DMR Repeater Project
I've been learning how DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) works and it's been an interesting journey so far. I'm headed toward the eventual goal of setting up a couple of DMR repeaters in the county to expand DMR coverage for Amateur radio as well as expand coverage for SAR. It will be a time consuming project and I'm still learning how it all works, but this should be a lot of fun. The first step will be to build a private network for testing equipment and repeaters. I'm not going to interconnect to a public net until I have a firm grasp on the programming. I don't want my testing to tie up resources over a large area while I learn. I'm in the process of building small repeaters (hotspots) to run my tests but I'm going to need DMR radios to test connections and capabilities. If you are interested send me an email (link at the top of the page) put KG7MPT DMR in the subject line of your email and I'll send you the connection details for our DMR master so you can program your own hotspot to connect.
Below is a sort of journal on where we are in the project and what we have learned so far. It's not going to be terribly detailed but will give you a sense of our progress.
29 May 2019 - Began researching DMR.Ordered Anytone AT-D878UV Plus handheld.
31 May 2019 - Digital Radio is a growing hobby. DMR handheld delivered. DMR has some amazing capabilities. Still researching and learning how to program.
5 June 2019 - Options in this area are limited for DMR. One repeater exists on Mt Hebo and the Tillamook area is limited due to physical barriers between the tower and town. DMR networks give the ability to connect radios to multiple repeaters in a given area or across the globe.
14 June 2019 - Found options for connecting to various DMR networks, PNW, Brandmeister are most popular in the US. "Hotspots" are used to connect to these networks. Once a hotspot is connected a user can then broadcast over what is called a "Talk Group". A DMR ID is required, and free to obtain on radioid.net.
17 June 2019 - Set up a DMR Master server. Hotspots can connect to this and talk over a couple of test Talk Groups that I have set up. If you are interested in testing on a Private DMR server email me and I'll send you the connection details.
19 June 2019 - Recieved parts for DMR hotspot. A little dissapointed that the screen doesn't show status of the hotspot but the unit itself connects to the DMR Master server and appears to be passing traffic. Second Hotspot arrives Friday. Once both are connected I should be able to see the same call information on the devices' web based Dashboard. Spoke with another licensed Amateur and they will be ordering a radio similar to mine in July. If I don't have anyone to test with before then I'll have at least one person at that time.
8 July 2019 - Progress slowed a bit around the end of the month and the holiday, however we've made some progress on the master controller this past week. The DMR Master server is now fully operational with a working talk group and an Echo or Parrot talk group. Now we can test connection and echo with the Master server with our hotspots as well as connect and talk on them.
There are 3 Test hotspots set up currently. One we keep at the store for testing which is duplex. Another duplex hotspot is set up for portable use, and a third simplex hotspot is set up but only works on TS2 as apparently thats all they are able to.
Next we will be setting up monitoring so we can see when traffic is using our system.
20 Aug 2019 - Wow haven't made an update in a while. Cool things happening around here and we've been a bit overwhelmed. We have our fully function DMR Master system up and running now for 41 days with no issues. I've been testing off and on with a parrot talk group I set up to test audio with my hotspots. I have 2 fully functional DMR Hotspots working now, one that moves around with me as a portable at 10mw and one at the store that is set for 20mw that reaches a ways out into the parking lot. I've ordered parts and we are building 4 hotspots with pistar we will have for sale at the store in the comming weeks. One version with a Nextion screen that gives a bit of information on the connection and one version with just a simple oled that only shows the basics when it's being used. Don't have a price point on them yet but they will be available really soon.
Still working on the Repeater system. One of the Ham group members has an old repeater system that I will try to repurpose when he has time to bring it in.