DMR
DMR Basics
Starting With DMR
Madison has a DMR repeater on 442.000 white CC1. It is centered in downtown Madison and is reachable throughout the county. At this time we have local 9 and 2 active and no Internet access. We are looking for a long time resolution to this issue
DMR Repeater
Madison ARC has converted our analog UHF repeater to a DMR UHF repeater using the same frequency. All Amateurs are welcome to use the repeater. At this time we have limited Internet capabilities but are working on the connectivity.
Madison is seeing great coverage for our digital repeater – better than we had with the analog repeater at the same location.
DMR repeaters use channel 9 and channel 2 as a local repeater channel. Other channels which go to the Internet and connect to other repeaters are setup by the administrator and use Internet connectivity to transfer the DMR data. Depending on the configuration you may talk to someone in any place in the world using the local repeater once there is a Internet configuration.
When setting up for a DMR connection in a radio you will need the frequency of the repeater and the color code ( think of the PL in analog world). You will need the offset which is usually the standardized for the frequency.
Madison's UHF DMR Repeater Settings
Input 442.000
Output 447.000
CC White – 1
Slot 1 ; 2
DMR Setup
Setup can be intimidating. You do not have to learn all the options to get started. Find out the frequency of the repeater, the color code and the repeater slots that are used for which channel.
Setup a digital contact for the local channel 9
Setup a channel for the local repeater and Channel 9
Start sending and get on line with the locals and get help as you progress.
Transceiver
We will list known transceivers that have proved useful for the MARC here.
Anytone has a number of DMR Transceivers. I have the tri band mobile, D578UV, and it functions extremely well.
Baofeng has a number of DMR HT's. The DM-5R was their first. It is limited in its memory so the SAR net takes up three zones. It is quirky but runs and was a good deal for the price.
Contacts
Contacts are for digital references. Create a contact for each of the channels you will be using. On some radios you can import a full list of all the possible contacts that have digital IDs where on others like the Baofeng only a subset can be imported from a CSV file. You may get the name and call sign of the contact when talking depending on the configuration and radio.
Talk Groups
A talk group is a configuration set up for all repeaters to use with a shared name. The repeater has by default the local talk group which limits the access to the range of the repeater using the radio range and signals. Other talk groups are shared and communicate to centralized servers for distribution to repeaters that have joined that talk group. Access to the talk group is set by the local administrator and assigned to one of the two slots.
RX Groups
RX – Receive Groups are a set of channels that are setup to allow the radio to scan those groups. Within the configuration, the radio can send only on the received channel or set to a specific channel. One use of this setting is to include emergency channels in with the standard use repeaters and not allow any signal to be broadcast on an emergency channel while scanning. This setting is not configured in the RX group but in the scanning group.
Zones
Zones can be scary but are simply a way of keeping the world in order. Mostly you will forget what each does if you do not use them frequently. The zone is a container for whatever connections you want to group together on your radio. Here in Florida we have the SAR net of UHF analog repeaters across the state. If traveling, the range of each repeater is limited but with a full listing, communications is possible throughout the state by changing to the next repeater. These are all in one zone simplifying the use of the SAR net.
Group all the local repeaters in another zone. Put all digital repeaters in a zone. A repeater can be in many zones – it is how you have every thing at your change of zones! Experiment!
Channel
The channels allow you to use your radio just as you would with analog repeaters but you get many more options in the digital world. Channel 9 is the standard for radio only connections. Be aware that if Channel 9 also has any other group available on its slot, you may have to wait for that channel to finish before getting local access.
The digital radio can have a large number of potential channels setup for communications. Start with the basics listing your analog and digital repeaters in an order that makes sense to your use. Do not forget to add simplex channels for analog as well as digital usage.
Programing a Radio takes a lot of effort. I have worked on both my Baofeng and Anytone and have exported the information into CSV files. I am adding each file below as well as the Anytone Plug in case someone has either the 578 mobile or the 878 HT. Each CSV is a listing from the Anytone management software. The data can be imported into any other system with manipulation avoiding the tedious task of entering each item indiviudally.
For some one familiar with Excel it is just to map each colume to teh CSV for the other radio. If not I am lising steps below that may be helpful.
Export from your radio software, a csv file for each of the segments i.e. contracts, Talk Groups Etc.
Open the correpsonding CSV file that I have uploaded.
Copy each column from the Anytone download and paste it into the appropriate column in your csv file.
Import your modified CSV file into your radio - only after saving your current configuration into a export file.
You may need to manipulate the input but it will save you much time.
The files below cover the Madison, Tallahassee and Valdosta locals. I will be updating more information for further south and east soon. You can ping me if you have questions. Emergency data for Madison and Tallahasse is available on the Internet so no classified info is being provided. Remember the scanner laws in this state.
Go to the links below and read and familiarize yourself with the basics.
All the links below will open a new page to that subject.
https://hose.brandmeister.network/
http://dmrx.net/dashboard/dmrx-dashboard-DMR-SE.html
http://www.trbo.org/cBridge/netwatch.html