Introduction to DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) Presentation - Ham Radio Q&A 

Thanks for a great talk! I'm back into the hobby after about 26 years away, so for me it's a bit like I've walked into a time warp, I've gone from 1K2 Packet radio into DMR, Fusion, D Star...and a whole humble of other modes too...I'm slowly picking up new bits of info and you've now added to that journey, so thank you ::)

I'm about 25 years behind also now retired and just getting back into the hobby. talk about stepping through the Twilight zone I have a lot of catching up to do Thank you for the great talk. Gary from VE3 land.

Guy is absolutely right- you can do cross mode repeat from one digital modes to another on PiStar, open spot, etc. Amazing pres!!!!

Thank you! My first DMR radio is on order (TYT MD-UV390 GPS) and this was a great tutorial to get me started once it arrives.

You answered all my questions I was having while considering getting into DMR. I’ve had my license less than a year, got my Tech in January 2020. And my General in May of 2020. Since then I have been using my privileges mostly on the 2m bands talking semi-local on a linked repeater system. I am building up a QRP kit and want to upgrade from my Baofeng UV5R to something better. In my HT research I cam a crossed the AnyTone HTs with DMR and APRS capabilities. While I know DMR isn’t going to work for me on the QRP side of things it would help me communicate with other members of my off road adventure community as we have a global room on DMR. Thank you Michal for yet another great presentation. As always I learned a lot. I am very glad you take the time to put together videos like this one KJ7MFV Mike Rose

Great lecture. Thanks for putting in all the time and hard work.

Thanks very much for the presentation. I am studying for the General Class License after almost 50 years as a Tech so your information is most welcome to me.

Thank you. I'm new on the search. Appreciate your presentation.

Thank you for this interesting intro to DMR, I learned a lot!

Great presentation- I've been a ham for 30 yrs and I just started exploring DMR

Another great video sir. Thanks for the introduction of DMR.

Appreciate the video and your time. Learned a ton. Keep em coming.

Thank you! You present trustworthy information in a balanced manner. I appreciate that.

Thank You for the Information I just got my license and ordered a DMR hand held. Your information will help me

Thanks, Michael. A very clear explanation of DMR and the digital scene.

Thanks for the clear, concise introduction.

New to Amateur Radio, and this presentation to DMR help me understand what I am getting into. I just want a plan radio with a antenna. However, i was advised to go for the DMR. I'll see when a friend gives me a radio that he no longer uses. Thanks for the presentation.

Another good presentation, Making clear DMR

Great information. Thanks for sharing, I learned a lot.

Thanks for the video I have been using DMR for 5 years now and its my preferred mode for now. DMR is growing, evolving and expanding daily it seams like (128,238 users at this moment), so its hard to present up to the minute info. ie Brandmeister is not the latest Network, there are others as we speak on air and being configured and coded with their own features. some hot spots are pre built (pay and play), others are build using various components, but all are updated often, many times adding new features. That IS what makes it Ham Radio

Thank you for the presentation. Been an old Ham Radio Operator and living. under an HOA thanks to you I will try this new mode and change the way of doing radio. 73's de KP4WR

Great presentation on DMR. Looks like a product thats still needs some adoption and room for improvement. You caught me off guard with the term “Balkanization” lol. I did not know that word was a thing. I’ll just add that the divide on the Balkans was heavily heavily influenced and planed from the western countries since the early 1900s. People liked each other, but the politicians were always the ones who were trying to split the people apart. Mostly on religious grounds. I used to live there till the early 2000s Now I’m in the US on my Ham Radio with your J-Pole antenna! Thanks for sharing! 73!

Thank you! Keep it up 2 years late on this one but appreciate your content!

Thanks for the great info. Very helpful.

I have been off the air from1982 - 2016, April 2016 my wife bought me a FT1200, and FT400 so I could start up again. Within the first few months I realized things have changed and being an Advance I felt like a Novice, then I heard of DMR, great more confusion. I bought a TYT390w/GPS and lucky for me a friend and operator had a plug and programmed my tyt. Well here I am in 2019 maybe been on the radio an hour per year trying to catch up on 34 years of technology. I find the DMR is not ham radio, there is no challenge for contact, I never got involved in contest for headcount. I enjoyed contact and just some BS'ing with others, and always trying new ways to better my system. That is what ham radio was about. Good vid.

Thank you for the very informative DMR video and presentation. 73 de WA4ONV, Miami Florida.

Yeah, the neatest thing about those hotspots is how some (many?) of them now will do like the gentleman said - come with in a YSF radio and be transmitting into a DMR talkgroup, as setup in the Pi-Star configuration page. Just enable the YSF to DMR mode and away you go. This may not be true for all of the hotspots but many of them now do this. Check it out!

This was a great explanation of DMR. I’m currently thinking about replacing my first HT, the UV5R, and either going with a DMR (like an 878), or just getting a good all around analog like the Yaesu VX6R.

good info got a sleeping 147.08 in texas .. looking to upgrade at options to wake it back up nice info. Worked with p25 sys 10 years ago talking about bringing back old memories.. Thanks KD5RCH

I think it would be great for the hobby. Yes it is a hobby and folks should remember that. We enjoy radios and talking to people all over. This will attract and keep more people in this hobby by opening up more HF. The generals will still have their own area to play.

Nice presentation. Thank you. That would be awesome to see a video on Balkanization.

Thanks Mike keep up the good work 👍👌

Good presentation, thanks. Yes, most Hotspots will cross-mode digital formats if so configured. For example, I use my Yaesu C4FM h/t and an openSPOT2 to talk to DMR talkgroups.

Great presentation. I have heard some say they think that you need a digital id for each owned transceiver in digital. You clarified that! One id for one amateur radio operator makes much more sense.

Great presentation good job

Very good presentation

TDMA in DRM is strikingly similar to TDMA in Ethernet (time sharing access to physical media) that been used for decades! :)

Nice orientation on DMR.

Thanks you for the presentation. Appreciate the PPT screens, as it let me screen copy so I can start a binder to have in the shack. I need to review new stuff a couple times. Looking at the Alinco DJ-MD5t or AT-D878UV. Hadn't heard of Hyerta, so will research that.

Hi Michael, this was indeed an incredible presentation which helped me a lot to break the ice on DMR radios. I am scouting for one and just wanted to know if the Alinco DJMD5 (GPS version) is good or any other DMR which you have in mind to suggest. Also a suggestion for a portable and slim Hotspot device which would be easy to carry while traveling. Always appreciate your hard work videos which are often loaded with knowledge on ham radio and easy to understand. Greetings from Bangalore, India. VU2TQT 73s

Don't you love it when experts are in the audience of a "introduction classes"?

Thanks for this Mike, 73

Although DMR is complex, it is because of the business radio design mindset in the radios. Anytone is starting to make strides in making the radios more amateur radio friendly. In fact, with the 878 tweaked slightly, you can access and hear any talkgroup from a hotspot with only one channel programmed and absolutely zero talkgroups programmed. All it takes is to change the radio to full Promiscuous mode, unlock the manual dial a random talkgroup feature with the online software, and you can QSY to ANY talkgroup instantly. Add to that the easy method of adding talkgroups quickly in the radio menu, there is really no need to use a codeplug at all using these methods. The result is virtually unlimited talkgroups. The question is, can Icom, Kenwood, or Yaesu put some skin in the game with DMR? Already Icom and Kenwood make VHF and UHF commercial radios with DMR. I enjoyed the presentation and think you have a very interesting channel. I am definitely adding your channel to my subscriptions!

Thanks! I am a new ham and an old man. I bought the Ailunce HD1 GPS radio. I see you have a video on setting this radio up with the usb cable that comes with the radio. Can FM repeaters be setup with this software? I am kinda catching on. The only reason I got this radio is because it was on sale on Amazon last week so I bought it on a whim. Maybe sorry I did. There is a repeater in a town I frequent so not all is lost. If you can please help me by having more videos that will help me get going on using DMR. My mobile is a Yeasu FTM-100DR system fusion radio. Looking into a hotspot for my house.

Been a ham since 59. Sounds interesting. Something like running the 1st FM repeater in Chicago... And those Teletype machines.....wow.

Couple videos on dmr?? Yep definitely an expert on it in my opinion! Thank you.

Thanks. Very informative. 73s

Where can I find code plugs for my ailunce hd1 Ad6up not easy for me

Great Videos !!

thanks for you orientation good job thanks very good job

DMR is quite brilliant! sounds like it came from wifi .. no? sounds like the same concept of having multiple devices doing different web-based things at the same time from one router, one 2.6Ghz freq

Ty for the video!!!

Great content and appreciate your consistent sharing. I picked up an Anytone AT-U878UV DMR radio both because it was a DMR which I would like to learn and understand as well as the APRS functions it carries. Right now i feel like I am in over my head and am getting lost with both the APRS and DMR aspects of this radio and while I think I am configuring correctly, can’t get a test back to prove it and if it isn’t correct, don’t even know how to troubleshoot it. I guess this might be a plea for help. While I will continue to browse the content you and others have here on RU-vid, do you have any recommendations for someone like myself just getting started in this? - - 73, W9CTR.

Let's say I have my radio set on a repeater channel and the code plug for that channel is set for time slot 2 with the static talk group of 31540. Then someone comes along and changes the talk group to a dynamic one of 31513 and starts talking. I decide I want to talk on the static group of 31540 and I put a call, but because I don't have my radio programmed for that dynamic group of 31513 I never hear that time slot 2 is in use so I cause interference with those using time slot 2. How do I prevent that problem from happening if my radio doesn't have promiscuous mode and that dynamic talk group isn't in a receive group because I am unaware of what dynamic talk groups the repeater admin allows?

Hi Michael. I loved the presentation. I am new to dmr and have a Retevis RT3S. I was wondering which hot spot to buy. I see so many different ones at all different prices which is confusing to me. Which hot spot do you use? I was hoping to spend around $100 to $150 on one. Any suggestions would be appreciated. By the way, I purchased one of your 222mhz Jpoles about a year ago and love it! Great antenna!

Hi Michael, IF two hams want to communicate, do they have to know each others preferred mode beforehand?

Well done! You’ve taken something that seems very complicated and confusing and broken it down to simple and easy to understand...... Nothing really to it, once you grab the basic concept.

Could you move the table top monitor closer to the camera. Abundant hand animation usurped screenshots of monitor viewing.

Retevis RT3 does allow TG change on teh fly with teh advanced firmware. Motorola does allow if you have the CPS programmed with all the TG's you want tyo use as a contact........Easy Peasy

If I'm on System Fusion and will get a digital hotspot, do I still need a DMR radio?

So... is it kind of like a cellular but with a ham radio twist?

Still in a mystery - which radio am I looking at, the MotoTRBO VHF or UHF model? Frequency didn't seem to be part of the discussion.

Good overview, Michael. I have a new dmr radio. Any suggestions for Wisconsin talkgroups of talkgroups of interest here in WI? I live in the SW part of the State. Thanks. Jim K9JEC.

Great video Mike thank you 73. VE2LDB

Thanks sir

As always your video was not only informative, but also entertaining. I noticed a world chart (Yaesu) behind you. Do you you know of a source for a similar DMR chart? I have to give a DMR demonstration for this years Scout Jota-Jopti and I'm looking for training aides. KI5OTT

Can you use a MMDVM with the Dmr marc system if so how?

Being a truck driver and not always in a good spot for a repeater do you absolutely need a repeater or can it be done thru a hotspot device?

what kinds f license do you need for family and camping to use DMR

I can go dmr dstar or fusion but there is . allways some one on HF

Just got a Alinco DJ-MD5X, like the Quality of the Japanese Brands!

New to tec / not. used to work a mux van in the army. Just called (time division multiplex,) 12, 24, or 36 chanel's of audio. On one line The van was parked on the back of a duce and a half truck. Now the whole mess is shrinking to a small package. Wife gone. Kids on there way. now back for a second helping. Tks for boost. In to. the future. Retired sgt williams. 73

What is the modulation scheme? Some form of pulsed PSK?

n talkgroups and on radio ids = why do some have letter i on them? = i525 etc

Yeah, I got a Chinese DMR radio- But I got bunch American Radios 😉

how would i get ufo moldof my raduo

No, can't agree that the 3 main digivoice modes sound pretty much the same. Fusion is clearest, sounds better than the other two. But uses more bandwidth. DStar seems more prone to r2d2 effects. DMR is impenetrable to startup hams, with its unfamiliar terms that have no equivalents in ham radio. Coding "codeplugs" by manufacturer's software isn't too bad once you've been shown a couple times some basics but initially the program designers made zero effort to render their software even slightly friendly.... (In my opinion, Icom didn't try much more with their DStar coding software) Then there's the whole different business of using personal "hotspots" to get an entry point into the DMR network via the Internet. It's certainly less like ham radio than it is like using a phone in that the element of chance is removed. Contacts, once the basics are understood, become routine. Even hyperlong distance contacts. Like DStar. I had a contact some time ago with a S. Korean guy near Seoul using my Icom handset. And we could have arranged a sked next evening if we'd wished, and if no one else was occupying the route it'd have worked. On me, the effect was to make routine a contact that - had it been radio-to-radio via HF, I'd have been jumping up'n down for a fortnight having cracked a difficult multi thousand mile pathway but as it was, this was routed via the Internet, effectively connected like phones. Which for me removed the wonder of such contacts. It's just too easy, once the luck-factor has been removed. Yes, it has its place. But for me can never ever come close to replacing rig-to-rig contacts. BUT. it's also possible to use these radios simplex, with nothing but air connecting the antennas. This works extremely well. As an FM signal gets progressively noisier as the threshold of loss approaches, noise gets intrusive. Some simplex trials have shown that both DMR and DStar improve this situation markedly, until the audio disappears from perfect to total loss with no degradation in between.. But there are few users who capitalise on this, to my surprise. It's as though the operators' minds are channeled into considering only repeater/reflector/hotspot pathways. Low power transmissions using these digital modes can keep contacts viable after a similarly weak FM transmission would have been abandoned as too noisy to follow.

Looks like early cell phone technology to me. So is it even ham radio anymore?

MANY THANKS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT DMR - GREAT JOB KB9VBR, STEVE K2SM.

Great video and presentation, but "I" just don't get it. "I" am one of those people who need "HANDS" on to learn this stuff. I always do better if I can hold a piece of equipment and actually work it in order to understand how it works. I have been interested in DMR for a while but there is literally no one near me willing to let me have hands on. So for now it's still Echolink and cell. LOL

I wouldn't call it "Balkanization", a better term would be "Tribalism", something we as a country are very good at. There are those that feel that whatever their chosen digital voice mode is, that is the only one to use, which of course is total BS, but how some choose to operate. That said, we now have multi-mode XLX reflectors popping up all over where the three major Digital Voice modes are bridged together so that we can all talk to each other. Just like with HF, you may need to jump around to find what you want, but it is out there and it keeps getting better.

Do you see in the future Hams with software experience modifying the firmware of DMR radios along with the programing software to make it more compatible or easier to use with Ham Radio.? I see some of this happening with a GD-77 HT. Quite a group of followers doing mods, hacks etc, for that HT.

I'm not a radio operator, but I'm very familiar with DMR. These amateur linked repeaters are way to clogged up. They have multiple talkgroups assigned to the same time slot on one frequency, example TG 1 TS:1 Local TG 2 TS:2 Statewide TG 3 TS:1 Event TG 4 TS:2 Worldwide This just results in bonked calls. It was so bad a once popular DMR repeater by me is hardly used anymore.

Why dstar failed? I wonder no one seems to have an answer. I have somerhing in my mind that in the begining they wanted to be a monopoly and also they branded the name and sued someone maybe. Later they stopped but it was too late

Eagle River!

lol; kick a cat!! love it!

Why d r?

Check out our online store for DMR radios and hotspots ttci radio solutions

I think the term you are looking for is multiplexing

So, right in that 1420-1430 portion of the vid, I think he is not correct. Let me caveat this with, if it's codec-2 then you need to verify what your specific DMR model is doing with codec2. "D-STAR and System Fusion (and some implementations of CODEC-2) all digitally encode a station’s call sign as part of the protocol, so their transmissions should meet the legal requirement.", as seen in FCC Rule 97.119 (b) (3). It also notes that a verbal call-out of callsign is for courtesy only. I do not believe there is any "station" vs "operator" distinction for mobile radios, and although a "station" has clear definition of what a "station" is, this Rule section still applies to "operator" that does not have a "station" callsign, because using Dstar/Fusion/codec2 is not unique to just "station" transmissions. And, please verify, some DMR's won't key out if they do not have an entry for callsign.

That nerd up front pulled you right into the weeds, it's sad.

I am sorry, but this was not very comprehensive to me. If you give an introduction to an acronym by defining it by several other acronyms, that you forgot to look up, it will just be another video of acronym soup. I am new to ham radio, and I have encountered over 800 acronyms so far. Sometimes I wonder whether some presentation are made to impress one's own peers or to educate the less informed.

Great presentation, but why did you place the flag in front of you monitor. It blocks a little of the presentation, and is very distracting. Next time move the flag please, unless your talk is about flags. Also place camera higher please .

What a mess!

Ok presentation. You lost me at “Made In China.”

dmr has to be one of the most pointless things i've ever heard of in my life

🤔👎

Not a good speaker, errors in fact. If you are going to speak you need to be better prepared.

I couldn't make it passed 5:04. Or the 75th uh, um .... I appreciate people making these educational videos but for crying out loud man🤔🤪 Read some books on how to talk to humans you wish to educate. Uh.....over.