Discovering DMR notes

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a) DMR: sites

b) DMR: forums

c) DMR: articles

d) DMR: presentations

e) DMR: books

f) DMR: videos

g) DMR: hardware & software

h) DMR: tools

i) DMR: repeaters

j) DMR: talkgroups & reflectors

k) DMR: nets

What follow is some nets I've come across and enjoyed, but there's no guarantee that they're still active (please let me know if they aren't).


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1) Some repeater-based talkgroups

The display names are just what I use.

TLKGRP  Frequency CC TS  DISPLAY ONSCREEN
Rocky Mtn Wide, Lee Hill Rptr (RMHAM Network)
   700  446.9875−  7  1  LEE RCKY MTN 700
Northern CO Region, Lee Hill Rptr (RMHAM Network)
   721  446.9875−  7  2  LEE NO CO 721
Rocky Mtn Wide, Horsetooth Mtn Rptr
   700  446.7500−  7  1  HRS RCKY MTN 700
Northern CO Region, Horsetooth Mtn Rptr
   700  446.7500−  7  2  HRS NO CO 721
Local, Parker Pinery Rptr
     2  445.0750−  1  2  PRA LCL 2
CO STWD, Parker Pinery Rptr
  3108  445.0750−  1  1  PRA CO STWD 3108

2) Some BrandMeister hotspot talkgroups

For hotspot-based setup: These all use the same TX and RX simplex frequency (whatever your hotspot is set up to use), color code 1, and time slot 2. (Repeater-based time slots are shown in parentheses.)

Links are to the BrandMeister Hoseline service, so you can get an idea of the activity on the talkgroup. The display names are just what I use.

Note: Do not initiate calls on the TAC channels (310 - 319); they are meant only for moving calls over from other channels. Initiating calls on the TAC channels can get you banned.

TLKGRP  DISPLAY ONSCREEN
World Wide (TS1)
    91  WW 91
North America (TS1)
    93  N AM 93
N AM TAC 310
   310  TAC 310¹
N AM TAC 311
   311  TAC 311¹
N AM TAC 312
   312  TAC 312¹
Worldwide English (Dynamic)
   913  WW EN DYN 913
US Nationwide (TS1)
  3100  US WIDE 3100¹
Colorado Statewide (TS2)
  3108  CO STWD 3108
Parker Radio Association LCL (TS2)
310844  PRA LCL 310844
Calling Area 0: Midwest, incl CO (TS1)
 31090  MIDWST 31090
Calling Areas 7: West (TS1)
 31097  WEST 31097
Eastern Oklahoma
 31402  E OK 31402
Parrot Private (TS1 & TS2)
310997  PARROT 310997
Reg and Loc (APRS) Services (TS1 & TS2)
310999  APRS 310999

[1] Talkgroups 3100, 310, 311, 312 are linked across BrandMeister and DMR-MARC.

3) Some other hotspot talkgroups

For hotspot-based setup: These all use the same TX and RX simplex frequency (whatever your hotspot is set up to use), color code 1, and time slot 2. (Repeater-based time slots are shown in parentheses.)

The display names are just what I use.

TLKGRP  DISPLAY ONSCREEN
DMR-MARC: World Wide (TS1)
     1  WW 1
DMR-MARC: North America (TS1)
     3  N AM 3
DMR-MARC: WW English (TS1)
    13  WW EN 13
DMR-MARC: N AM TAC 310 (TS1)
   310  TAC 310
DMR-MARC: N AM TAC 311 (TS1)
   311  TAC 311
DMR-MARC: N AM TAC 312 (TS1)
   312  TAC 312
DMR-MARC: Northern CO (TS2)
  3171  NO CO 3171
  Note: cross-connected to BrandMeister
DMR-MARC: Mountain Region (TS2)
  3177  MTN RGN 3177

4) All BrandMeister regional talkgroups

The BrandMeister U.S. regional talkgroups mirror the callsign assignment regions shown in this ARRL WAS map (PDF)Open in new tab regular.

Time slots interleaved on the signal

Links are to the BrandMeister Hoseline service, so you can get an idea of the activity on the talkgroups. On repeaters, these talkgroups typically are on time slot 1. The display names are just what I use.

TLKGRP  DISPLAY ONSCREEN
 31090  0 MIDWST 31090
 31091  1 N EAST 31091
 31092  2 NY NJ 31092
 31093  3 MIDATLTC 31093
 31094  4 S EAST 31094
 31095  S CENTRAL 31095
 31096  6 CAL 31096
 31097  7 WEST 31097

5) All BrandMeister state talkgroups

Links are to the BrandMeister Hoseline service, so you can get an idea of the activity on the talkgroups. On repeaters, the home state talkgroup is typically on time slot 2. The display names are just what I use.

TLKGRP  DISPLAY ONSCREEN
  3101  AL STWD 3101
  3102  AK STWD 3102
  3104  AZ STWD 3104
  3105  AR STWD 3105
  3106  CA STWD 3106
  3108  CO STWD 3108
  3109  CT STWD 3109
  3110  DE STWD 3110
  3111  DC STWD 3111
  3112  FL STWD 3112
  3113  GA STWD 3113
  3115  HI STWD 3115
  3116  ID STWD 3116
  3117  IL STWD 3117
  3118  IN STWD 3118
  3119  IA STWD 3119
  3120  KS STWD 3120
  3121  KY STWD 3121
  3122  LA STWD 3122
  3123  ME STWD 3123
  3124  MD STWD 3124
  3125  MA STWD 3125
  3126  MI STWD 3126
  3127  MN STWD 3127
  3128  MS STWD 3128
  3129  MO STWD 3129
  3130  MT STWD 3130
  3131  NE STWD 3131
  3132  NV STWD 3132
  3133  NH STWD 3133
  3134  NJ STWD 3134
  3135  NM STWD 3135
  3136  NY STWD 3136
  3137  NC STWD 3137
  3138  ND STWD 3138
  3139  OH STWD 3139
  3140  OK STWD 3140
  3141  OR STWD 3141
  3142  PA STWD 3142
  3144  RI STWD 3144
  3145  SC STWD 3145
  3146  SD STWD 3146
  3147  TN STWD 3147
  3148  TX STWD 3148¹
  3149  UT STWD 3149
  3150  VT STWD 3150
  3151  VA STWD 3151
  3153  WA STWD 3153
  3154  WV STWD 3154
  3155  WI STWD 3155
  3156  WY STWD 3156

[1] BrandMeister 3148 (TX STWD) is crosslinked to DMR-MARC 9000.

6) All DMR-MARC regional talkgroups

The seven DMR-MARC U.S. regional talkgroups have a different grouping.

Time slots interleaved on the signal

The display names are just what I use.

TLKGRP  DISPLAY ONSCREEN
  3169  RG MIDWST 3169
  3172  RG N EAST 3172
  3173  RG MIDATLTC 3173
  3174  RG S EAST 3174
  3175  RG S PLAINS 3175
  3176  RG S WEST 3176
  3177  RG MOUNTAIN 3177

7) Northern Colorado BrandMeister talkgroups

We have some good talkgroups in northern Colorado, including those associated with the Northern Colorado (NoCO) DM group's amateur radio DMR repeater network, as well as with the Colorado Digital MultiprotocolOpen in new tab regular team.

Colorado Digital Multiprotocol logo

The display names are just what I use:

TLKGRP  DISPLAY ONSCREEN
  3171  NoCO (Northern Colorado)
 31088  CO HD (Hotspot Discussion)
 31083  CO Severe WX
 31084  NoCO MTN (Front Range)

8) Constellations: a big leap for digital voice?

Important: In DMR, the use of reflectors was an older solution that was implemented to accommodate an old and now long deprecated line of hotspots from DV4 that couldn't handle the newer solution of talkgroups. Because of issues that reflectors caused, BrandMeister deprecated the use of reflectors on its network, and is now focused on talkgroups. Some other networks still allow the use of reflectors, so I'm leaving the information in this note here for now for informational purposes.

There is work being done to include DMR into existing XLX reflectors, and by linking into the XRF/XLX infrastructure.

From the Kings of Digital Notify groupOpen in new tab regular: The Constellation reflectors are:

8a) The advantage of a constellation

From the paper, "XLX and XRF Reflectors, DMR, and use with DMRGateway" by John Fields, K6KD, of the D-STAR Round Table Forum:

The advantage for existing DMR users are portals into current XLX/XRF infrastructure (individual reflectors or groups of linked reflectors) either using new DMR only Talk Groups or Talk Groups with transcoding. The advantage for existing D-STAR users is the ability to access the XLX/XRF infrastructure using many high quality, low cost DMR radios.

An example of a constellation net is the D-STAR Round Table NetOpen in new tab regular, which because of this new flexibility is joined by people using D-STAR, DMR, and even System Fusion radios:

D-STAR Round Table is on a constellation of XRF/XLX Reflectors. To participate, you may connect to any one of the linked Reflectors: XRF002A, XRF310A, XRF555A, XLX313A, DMR XLX313/TG 4001 OR connect to a repeater that is linked to one of the reflectors.

Notes:

8b) Constellation setup

Follow-up note (Nov 2017) – Following the steps in a document written by Craig Jungers, K7EXJ, "Connecting your DMR radio to the D-STAR constellation", I configured the Pi-Star DMRGateway settings so that I was able to join into the Kings of DigitalOpen in new tab regular constellation with my DMR radio, listening to callers on both D-STAR and DMR radios. Sweet, this is progress! To summarize:

  1. I enabled the Pi-Star DMR Configuration with the DMR Master set to DMRGateway, and then set up the XLX section as follows:
    • XLX Master = XLX_313
    • XLX Startup TG = None [Note: This option is no longer available.]
    • XLX Master Enable = On
  2. I added an XLX hotspot zone to my codeplug with the following channels:
    • XLX313 CQCQCQ = TG 6, Group Call
    • XLX Unlink = TG 64000, Private Call
    • XLX313 A Link = TG 64001, Private Call (XLX313 A is persistently linked to the Kings of Digital reflector constellationOpen in new tab regular, which also includes XRF002 A, XRF310 A, XRF555 A, and XLX212 A)
    • XLX313 B Link = TG 64002, Private Call (XLX313 B is persistently linked to XRF757 C and the QuadNetOpen in new tab regular)
    • XLX313 C Link = TG 64003, Private Call (XLX313 C is persistently linked to XRF555 C = good for multimode extended QSOs)
    • XLX313 D Link = TG 64004, Private Call (XLX313 D is persistently linked to XRF310 D = good for multimode extended QSOs)
    • XLX313 E Link = TG 64005, Private Call

Kings of Digital Notify for Constellation reflectors

In early May 2018, the Kings of Digital announced a Notify service "to enable users to notify each other of either planned or ad hoc discussions on the Constellation." For more info, see: Kings of Digital Notify groupOpen in new tab regular.

9) BrandMeister dynamic, static, and auto-static talkgroups

This is a somewhat complicated topic. For full details, see the standalone articleOpen in new tab regular.

Advanced BrandMeister API use

In Pi-Star, the BrandMeister API controls the Active BrandMeister Connections module. For additional information about advanced use of the BrandMeister API, see the article Using the BrandMeister API by Vladimir, AC2FOpen in new tab regular

10) AnyTone firmware updates

The AnyTone AT-D878UV and T-D578UV firmware update processes are similar. Here are the steps.

  1. Download the updates from your vendor – This step always means downloading the firmware update and the matching Customer Programming Software (CPS) upgrade, because the AnyTone requires both to be on the same version. In addition, it is sometimes necessary to also download a USB driver update. Some vendors package them altogether; others list them separately. Extract any files that are zipped.
  2. Optional: Download the latest digital contact list – I figure if I'm going to go through the hassle of updating the CPS and firmware, I might as well bring my digital contact list up to date at the same time, especially given how quickly DMR registrations are growing.
  3. Set the COM port – Connect the radio to the computer, turn it on, open the previous CPS, set the COM port (on my computer, I have to set it every session). Make a note of the port.
  4. Read and save the radio's codeplug – If a new digital contact list has been downloaded, don't bother reading the contact list, just the other data. Save the read data, then close the previous CPS and turn off the radio.
    Note: If you have trouble with the USB driver (COM port not found), it might be due to Windows third-party signature verification. For a workaround, see the Driver signature enforcement note below.
  5. Install the new CPS – If needed, also install the new USB driver (I install the X64 version for my 64-bit system; a 34-bit system should use the X86 version).
  6. If needed, perform the baseband upgrade – If the current firmware upgrade includes a baseband upgrade (doesn't happen often, so read the Change Log to find out), then perform the baseband upgrade first:
    1. If you haven't done so previously, install SetupSCT_PORT.msi.
    2. Put the radio into Baseband Programming Mode: While pressing and holding the radio's # key and the blue alarm key, power it on. It will display: "WARNING - This is Boot Mode for SCT!"
    3. Open the SCT_PORT Host Controller Software (SCT_PORT.exe).
    4. Select the SCT Port Platform: SCT3258.
    5. In the Tools menu, select Config, and then select the COM port and baud rate (115200).
    6. In the SCT_PORT menu, select Flash Update, and then Select the hex file for the current update, for example, SCT3258TD_UpdateFlash_V2_01_07BA_20190822.hex.
    7. To initialize the port, click the INIT PORT button. If the initialization is successful, " Init Port Successful" will be displayed.
    8. To start the update, click Flash Update.
    9. When the update is finished, "Download Flash Completed" will be displayed.
    10. Exit the SCT_PORT Host Controller Software.
    11. Reset the radio: turn it off, and then back on.
  7. Open the saved codeplug – In the new CPS, open the radio's codeplug that was saved from the previous CPS. Alternatively, you can read it from the radio. If you didn't download a new contact list, read that, too.
  8. Enable Startup Reset – In Optional Settings > Power-On, make sure Startup Reset is On.
  9. Open the new contact list – If a new digital contact list has been downloaded, import it (Tool > Import > Digital Contact List), and then save the codeplug with a new name.
  10. Set the COM port – Connect the radio to the computer, turn it on. In the new CPS, set the COM port, and then turn the radio off.
  11. Open the Firmware Update tool – In the CPS Tool menu, select Firmware and Icon Update, and then install the update:
    1. AT-D878UV: Press and hold both the radio's PTT key and Alarm button (the blue or orange button on top), and then power the radio on. The LED Status Indicator will blink red.
      AT-D578UV: Power the radio on. Press and hold both the Menu and Exit keys, and then power the radio off. Keep holding all three buttons until you see the red light blinking.
    2. In the Firmware Update tool, open the new firmware update file that you downloaded and extracted (it will have an .spi extension, for example, D878UV_V1.16_201901122.spi).
    3. If necessary, choose the COM port, select Duplex, set the COM speed to the highest setting, and then click Write. The radio's LED Status Indicator will slowly blink red while the firmware is being updated.
    4. A message is displayed in the CPS when the update is finished. Turn the radio off.
  12. Initialize the radio – This was formerly called Reset the radio's Main Control Unit/MCU:
    1. AT-D878UV: Press and hold the PTT key and PF1 button (the button with one bar just below the PTT key), and then power the radio on.
      AT-D578UV: Press and hold the P2 button and the Channel Knob, and then power the radio on.
    2. The radio will display: "Are you sure you want to Initialize radio?" (Formerly: MCU Reset.) Press Confirm. Do NOT turn the radio off while this is displayed. This process will wipe all the data stored in the radio, including the codeplug.
    3. When the initialization/MCU reset process is finished, set the time zone, date, and time
      AT-D878UV: Use the P1 button to move through the fields, and the UP/DOWN arrow buttons to change the values.
      AT-D578UV: Push the Channel Knob to move through the field, and rotate the knob to change the values.
    4. When finished, press the Confirm button to reboot the radio.
  13. Write the codeplug to the radio – Turn the radio on. In the CPS, set the COM port, if necessary, and then click Write to Radio. Write both the Digital Contact List and the Other Data.
  14. When the write is finished, turn off and disconnect the radio. Good to go!

11) DMR simplex frequencies

Thanks to a robust discussion on the Colorado Digital MultiprotocolOpen in new tab regular Telegram group: Colorado Digital MultiprotocolOpen in new tab regular, here's a list of commonly used North America DMR simplex frequencies:


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