Build your own DMR/DStar/Fusion hotspot for CHEAP

In this episode, I talk about building your own digital voice hotspot to use DMR, DStar, or Yaesu Fusion using a MMDVM Pi Hat and a Pi Zero W (with headers)! It's not that difficult, and much less expensive than other hotspots similar devices.
Parts:
eBay seller I've used: rover.ebay.com... (China, takes a few weeks to arrive)
Another seller based in US: rover.ebay.com/... (USA, CA - few days but costs more)
Pi Zero W (with headers) from Adafruit: bit.ly/2VwMeHb
Don't trust eBay or faraway foreign sellers? Get it from Amazon for return protection (at a premium in price): amzn.to/2xu63E4
A good Pi-Star configuration video: • Video
Thanks for watching, and if you found any of this useful please consider supporting me on Patreon: / ad6dm
or dropping a tip in my PayPal tip jar:
bit.ly/ad6dm_ti...
Follow me on Twitter: / ad6dm
Visit my website: ad6dm.net
Talk with #JerryNet™ on Digital Voice!
DStar: REF367A
Yaesu Fusion: YSF 68798
DMR: Talkgroup 3128459
Don't know what this means?
What is Digital Voice Ham Radio?: • Digital Hotspots for D...
Get my favorite DMR digital ham radio (FCC-assigned amateur radio operator license required): amzn.to/2LAlhl3
Get a different digital ham radio: amzn.to/2W83xyk as recommended by one of the JerryNet members: • Ailunce HD1 Review. G...
Get a Yaesu FT2DR Fusion-capable radio (recommended by other JerryNet™ members, super simple to use!): amzn.to/2W45Xh6
Get the radio I use on DStar (and ABSOLUTELY highly recommend, it's my EDC radio!) the Kenwood TH-D74A: amzn.to/2Dvhpv8
Thanks and 73!
Music ©2016 by Dennis Mojado
(yes, I create music!).

[@Scott_AI5EF]

Ordered mine today. Thank you for this video.

[@pnowikow]

Fantastic thank you very much for putting this together. I'll be ordering mine shortly

[@lostbranchranch8646]

Cannot get the board to be found on my computer, tried installing driver, opened BlueDV and device not found, cannot even use device manager (on three different computers) to find the device... help, please?

[@jamiesproule6949]

Great video is there a way to toggle the hat display the IP address when it is transmitting or receiving

[@moustacheanddrumsticks4381]

Ive follwed the steps but OLED is not on the display list but OLED type 3 and 6 is. They are both not working. Any suggestions?

[@chuck4050]

Dennis I'm just west of you, thanks for the video it inspired me and a buddy to order the parts and build our own Hot Spot. From the videos I have seen the offset and poor quality SDR cards are the main problems. So just waiting on parts for now.

[@rohnkd4hct260]

I build one and my radio hears DSTAR, YSF but the hotspot does not hear the radio. Have tried to adjust the offset but does not work,. I have a Jumbo spot and was given a Zumspot and same problem with both. both hotspots did not list any offset in the paperwork.

[@n1kkri]

I bought from the ebay listing here and it did not come with the Rx and Tx offset ifo. I experimented and found -475 for both works. I contacted the seller and he told me -500 for Rx and Tx. I am finding in my case -475 for both to work better

[@Blue-Collar-Radio]

Great video Dennis! I can't wait to build one myself. Thank you for sharing!

[@joel6221]

i have the dual antenna version of this hat ... is there anything different i need to do to get it working in simplex?

[@MartinACarg]

This is pure gold Dennis!! thanks

[@flyfisherman3649]

Where's your static strap?

[@leskeegan9033]

Has anyone tried setting one of these to use as a hotspot without the PiStar image but to use a a regular hotspot. I want to use it for a portable Allstar Node

[@ThatGoth]

The plastic spacer tubes are the same size whichever header you use so you'll get the same issue even if you solder.

[@AD6DMDennis]

You're right. I'm a dumbdumb for not thinking that through.

[@Hax0rZ1]

Nice video, I've seen a lot of similar vids out there. You can actually get the the Pi Zeros for $5 at Microcenter and $13 if you want pre soldiered headers. The thing is there is no cheaper mmdvm hats out there. They start at around $45 and go up from there. They seem to be going up in price. Maybe it was cheaper when you posted this in Jan but today the lowest price I could find was $45.

[@NotMyRealName0621]

I have the same setup and mine won't broadcast its own network for me to connect to, Any Suggestions?

[@AD6DMDennis]

Pi-star is notoriously frustrating, so much so that we call it a rite of initiation with my ham group. However, keep re-flashing it and waiting to see if the Pi-Star Setup network pops up.

[@tglenn3121]

Thanks for the helpful video. So, I guess if I have a Raspberry Pi 3B board, it won't work with this hat?

[@AD6DMDennis]

It'll work with a Pi 3B, just can't use the provided case.

[@thealiengamerftw8434]

Does it work on brandmiester

[@AD6DMDennis]

Yup. Pi-star supports Brandmeister.

[@MM0SDK]

Mine has just arrived today from China, but I'm soldering mine. I have the Pi Zero all ready with Pistar installed and semi-configured. Hopefully my board will work fine because i've had enough of the DV4Mini.

[@moustacheanddrumsticks4381]

Hi, ive had to solder mine aswell however OLED is not coming up on the list but OLED Type 3 and 6 is. They arnt working

[@kristianbrasel]

Very cool Dennis. Rpi all the things!

[@n1kkri]

Do these only work on Brandmeister ?

[@dougdaniels]

There are a number of DMR masters that you can choose on the pi-star configuration screen, both Brandmeister and DMR+

[@MrRubenAlonzo]

Hello sir, KE5PVO here and I just ordered the hotspot components from your links including the one with headers (bonus for no soldering!) my question is what version of pi-star do i need to download please as there are several to choose from, do i select the one named Orange Pi Zero V3?

[@AD6DMDennis]

Download "Pi-Star_RPi", not Orange Pi Zero. Lately I've been using the v4 beta version, but the regular download will work great.

[@MrRubenAlonzo]

@@AD6DMDennis Thank you kindly!

[@Harrzack]

Why not put some nylon washers at the top of the stand-off? That would raise the hat enuf…OR… just get some shorter screws! They appear to be 4-40 or metric equivalents…

[@rickasisco]

I'm a little late to the party, but since I'm here, take the parts you didn't use... Use pliers to pull the metal pins out. You can then slide the plastic over the pre-soldered pins on the pi and you will have the proper spacing.

[@jameskeough4620]

Before watching, I checked the parts links. Several parts are out of stock/unavailable and one link doesn't work. Dead in the water before even starting!

[@robertmartin8173]

where do I buy the parts to build it ?

[@AD6DMDennis]

Expand the description, lots of links.

[@jbyronh]

Dennis, do you have a more current list of suppliers for the parts? Thanks in advance. AE9EE

[@AD6DMDennis]

Hey AE9EE, cool callsign. I updated the only link that didn't work (US supplier), but if it becomes outdated again, just go to eBay for "MMDVM hotspot" to see your options. Can filter by USA if that's what you're looking for.

[@jbyronh]

Thanks, Dennis. Great video and I made several HS using the original sources. 5 Stars.

[@henrydean1486]

What was the total cost of this hotspot build? Good video by the way.

[@AD6DMDennis]

Somewhere around 50-60 $USD plus any shipping 18:29

[@scotthill6807]

Very interested in in trying this. How did you get the PieStar software on the Micro SD card? I don't have a way to burn a Micro SD and was curious. Great video.

[@182QKFTW]

You can purchase a SD Card reader/writer that plugs into a USB port on your computer on Ebay for~$6.00 shipped

[@AD6DMDennis]

If you're on Windows, try a program called Etcher which flashes an img onto an SD card. If on OSX, google how to use the command-line "dd" to write an img file to a volume.

[@scotthill6807]

@@AD6DMDennis Thank you for the tip.

[@n1kkri]

Do they all work about the same or is there any reason one should buy the more expensive hotspots?

[@AD6DMDennis]

They all work the same, with OpenSpot2 having some neat convenience features and profiles in their OS. The only real reason you get the more expensive ones is it's easier to get support or a refund should something go wrong.

[@n1kkri]

Can you tell me the make of the on board Oscillator. I am reading about poor accuracy on some. The one that seems to work is the ECS brand

[@n1kkri]

Do you think it would work better with a Raspberry pi 3 ?

[@n1kkri]

@6 months ago Thanks, I have built a couple Pi 3+ boards and a few pi zero boards. Once the program is running you can't tell the difference between them

[@MrDgonz18]

Great video Dennis, did you have to buy a micro SD card separate?

[@AD6DMDennis]

Yes. I bought a 16gb separate microSD card.

[@MrDgonz18]

I was ready to buy one and your video in addition to the other video you refer and the sellers, I have decided to go your way, thank you.

[@1crazynordlander]

Thanks for posting this video! I think I will go this route. Do you know if there is a setup for the Pi 2 or 3? Because I have one of each of these.

[@AD6DMDennis]

Pi-Star download should work just fine on a Pi 2, and for Pi 3's, I recommend downloading the beta Pi-Star 4.0.0RC3 under the "Downloads -> Beta Releases" section at www.pistar.uk/ . I run one hotspot on a Pi 3A+.

[@johnbeatty7319]

Really nice Dennis, thanks very much. My goal as well and your video is *very* helpful. In the end how much effort did it take to align the TX and RX? I've heard horror stories about that part. I want to take the plunge but am a little hesitant at the moment as I fear I might spend most of my time chasing gremlins. Do I need to pick a "Rev x" hat to make sure it is not one made a year ago or so? Or am I just worried for nothing.... 73, John NO0I

[@AD6DMDennis]

Just do it! It's not that hard to dial down the offset. On the one I just setup (came with the one you saw on the video) I just plugged in the -475 reference offset and works like a charm. All you're really doing is starting there and seeing if going a little up or down fixes BER. And the folks over at JerryNet have gone through the pain for you and can help! It's definitely not plug-n-play, but it's a good learning experience.

[@dee-dah-bleeda]

whats sauder ? and sauddering ? love it ( smile ) like the video very much as its informative. Thanks

[@acakec]

you make things simple but this world trying make it complicated...this is the world where stupid ones make score need to be greedy and envy not clever .thank you for your effort

[@WadeAbout]

Great video Dennis. I have exactly the same one. Love to have a chat some day with you I’m DMR.

[@luckman248]

Hey Dennis awesome video on your building u pie star I’m new to the hobby and I live in Stockon I try to hit up ps make more videos luckman

[@alvarogaitan2529]

thanks Dennis nice but nive video thanks for your help 73 from kb2uew

[@CS-ns1zu]

Needs to speak up a little more. Hard to hear without volume all the way up on some laptops and tablets please.

[@Harrzack]

Sloppy work by the Hat maker! Those pins should have been clipped off by maker 🥶

[@robertkeller9828]

Not cheap anymore. Sellers are GOUGING in 2022 on the raspberry pi cpu boards.

[@Feakre]

A radio amateur who avoids soldering?

[@AD6DMDennis]

Not any more! It only took much failure and practice, but I love soldering now!

[@dangeredition4171]

You should really change your title to use "Assembling" instead of "build" ...as you can actually build one by ordering the chips, components and programming your own...but you are assembling pre made parts.