DMR and RV

[LB1ZH]

Just Wonder if DMR are used by you. I have ordred a TYT MD 380 and I hope it will be useful in the RV. Here in Norway it seems to be very popular and weekly New repeaters are added.

73 LB1ZH Tor DRM id 2428044

[N3LYT]

Just Wonder if DMR are used by you. I have ordred a TYT MD 380 and I hope it will be useful in the RV. Here in Norway it seems to be very popular and weekly New repeaters are added.

73 LB1ZH Tor DRM id 2428044

It is a learning curve but you'll like it. Hopefully some will have a code plug for you they can be frustrating to program.

[electricflyer]

I've been thinking about DMR but I think I will wait until I can get with my son and see how it works. He is using it now and likes it. He also said it can be a little difficult to program. He also suggested I get a TYT 380 since it is not as expensive as other digital radios. We can get it here in the US from Amazon for just a little over $100. I will be traveling to Ohio for Hamvention in May and he lives on the east side of Columbus so I have a campground reserved about 30 miles from his house and will go on Friday. I'm not a fan of D-Star simply because you have to purchase a radio from ICOM, not that ICOM doesn't make a good radio but open forum for DMR looks good to me with a lot more choice of repeaters.

[NN5I]

Dang, I'm as clueless about this as I am about "What's in a name?"

What's DMR?

[electricflyer]

DMR is Digital Mobile Radio. It was started by people at Motorola. Similar to Fusion and D-STAR but not limited to any particular radio manufacturer. Available on 2 meters or 70cm bands.

[NN5I]

Ah so. Haven't tried DMR nor Fusion, but after I acquired two Icom IC-91ADs from the estate of an old friend, I played with D-Star a bit. Having concluded that D-Star was mildly interesting but actually useless, I put the IC-91ADs on a shelf six months ago and haven't glanced at them since.

Kenwood makes a D-Star radio nowadays too, but only Yaesu makes Fusion, I think.

Anyway, perhaps DMR might be useful to some -- but I doubt it would be useful to me.

Alas.

[N3LYT]

DMR is probably the best digital mode out there and there seems to be plenty of repeaters to go around I will say up here in the NE they are underutilized but crystal clear. When you are traveling you'll need a laptop and the radio software, every area has its own repeaters and you can down load a "code plug" for that area your code plug from home will not work if it’s out of a general area. It's not a big deal but it can be real confusing. The MD 380 is a good little radio, Be sure you buy the VHF/UHF ver. you need for your area have a look at the DMR MARC listing for your area or the area you are traveling to decide on the freq you'll need. I have written my own code plugs but I will tell you it is tedious. One other thing you will have to register with MARC they will send you a number it has to be entered into the software before you can load anything.

[coupevillefish]

Just learning about DMR and Fusion. I have a Fusion radio and have heard crystal clear conversations on the Wires-X network.

We have two Fusion repeaters here but the Fusion side is not turned on. I think it's unlikely that they will be connected to Wires-X in the near future because of limitted support hardware and Internet connectivity at the sights. And, quite frankly, lack of desire by club members.

[N3LYT]

Just learning about DMR and Fusion. I have a Fusion radio and have heard crystal clear conversations on the Wires-X network.

We have two Fusion repeaters here but the Fusion side is not turned on. I think it's unlikely that they will be connected to Wires-X in the near future because of limitted support hardware and Internet connectivity at the sights. And, quite frankly, lack of desire by club members.

We have two Fusion repeaters (W1MWV Conway NH)In the spring when we move our units to our new building they will be on the air. The VHF unit all though it to is fusion most likely will not get much digital traffic the UHF one is in place to allow our members to experiment with digital stuff and it is my hope it will bring our members into the digital age. There are many hot spot dongles out there now that will do all digital modes DMR etc. this will allow you to do all with any digital radio.

[ke0me]

Am I correct in assuming that these modes require internet connection to work?

If so, what happens during an emergency when the Internet is down?


Plus, if I have to perform a tedious reprogram of the radio just to talk when I move to a different area, why bother?

Seems kind of anti-plug and play.

[coupevillefish]

I'm not sure about the others but the Yaesu Fusion radios basically operate at two levels. The digital modes can be used on repeaters and on simplex, producing excellent sound quality. Depending on the radio, you can also send digital messages from one radio to another while talking on the frequency (or so the documentat ion says).

Using a network like Wires-X does require Internet and will not be much use when the big one hits (west coast).

My experience listening to Wires-X on my FTM400XDR was accidental and did not require any reprogramming. I picked it up on two different frequencies that I happened to have preprogrammed and were in my scan set.

[N3LYT]

As far as the DMR yes you will have to change code plugs for regions it’s pretty easy you can do that ahead of time but it will require a computer to program the radio you can have dozens of files programed for different regions. All of the linking systems Fusion, DMR, echolink, etc do require internet access because of the world wide linking. Fusion and DMR are two different modes and do not play well with others there are gadgets that can link them however.Yeah I guess with a dead internet you'll have to relay on the propagation gods with HF.

[HUGH]

Digital voice modes do not require internet to function. If the internet is down the repeater will act much like an analog repeater with clearer audio. Quite often clubs setup a repeater without internet initially for testing.

All of the digital voice rigs that I know of have analog FM capability. A DMR rig is not exactly a one-trick pony. Of all the modes of digital voice the DMR rigs are most reasonably priced. Many of DMR rigs are less than $100.

[N3LYT]

Without internet the DMR repeater will only have local pretty much the same as any repeater except it will be digital voice it kind of lacks bandwidth. Digital is either all or nothing with analog you actually can have a poor signal and still pick out a conversation. The protocall is a lot different because you are tying up many repeaters so know what you are doing before having a rag chew on world wide, north america etc. Many people use dongles and a hand held link into their home internet to communicate right now that seems to be the majority, I find DMR repeaters to be quite quiet. I like the concept and wish it was more utilized because it can give you extremely wide coverage. Our club has a DMR repeater and a VHF echolink I can honestly say the echoling is more active.