned very clean duplexer. When closed, the only controls/ports the box has are: (1) the on/off switch, (2) the RF connector for the antenna, and (3) an optional DC power plug. With a 60 Watt milspec solar panel plugged into the DC power port, the repeater will continue operations indefinitely. The DC power port can also use an external battery bank or wall power supply. It packs up quite small. The repeater case is about 42 lbs (batteries) and then there's the bulk of the antenna tripod stand and antenna. Technically this is man packable, but it can be strapped to the back of an ATV and taken anywhere with ease. With DMR, you get two timeslots, near infinite talk groups, unique caller/radio ID's, encryption, and an effective SnR advantage over analog. What's not to love.. I am running this on FCC-licensed commercial UHF frequencies. With a change in the duplexer, there's no reason it couldn't be operated as an amateur repeater. Now radios-- There are few choices for inexpensive but decent DMR radios, where "inexpensive" means under about $250 per radio. These CS710's came in about $180 per each. The cost constraint comes in due to the number of radios we need. Connect Systems, especially Jerry and Chris, have been good to work with. The downside of the CS radios is that the programming/firmware is not very mature. Everything mostly works, but there are surprises here and there, which will be fixed in future firmware releases (hopefully soon). But I can buy 4 or 5 CS radios for each 1 /\/\ I could afford, let alone the hassle for software and programming support from /\/\. While we have a commercial FCC license to operate this system, I am also a HAM (Extra). A buddy (also a HAM) familiarized ourselves with DMR technology and capabilities by making contacts over the local DMR network and DMR-MARC. That was helpful. There you go-- a tactical DMR repeater. |
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Way cool setup.
I'm digging that solar panel. Specs / Mfgr on that? |
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Neat. How much are those repeaters and how much power do they put out?
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Additional info
The solar panel is a P3-60W from P3 Solar. http://p3solar.com/portfolio/p3-60w-portable-solar-charger-2/ Tech info on the Hytera RD965 repeater itself. http://www.hytera-mobilfunk.com/dmr/radios/repeater-tier-ii/repeater-details/details/rd965/ http://www.hytera-mobilfunk.com/uploads/tx_wwdownloads/90RD965_Fly_eng_v05_web.pdf Power on the repeater is configurable up to 10 W, however you will program it to match the limits imposed by your license and/or frequency classification. The repeater itself is about $2500. The packaging, duplexer, charge controller, batteries, misc connectors, etc, and antenna and tripod added about a grand to that. The solar panel was about a grand too. There were cheaper solar options but this one is ruggedized. We can't really afford to have comms go down during an event, so the bigger hammer was applied. We also went very conservative in our battery life calculations and solar panel requirements. One of the downsides of the DMR repeater was the cost compared to a tactical/manpack analog UHF repeater. |
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Another cool thing about DMR is that you can link them together using directional wifi networks and create a mesh that covers a much larger area than any one repeater could. Typically commercial or amateur DMR networks use the internet (or a private internet) as the backhaul for a wide area radio network.
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Nice, DMR does have advantages over analog, though in marginal areas analog can be better. Are you running dual mode (Analog/Digital?)
I take it you went Itinerant on the freqs? What type of time are you getting on the solar with traffic, what is the traffic levels you expect? We run UHF and did some major improvements on our system and height is the answer on range as it should be. We are seeing portables doing 15-20 miles full quiet, with maybe an S3 noise level inside aluminum sided homes and basements at the same distance. Nice setup. The DMR has to be amazing to hear. |
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The repeater can operate in simultaneous dual analog/digital mode, however we have that disabled right now.
I don't have the calculations handy at the moment but for the most conservative I believe we ran a 30% duty cycle (wildly overestimated) and the solar and batteries were rated to keep it up indefinitely |
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Awesome. As stated you can fairly easily network several repeaters together via a private wireless IP network. If going that way, I'd highly recommend Ubiquiti for radios (Rocket M series with RF Elements dishes are what I'd perform the backhauling with).
Also, may be worth checking out the Simoco Linx 200 (supposedly back in stock around June). Low cost Tier II only radio (32 channel with a 16 position rotary). ASRM, did I ever tell you that I saw a 35% coverage increase on a XPR8400 (176W ERP) over a wideband Micor (176W ERP). Both had the antennas at the same location and height. |
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Awesome. As stated you can fairly easily network several repeaters together via a private wireless IP network. If going that way, I'd highly recommend Ubiquiti for radios (Rocket M series with RF Elements dishes are what I'd perform the backhauling with). Also, may be worth checking out the Simoco Linx 200 (supposedly back in stock around June). Low cost Tier II only radio (32 channel with a 16 position rotary). ASRM, did I ever tell you that I saw a 35% coverage increase on a XPR8400 (176W ERP) over a wideband Micor (176W ERP). Both had the antennas at the same location and height. View Quote I recall you had said you saw a bit better coverage. 35% is a marked difference! |
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The repeater can operate in simultaneous dual analog/digital mode, however we have that disabled right now. I don't have the calculations handy at the moment but for the most conservative I believe we ran a 30% duty cycle (wildly overestimated) and the solar and batteries were rated to keep it up indefinitely View Quote That is pretty amazing! I like that result. |
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That is pretty amazing! I like that result. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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The repeater can operate in simultaneous dual analog/digital mode, however we have that disabled right now. I don't have the calculations handy at the moment but for the most conservative I believe we ran a 30% duty cycle (wildly overestimated) and the solar and batteries were rated to keep it up indefinitely That is pretty amazing! I like that result. I'm really gonna have to tell you about the P25 repeater I'm working on... |
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Zak,
Absolutely Killer setup. Question, are you running any Hytera HT's along with the system? If so, the capabilities of your system can be fully unleashed. I have nothing but positive things to say about both Hytera, and DMR. While my project is based on the RD982, the setup you've got looks to be about as ideal as possible. And will be far more portable than the setup I'm working on. What are you running, battery-wise? |
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Not using Hytera HT's (and I am aware of some of the additional features if we were to). We are using only Connect Systems CS710's right now. The primary consideration on the HT's was per-unit price due to how many we needed. The batteries are SLA 20 Ah per each. I don't know the exact model.
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Another application for this thing is to throw it in the back seat of a vehicle, plug into its PLO-259 connector (or use a mag mount on the roof) -- voila, mobile repeater.
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I forget where I saw it, but a dude used an extension on his trailer hitch to mount a military guy pole/antenna mast. That would be badass for your setup.
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dammit - now you have me thinking about DMR instead of D-Star...
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Quoted: Quoted: Do it, and don't look back. Quoted: dammit - now you have me thinking about DMR instead of D-Star... Yup |
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Don't get me wrong. I think my 51a+ is a great radio. I just haven't had such good luck actually talking to anyone on D-Star. :-/ View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Do it, and don't look back. Quoted:
dammit - now you have me thinking about DMR instead of D-Star... Yup There's only one d-star repeater around here, and the crowd that hangs out on it is definitely one that I don't want to talk to. |
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Quoted: There's only one d-star repeater around here, and the crowd that hangs out on it is definitely one that I don't want to talk to. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Do it, and don't look back. Quoted: dammit - now you have me thinking about DMR instead of D-Star... Yup There's only one d-star repeater around here, and the crowd that hangs out on it is definitely one that I don't want to talk to. I've been running a DVMega as a MMDVM host along with a TYT-390 for about 2 weeks now. I like DMR but it needs a major amateur radio company to get behind it. Someone needs to get out there like ICOM did with D-Star and sell it. D-Star might inferior but it's got a huge user base, a shit ton of ways to use it including a very healthy market for smaller manufactures, the reflectors especially in the case of XRF can run a lot of traffic despite how many connected systems are linked, and it's a smidgen easier to use than DMR (not by much). Plus, all the work in Europe to bridge D-Star and DMR is making the arguments between the 2 formats almost a nonissue except on a very localized basis. Look at Kenwood. They sell DMR radios in the UK. There is no reason they couldn't put together a offering for the US amateur market but instead if rumors are correct, Kenwood is releasing a triband D-Star HT at Dayton this year. I'm really looking forward to this because it'll have 220. 220 is quiet and perfect for an older digital mode like D-Star. TL;DR I like DMR. It's been cool to experiment with but it needs time and a major amateur manufacture to support it before it makes any big waves. Hopefully it's not Yaesu. |
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filled with gear queers and people jacking each other off View Quote Well, that's HAM for ya right there. A lot of the problems with HAM radio is that it's amateur. Once you get it set up, you can't actually do anything useful with it* -- in the majority of cases anyway. Now that I have a couple buddies with Tech licenses we can use the repeaters along the front range on car trips, but that's about it. I've used my HAM license more testing out viability of different systems and capabilities of radios (all in amateur compliance) that I would later go on to use for something "real", which in most cases, is expressly forbidden by amateur rules. Not saying it should necessarily be any different, but there you go.... |
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Quoted: Don't get me wrong. I think my 51a+ is a great radio. I just haven't had such good luck actually talking to anyone on D-Star. :-/ View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Do it, and don't look back. Quoted: dammit - now you have me thinking about DMR instead of D-Star... Yup Now if we're throwing just repeaters into the equation by themselves? Yup, no one is coming back to answer any call I put out unless it's Sunday night and then it's because there is a net to check into. |
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TL;DR I like DMR. It's been cool to experiment with but it needs time and a major amateur manufacture to support it before it makes any big waves. Hopefully it's not Yaesu. View Quote I'm not commenting about the tech or snobbery. It was a conventional repeater before it went d-star. |
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Quoted: Well, that's HAM for ya right there. A lot of the problems with HAM radio is that it's amateur. Once you get it set up, you can't actually do anything useful with it* -- in the majority of cases anyway. Now that I have a couple buddies with Tech licenses we can use the repeaters along the front range on car trips, but that's about it. I've used my HAM license more testing out viability of different systems and capabilities of radios (all in amateur compliance) that I would later go on to use for something "real", which in most cases, is expressly forbidden by amateur rules. Not saying it should necessarily be any different, but there you go.... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: filled with gear queers and people jacking each other off Well, that's HAM for ya right there. A lot of the problems with HAM radio is that it's amateur. Once you get it set up, you can't actually do anything useful with it* -- in the majority of cases anyway. Now that I have a couple buddies with Tech licenses we can use the repeaters along the front range on car trips, but that's about it. I've used my HAM license more testing out viability of different systems and capabilities of radios (all in amateur compliance) that I would later go on to use for something "real", which in most cases, is expressly forbidden by amateur rules. Not saying it should necessarily be any different, but there you go.... |
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Quoted: I'm not commenting about the tech or snobbery. It was a conventional repeater before it went d-star. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: TL;DR I like DMR. It's been cool to experiment with but it needs time and a major amateur manufacture to support it before it makes any big waves. Hopefully it's not Yaesu. I'm not commenting about the tech or snobbery. It was a conventional repeater before it went d-star. Should have left it the way it was. No reason to even put up dedicated D-Star repeaters these days with the explosion in DV4Mini's, DVMega's, etc. I might not like hanging out on repeaters but there are plenty that do. No reason to alienate anyone. |
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Well, that was dumb. Should have left it the way it was. No reason to even put up dedicated D-Star repeaters these days with the explosion in DV4Mini's, DVMega's, etc. I might not like hanging out on repeaters but there are plenty that do. No reason to alienate anyone. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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TL;DR I like DMR. It's been cool to experiment with but it needs time and a major amateur manufacture to support it before it makes any big waves. Hopefully it's not Yaesu. I'm not commenting about the tech or snobbery. It was a conventional repeater before it went d-star. Should have left it the way it was. No reason to even put up dedicated D-Star repeaters these days with the explosion in DV4Mini's, DVMega's, etc. I might not like hanging out on repeaters but there are plenty that do. No reason to alienate anyone. They alienated everyone a long time before they went to d-star |
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Gospel.
The amateur stuff is typically toy/hobby-grade gear. I didn't get into this shit to have QSOs about Golden Corral, and talk about the latest Hoveround mods. Quoted:
Well, that's HAM for ya right there. A lot of the problems with HAM radio is that it's amateur. Once you get it set up, you can't actually do anything useful with it* -- in the majority of cases anyway. Now that I have a couple buddies with Tech licenses we can use the repeaters along the front range on car trips, but that's about it. I've used my HAM license more testing out viability of different systems and capabilities of radios (all in amateur compliance) that I would later go on to use for something "real", which in most cases, is expressly forbidden by amateur rules. Not saying it should necessarily be any different, but there you go.... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
filled with gear queers and people jacking each other off Well, that's HAM for ya right there. A lot of the problems with HAM radio is that it's amateur. Once you get it set up, you can't actually do anything useful with it* -- in the majority of cases anyway. Now that I have a couple buddies with Tech licenses we can use the repeaters along the front range on car trips, but that's about it. I've used my HAM license more testing out viability of different systems and capabilities of radios (all in amateur compliance) that I would later go on to use for something "real", which in most cases, is expressly forbidden by amateur rules. Not saying it should necessarily be any different, but there you go.... |
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Opposite here. DMR repeaters are filled with gear queers and people jacking each other off about audio fidelity. I've been running a DVMega as a MMDVM host along with a TYT-390 for about 2 weeks now. I like DMR but it needs a major amateur radio company to get behind it. Someone needs to get out there like ICOM did with D-Star and sell it. D-Star might inferior but it's got a huge user base, a shit ton of ways to use it including a very healthy market for smaller manufactures, the reflectors especially in the case of XRF can run a lot of traffic despite how many connected systems are linked, and it's a smidgen easier to use than DMR (not by much). Plus, all the work in Europe to bridge D-Star and DMR is making the arguments between the 2 formats almost a nonissue except on a very localized basis. Look at Kenwood. They sell DMR radios in the UK. There is no reason they couldn't put together a offering for the US amateur market but instead if rumors are correct, Kenwood is releasing a triband D-Star HT at Dayton this year. I'm really looking forward to this because it'll have 220. 220 is quiet and perfect for an older digital mode like D-Star. TL;DR I like DMR. It's been cool to experiment with but it needs time and a major amateur manufacture to support it before it makes any big waves. Hopefully it's not Yaesu. View Quote Kenwood made a PSA back in late February, early March that they will be bringing their DMR line to the US by the end of the year. They also stated at IWCE that there will be a firmware update for the NX line of radios around 3rd quarter this year to add support for DMR Tier II. So now you have a multi-mode radio in the sense it'll run on NXDN, P25 Phase I, P25 Phase II, DMR Tier II and analog...and you can chain multiple bands together. So yes, Kenwood is taking some big steps in both Amateur and LMR markets. The biggest problem related to hams and digital modes isn't the commercial modulation methods but is the lack of general knowledge about the gear. There was once a time where you only had a few options if you wanted to play on FM repeaters...Motorola, General Electric, RCA, Standard Communications(now Vertex Standard). It actually took about 10 or 15 years to the amateur manufactures to "hop on" with FM. Hams want (demand) VFO when the number of channels that modern commercial radios will take is in the thousands. Modern hams demand dual band radios (which is still a bit of a relatively new novelty). Hams complain often about the price of the gear...the complaints never end. However, what it boils down to is the fact if it weren't for the LMR sides of the "Big 3", the amateur sides wouldn't have the R&D money to design new amateur gear. There is still a ton of money to be made in the commercial sector and by definition the amateur sector is just that...amateur (aka little to no profit). |
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Absolutely.
And if Yaesu turns you on, pick up a Vertex Standard EVX-539. If you squint your eyes at it, it's an FT-60R that does DMR. The lack of general knowledge of the digital capabilities, also involves a lack of interest. The crotchety, old coots aren't happy, unless they've got something to bitch about. They're perfectly content with 60's era GE repeaters, and those of us under 50 are sons of bitches, ruining it for them. Also, with the dedicated digital systems (D-Star/Fusion) two of the big three would be cutting their own throats by migrating to DMR. DMR, being a commercial standard, already has a mountain of resources, manufacturers, capital, and implementation behind it. Sticker-shock is probably the biggest thing turning hams away from DMR. The biggest problem related to hams and digital modes isn't the commercial modulation methods but is the lack of general knowledge about the gear. There was once a time where you only had a few options if you wanted to play on FM repeaters...Motorola, General Electric, RCA, Standard Communications(now Vertex Standard). It actually took about 10 or 15 years to the amateur manufactures to "hop on" with FM. Hams want (demand) VFO when the number of channels that modern commercial radios will take is in the thousands. Modern hams demand dual band radios (which is still a bit of a relatively new novelty). Hams complain often about the price of the gear...the complaints never end. However, what it boils down to is the fact if it weren't for the LMR sides of the "Big 3", the amateur sides wouldn't have the R&D money to design new amateur gear. There is still a ton of money to be made in the commercial sector and by definition the amateur sector is just that...amateur (aka little to no profit). View Quote |
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Absolutely. And if Yaesu turns you on, pick up a Vertex Standard EVX-539. If you squint your eyes at it, it's an FT-60R that does DMR. The lack of general knowledge of the digital capabilities, also involves a lack of interest. The crotchety, old coots aren't happy, unless they've got something to bitch about. They're perfectly content with 60's era GE repeaters, and those of us under 50 are sons of bitches, ruining it for them. Also, with the dedicated digital systems (D-Star/Fusion) two of the big three would be cutting their own throats by migrating to DMR. DMR, being a commercial standard, already has a mountain of resources, manufacturers, capital, and implementation behind it. Sticker-shock is probably the biggest thing turning hams away from DMR. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Absolutely. And if Yaesu turns you on, pick up a Vertex Standard EVX-539. If you squint your eyes at it, it's an FT-60R that does DMR. The lack of general knowledge of the digital capabilities, also involves a lack of interest. The crotchety, old coots aren't happy, unless they've got something to bitch about. They're perfectly content with 60's era GE repeaters, and those of us under 50 are sons of bitches, ruining it for them. Also, with the dedicated digital systems (D-Star/Fusion) two of the big three would be cutting their own throats by migrating to DMR. DMR, being a commercial standard, already has a mountain of resources, manufacturers, capital, and implementation behind it. Sticker-shock is probably the biggest thing turning hams away from DMR. The biggest problem related to hams and digital modes isn't the commercial modulation methods but is the lack of general knowledge about the gear. There was once a time where you only had a few options if you wanted to play on FM repeaters...Motorola, General Electric, RCA, Standard Communications(now Vertex Standard). It actually took about 10 or 15 years to the amateur manufactures to "hop on" with FM. Hams want (demand) VFO when the number of channels that modern commercial radios will take is in the thousands. Modern hams demand dual band radios (which is still a bit of a relatively new novelty). Hams complain often about the price of the gear...the complaints never end. However, what it boils down to is the fact if it weren't for the LMR sides of the "Big 3", the amateur sides wouldn't have the R&D money to design new amateur gear. There is still a ton of money to be made in the commercial sector and by definition the amateur sector is just that...amateur (aka little to no profit). I'm not against new repeaters...but there are some things that need to be changed with a few of the offerings. For example, Yaesu's Fusion repeater needs to be rated for 100% duty at it's rated power. It also needs RG-179 at a minimum to use as jumpers instead of the RG-58 that's being used currently. Granted, even Motorola has been guilty of the RG-58 jumpers on their business/consumer grade repeaters (including XPRs) but if you look at what most hams do when they install those...replace with better jumpers. It's the little things that build a quality system that don't get done because amateur mfgs are trying to prove to their parent companies that the amateur market is profitable. |
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Quoted: Sticker-shock is probably the biggest thing turning hams away from DMR. View Quote I don't know. I think it's the technical know-how that is keeping hams away from DMR. As much as hams like to brag about their abilities to understand radio technologies, that all flies out the window as soon as it's something that hasn't been around for awhile. Shit, even D-Star has been widely available since 2006 and 10 years later, guys still don't understand the difference between a local call and a gateway call. The mysteries of why someone would only hear one half of a conversation on a reflector escapes people. No amount of cartoony ICOM manuals or YouTube videos seem to work. DMR from my standpoint is very cheap to get into. Cheaper than any other digital mode. If Kenwood does make a push into North America with DMR along with the trend of more repeater operators using BrandMeister, I might just hang D-Star up relegating it to the occasional net check in. |
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If that is what's keeping them away...that's pathetic.
One of the biggest turn ons, for me, with DMR, aside from the cool dude shit, is the fact that everyone I've had a QSO with has been extremely cordial, and behave much better than the rag chewing shitheads on 2m/440 analog in my A.O. Plus there's no freedbanders or 14 MHz nut jobs on DMR, either. Hopefully, Kenwood will release a radio with a screen, or something comparable to their NEXEDGE radios for DMR. The TK-340V looked like a basic client radio. I'm very curious to see what they release for the US Market. |
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If that is what's keeping them away...that's pathetic. One of the biggest turn ons, for me, with DMR, aside from the cool dude shit, is the fact that everyone I've had a QSO with has been extremely cordial, and behave much better than the rag chewing shitheads on 2m/440 analog in my A.O. Plus there's no freedbanders or 14 MHz nut jobs on DMR, either. Hopefully, Kenwood will release a radio with a screen, or something comparable to their NEXEDGE radios for DMR. The TK-340V looked like a basic client radio. I'm very curious to see what they release for the US Market. View Quote I'll be basic mid-tier stuff. Unless you buy NX the Motorola, Simoco, and Hytera mobiles will mostly have better looking displays. |
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To the little I've been exposed to them, commercial DMR as implemented by Motorola and Hytera has features set up for industrial use (as one would expect). Seamless roaming, capacity rollver, etc, all work (or can work). For their intended use models, it's damn good. The end user has a simple interface that "just works" over an entire coverage area, and he doesn't have to worry about TS's, TG's, which repeater, etc.
IMO, for HAM use, here are the downsides: 1. Technically is it more complex than getting on an analog repeater 2. Programming the radios is fairly complex (must get radio ID right, TG's right, TS's right, color right, RX groups right, scan groups right, TX group right, etc, etc). Code plugs are not compatible across radios and the ability to export into a neutral format is limited. 3. In my experience at least, the radios and programming software are set up for industrial use, not typical HAM use. For HAM use, you want sort-of a library of repeaters (freq, color), and then a list of what TG's are associated with what TS on which repeater, and then the orthogonal ability to select a repeater AND THEN scroll through what TG/TS's are available on that repeater. Another usage model is to set a TG and then be able to scroll through all the repeaters in a region that are associated with that TG on a given repeater/TS. (The latter is somewhat possible to do given programming-- for example, I have a zone for each of RMHAM NCO, DEN, SCO, and Wide.) 4. Proper roaming is either impossible or virtually impossible 5. There is apparently a lot of strife about actually USING the linked/routed TG's on DMR MARC, e.g. North America. The constant complaint (at least on the email list) is about the cost of keying up 52342292 repeaters but you listen to the TG and it's idle 99% of the time. So what gives, you have a great system that nobody ever uses. Nice. 6. The internetworking standard depends on Motorola repeaters and apparently some non open source software, or something. There's no technical reason this couldn't be run on a RasPi and a series of low-powered VM's out in the cloud on open source software. 7. The cheap (under $300 say) radios have limited features and/or limited implementations of standard DMR features. The nice Motorola radios cost in the range of a nice mobile HF radio (cost comparable to a FT 857D), and they are extremely unfriendly to non corporate users for things like software access terms, license keys, etc. Anyway, just some thoughts on it. I'll report back here once we've deployed the portable DMR repeater in the field the first time and have some results. |
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Cool! Glad it worked for your group. This thread has been very educational.
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