Anyone else here doing any DMR. Won a coupon at the ham fest and picked up a TYT MD-2017. Well we have 2 DMR repeaters in the area, but limited coverage.

Purchased a Jumbospot and got it online. Holy crap this is a lot of fun. Sitting here checking into the Tac 310 net.

ETA it is much better then Echolink.

Ordered an icom ID-4100a to try this out. How hard is it to get up and running?

That I dont know. The Icom uses D-star, and that is different then DMR. The hotspots can do damn near any protocol including p25.

I'm no fan of DMR, but some Love it!  enjoy!

We have a decent DMR-MARC group out here, but nobody that I know locally uses it. It's kind of fun dropping into North America or Worldwide, heh but until I find somebody on the other end that I want to talk to, the novelty wore off. I like my Vertex radio, but it's also sort of a challenge having to use the PC to program it for minor changes. I should have tried the TYT ones first.

I never use DMR outside of work these days. I got real burnt out on poor system management and the users simply unwilling to learn how to make simple changes to their codeplugs to add a site, add a talk group and other little things like that.

**The rest of the story: I once had 6 DMR rigs (including a mobile).  Sold them ALL; I hate it!  Then Florence heads towards home and I'm told the State will do Command/Control on DMR.  Call a local arfcommer who happens to be the ham that bought my last rig-a DMR HT; and bought it back just in time to hear virtually nothing over the last few days.  Will prolly keep it, in the big box of unused HT's...just in case.

I have a TYT MD-380 and its ok. I just havent found the love for it yet. Locally there seems to be a bunch out there and its pretty divided. Nebraska uses Brandmeister (sp?), and Iowa uses DMarc. I sit in the DMZ, more or less. Audio quality I think DMR is better than D-star, but theres more functionality with D-star.

The benefits of DMR over other digital modes is that you have reduced battery usage and each repeater can handle two separate conversations at the same time.  So you really get a 2 for 1 if you're a repeater owner or club.  The bad things about DMR and digital in general is piss poor audio quality.  Sounds like audio streaming back from 2002... barf.  Please don't get sucked into the feeling that using a hotspot or other internet connected repeaters is radio.  It's no different than using Skype, it's just the internet.

I like that DMR gives you another layer of privacy.  Most DMR radios are also encryption capable if you are using them in a part 90 service.

Hello New ArfHam!  I agree with your audio barf analogy

DMR has some other benefits but 2 for 1 is really a hobbling of the protocol. DMR Assn. really fucked up by not defining a pseudo-trunking standard. The problem you see with amateur radio use of DMR is there is typically one or two talk groups on one slot and a plethora of talk groups on another all fighting for a channel grant on the same time slot. In reality, a lot of the congestion (including the ability to run more talk groups practically) could be utilized in a pseudo-trunked arrangement but unfortunately, that is vendor specific. Granted DMR doesn't need an internet connection to work, that's just how hams tend to set it up.

I have an AnyTone 868 no repeaters here so I use a JumboSpot.
Mostly on Tac 310 or TN Statewide. Did go over to NC Statewide during Florence. Once storm season starts in the midwest and south. I'll use the state TG more to see whats going on.

My issue is all the kerchunking and  Monitoring "TG here". Sometimes you can hear a good QSO but sometimes guys are too long winded and you want to disconnect but the other guy will keyup before you can disconnect. Hear people arguing over phonetics and what word to use.

Another gripe is the constant I'm running a MD380 and downloaded a code plug. Anyone know how to fix it or add x?? I wrote my own from scratch and it was no big deal if you put the effort in it.
I wish we had a local repeater though. so I didnt have to have a hotspot

I hardly ever key-up. I wish there were Nets with topics. I don't care to ask someone where they're from etc. I can look that up by callsign or most of the time it's right there on the screen.
Think the last time I key'd up was when HamRadioConcepts(KJ4YZI)held a net a few months ago.

That's one reason I'm going to get some HF Equipment. If I'm going to ask about where someone is from or radio I may as well do it without internet assist and do a little work.

DMR does come in handy though for ease of use to get in contact with others. 2m/70m around here is pretty dead.

Agree 100%

Besides the pseudo trunk which is sweet, single freq repeater is amazing.

I dont think the audio sounds that bad. Sure it's not an ESSB 75m late night rag chew, but I can understand everything being said. Range is improved, battery life is improved, capabilities are advanced. Not sure what's not to like.

Sure hooking up to the internet is cheating, but it works. Hang out in the 31075 bayonet group and tell me you dont enjoy yourself.

Now that the storm's passed, I've placed mine back in cold storage on the Shelf of Never Used along with my Pi's and AREDN rigs

https://i1.wp.com/hamradio360.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ShelfofNeverUse.jpg

I don't think the audio sounds bad at all. The DMR bit stream is much more robust when compared to other digital formats (allowing for up to 20% BER before completely dropping out). We did a comparison a few years back with DMR versus analog. It involved the same repeater (a Motorola XPR8300), testing it for usability in analog and then switching it over to digital. We saw about a 34% coverage increase running digital. Now, working on DMR systems almost every day, I absolutely love single channel Capacity Plus...a very undersold solution in my neck of the country since most sales people can't adequately explain trunking theory to customers. Personally, I prefer P25 (especially when it comes to trunking) but pseudo trunking is a rare concept with that format (though it does exist).

I have Motorola XPR7550 portable and a XPR5550 mobile. I got these when I got back into ham radio 5 years ago after 40 year hiatus. During the first 20 years of the away time I worked for Motorola & was up to my ears in radio ... so in a way I was not really away except for the latter 20. Either way I was away for quite a while.

I have driven between CT & IL numerous times with my XPR5550 programmed for every DMR group that I would pass thru. Just looking for a little company. A very nice feature about XPR radios is the capability to automatically switch repeaters picking the one with the strongest signal as I drove from one coverage area to the next. Eyes on the road the whole time. XPR audio is excellent and not so much some of those others. No I do not keep track of who does what, but I know the hams that complain about audio quality are not using XPRs. You get what you pay for and blaiming quality on a mode versus the manufacturer when you have never used anything else is ... well ... uninformed.

Then there is the whole repeater thing. In not humble opinion, repeaters are only used by locals that know each other. FM or some digital mode is totally incidental as it makes no difference. During my drives across those states between CT & IL, most of the hams I talked to at a distance were my buds back in CT. Pretty funny considering I seldom talked to them on the radio while in CT. But, add several hundred miles and we made up for lost time. If I made a call on the North American call group (keying up hundreds of repeaters in ... North America), there was very rarely a response. Only if I asked for a radio check could I usually get a call back.

I do not participate in nets run thru repeaters. I either have b'fast or a Sat AM eye ball QSO with the same people and don't find it interesting to f@rt around with doing the same thing on a week night. Its not like the week night net group is playing poker or anything ... which I have wondered, "why not?!?"

In a down in the mouth opion, repeaters are a waste of time and so are portable/mobile anything. Seriously wondering why I have not sold my XPRs.

Not how roaming in the XPRs work. It doesn't perform a vote in any form (unlike Simoco and Hytera). What the radio does is looks for beaconing repeaters above a set threshold in the radio. If a repeater beacons and is received above that threshold the radio will lock onto that repeater. Unfortunately, this can often lead to roaming from a good site to a worse site. It's all how you set the roaming threshold.

Now, for a true voting scan, look into Astro 25 and APX subscribers with the feature. The radio will perform a SNR or BER vote (depending on whether or not we are talking analog or P25) and roam accordingly.

DMR Tutorial from Miklor

I did not use the term "voting" as it is not applicable.  People do like to make your arguement almost suggesting that roaming is unsuable ... depending on that threshold thing of course. The point is, is not having to take your eyes off the road to manually select the next repeater and that is assuming you know where it is relative to your position not to mention the coverage. I find it an excellent feature and similar to other manufacturers.

If a person only uses their radio from their home, there is little need for the feature in any product so save the $$. But, the audio quality may not be as good.

The point was that roaming doesn't always pick the strongest signal. It picks a signal above the threshold but it's not always the strongest.

When I lived in Florida it's all over the place but here where I live now it's a dead area for anything new digital wise. Yes, I spoke with ham repeater owners they don't want anything new "waste of time".

I got a tyt 2017 and borrowed a 380 for a while and I live with in a mile of a wide area DMR repeater . Took the time to learn how to write plugs which isnt complicated but unnecessarily tedious.  With that said I hate dmr ...... it sounds like shit , the whole code plug thing is bs ,  not a fan of internet base connections when there are rf options . I think it's a step in the wrong direction for ham radio , I got into ham to have an option when all else fails dmr go against that whole philosophy.  If I wanted to talk on the internet I would go back to using Skype,  hangouts, team speak ect

And ... a typical experience with a low quality radio. I have heard the same complaints from those that have not bought Motorola. Yes. I may have bat wings stamped on my a$$.

I've heard it on a Motorola..... still pretty tinny

That's still a far shot. One thing you have to keep in mind with Motorola subscribers is there is literally 9 years of development going into the AMBE 2 codec. For example, Motorola is constantly pushing firmware updates that helps the vocoder sample/reproduce audio more reliably. Compared to my XPR6550, my SL7550 is a huge improvement in audio quality. Partially for the reason Motorola stopped releasing firmware updates for their first generation of subscribers while they are still releasing updates for second generation subscribers (we are in release 2.9 currently and release 1.12 is as new as my XPR will handle). If you have a CPS subscription, you get these updates and simply have to apply them to your radio periodically (every 4 months or so) but if not you are stuck with what you have. As a result, there is a varying degree of firmware releases across the amateur and commercial world that can often have either positive or negative results on how the protocol is viewed.

A great example I like to show, compare a Motorola Astro Spectra or Astro Saber/XTS3000 with R7 and then compare it to an APX radio with R18 firmware. Night and day comparison…due to the 12+ years of firmware development.

@zapzap ... I completely agree with your post. I worked for M for 13 years in Schaumburg and elsewhere in distribution (designing large area communication systems).

I'll add my (aka opinion & pedestrian level point of view) that "I've heard it on a Motorola..... still pretty tinny", is making the assumption that the other end is using a Motorola radio. I live in a densely poplulated DMR area and hear radios, on my XPRs, from all makes.

XPR to XPR never sounds tinny. I wish that I could support that statement with actual tests, but sadly I cannot although we hams in the area do have that capability. Not sure about the motivation tho. Certainly nothing financial ... so doing such a study for our ego? I'm thinking a "meh" vote on that also from my friends.

Therefore I have to toss this to the ney sayers ... it is your problem because I hear good audio from XPRs and something else from those that I know are not using XPR. Sometimes non-XPR is good, but not always.