Pi-Star/Jumbospot VS OpenSPOT2

I missed in your video that you haven't talked about the features of Openspot 2 such as DMR SMS sending, APRS support, SharkRF IP server, SharkRF IP cliens, ID database lookup, quick call function, profiles saving function and other functionality. What about the unit warranty? How long do you get the device? Who is the parcel carrier? SharkRF is an officially registered company that pays tax on all products sold. If we talk about the value and unit price these things should also be mentioned!

[@radiosification]

Thanks for your input. I've pinned your comment to the top so everyone sees it. I'll look into these features further

@@radiosification Thank you so much!

[@todop]

I thin the other can send sms and use aprs as well. But if lookup seems nice. I suppose it's all done on some server on the manufacturer that you connect and then to other digital service like dmr dstar. The pi star don't have a private server but brandmeister supports lots of stuff.

[@nismo4x4n]

pi-star can do APRS, sms and open pager.

[@RonSamson]

I thought this was as objective as it could be given that there was no dedicated test equipment used. I am waiting delivery of my Jumbospot. I looked at the OpenSpot2, but given that they do the same thing and perform almost equally well it was easy to settle on the $60 Jumbospot vs the $200+ for the OpenSpot2. Plus I really like the information presented on the OLED display. I am using both a Tytera MD380 and a Btech DMR 6x2. Thanks for putting this together. It is refreshing to hear someone speak slowly and distinctly. I wear hearing aids so I appreciate a presenter who speaks clearly.

[@radiosification]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful to you

[@1MinuteFlipDoc]

$60 Jumbospot what URL did you buy this from?

[@pcfreak1992]

Maybe the quality improved or I got lucky with my unit, but for me changing the RX offset only made the BER worse. Unless I am very close (where the signal presumably distorts) it is well below 1%, usually around 0.2% or so.

[@gnidrologeddie]

Thanks for this ! I have found that another con of Raspberry Pi hotspots is that they really need to be shut down in a controlled manner to avoid corrupting the firmware, and this can be a hassle when it is being used mobile, particularly if it is being powered from the car lighter socket !! Thanks again for putting this comparison together !!

[@radiosification]

Apparently you are correct, but I always just unplug mine and haven't had an issue yet

[@gnidrologeddie]

@@radiosification - I haven't had first hand experience of mmdvm getting corrupted, but I had a raspberry pi with Dstar Commander on, and I corrupted the firmware a couple of times after neglecting to do a graceful shutdown. From then on, I carried a spare sdcard around in case it happened again !! I guess your mileage may vary !!

[@nismo4x4n]

no the os partion is set readonly after boot so screwing up linux on the pi hotspots shouldn't be an issue..

[@N2GJ]

I'd love to see an update comparing the ZUMSPOT RPi vs. the OpenSpot3. I'll subscribe to keep an eye on your videos! Thanks!

[@RabMac108AT10six]

@Radiosification i have a duplex hotspot.. Like yours but with two antennas. I also have an mduv380 which I'm trying to set up for DVSCOTLAND. I live around 5 terrainy miles from the skelmorlie 70cm repeater which has Scotland West 23559 static om slot 1 and various on slot 2. I struggle to open the repeater unless at a local highpoint an wonder if I am able to use the pistar Duplex hotspot to open the repeater? If not then how am I accessing the talkgroup 23559? Im confused lol. Like where does the signal goto from my hotspot and how does it end up communicating on TG 23559? I love your videos, you have an amazing tone at explaining every detail. Thanks for sharing Rab

[@radiosification]

Hi Rab. The hotspot connects to the DMR network the repeater is also connected to. You can't connect to the repeater directly from your hotspot but you can connect to a talkgroup that the repeater is also connected to and then talk to people who are using the repeater via that talkgroup (such as 23559 as you mentioned).

[@RabMac108AT10six]

@@radiosification excellent. I understand now. Thanks for your time and explanation

[@backyardbasher]

The major week point in a Raspberry Pi based Hotspot is the memory card. Raspberry Pi based Hotspots read and write to the memory card almost constantly and normal ones degrade because of this. The more the Hotspot is in use the sooner the card will fail, I get about 6 months out of the regular Sandisk ones.

[@radiosification]

Didn't know about that. Thanks for the insight

[@lesbarnes9463]

Excellent presentation. thankyou. I am just getting in to hotspots and for a beginner you explained things very well which is very much appreciated. I have been licensed since 1972 so all this PC stuff is still rather alien to me. I am trying to modernise myself ... Hi Hi ...73

[@bennguyen1313]

So are the openSPOT2, Pi-Star, or Jumbospot all SDRs? I.e. they receives RF , digitize it, but they send it over the internet instead of the user PC? But I assume it has to exit a server somewhere to then get RF transmitted to a repeater? And how does the communication from the repeater get back to the OpenSPOT2/user? And if SharkRF closes, would the openSPOT2 still work? i.e. is this using any proprietary protocol/server?

[@markrowell7242]

I have watched your videos on setting up the MMDVM Chineese hotspot and I think they were very well done. Unfortunately I ended up with not just one but two of those being totally non-functional. They don't even light up the screen any more. I am not saying they couldn't have worked once I put them together, but noting I have done since has made them functional. I am now looking at a third replacement but only the OpenSpot 4 is now available and it is very expensive. Thanks for your very well thought out videos.

[@radiosification]

Try replacing the SD card if you haven't done so already. They wear out after a while.

[@humaxf1]

For 200 odd euro, an ethernet socket would've been nice - WiFi ain't the be all and end all. Thx for the comparison.

[@radiosification]

It adds bulk though and I think they were probably trying to keep the unit small. Thanks for the comment

[@rv3dhc]

I have used TX/RX offset on my PI0W hotspot at home to calibrate it and make my BER lower. 1% for BER is OK.

[@todop]

Is there an analog hotspot like this? For svxlink? Or if it's duplex for a small micro repeater

[@radiosification]

I don't know of any. If you find any I'd love to hear about it though.

[@todop]

@@radiosification no luck so far at least not mass produced. I saw Pi connected to baofeng. And some French(I think) analog hotspot spotnik for an analog network probably I think it was FRN free radio network. It might work on echolink as well.

[@radiosification]

Thanks. I guess it's not as easy to send analog radio over internet

[@todop]

@@radiosification its not that hard. Just dmr took internet links over analog and is widespread. Svxlink on raspberry with a baofeng motorola or a radio module is possible. But there is no easy solution like the chinese "mmdvm raspbery pi hats"

[@todop]

@@radiosification ua6hjq.qrz.ru/voip/svxlink1.html

[@KevinOReillyswl]

I had a open spot original version for a short while here whilst setting it up for a friend but wasn't at all impressed. It seemed very inflexible compared to the jumbospot. For example on the jumbospot it is possible to enable several digital modes at once for example DMR, DStar and Fusion. It's not entirely clear from your review but I don't think the Open spot 2 can do this. Does the openspot allow you to change reflectors and talkgroups from the rig or must you use the pc? Overall I find the jumbospot much better from an amateur radio standpoint. The disadvantages of the jumbospot is the somewhat challenging set up procedure and the issues that can occur with flaky SD cards.

Yes, the Openspot v1 and v2 allow you to change reflectors and talkgroups from the RIG.

[@wallybonevelle5819]

im using jumb0 spot in the house and in the car with mobile internet on my phone using my new ftm-100dr c4fm works great

[@sethjenna2561]

Do I HAVE to have a PC to program these? New to DMR.

[@radiosification]

No you should be able to do it fine with an android or iOS phone, or a tablet.

[@JimCoupeTQ]

Ok so you need internernet connection for this? I dont get it..

[@radiosification]

Yes. I have a video on "what are hotspots" so look for that video for an explanation

[@ronbo422]

Thanks for the comparo. I've made up my mind... I'm going with the Openspot2. I'll be using the new Yaesu FT-3DR once it becomes available. I travel for as living, as a field service engineer, so ease of setup will be critical. I'll be using hotel wifi most often. - K5RPM

[@ChrisMarsh321]

Great video Ben . Very informative. Thanks

[@radiosification]

Cheers Chris

[@moondog_radio]

The poor wifi range of the openSPOT2 is well-known shortcoming.

[@McRocking]

As expected, the cheaper Chinese gear is generally inferior when it comes to R&D. Chinese production with Western development is STILL where the sweet spot lies between price vs performance. By "Western" I do include Japan, of course! :D

[@radiosification]

Not sure if it's really about R&D. The jumbospots are made cheap by using commercial off the shelf components. And In the radio board I think they probably just use cheap components to keep the costs down. The OpenSPOT is not chinese made at all, it's 100% western as far as I know. The sticker says made in Estonia.

[@McRocking]

@@radiosification By Chinese I meant the jumbospot unit as opposed to the OpenSPOT. The OpenSPOT looks very impressive. The problem I find with Chinese gear (as opposed to Western & Japanese gear) is the huge variation in production quality. They make the best and the worst of everything, but it usually takes Western or Japanese R&D and QC practices to sort their production issues out. It's not just the QC problems, product design and software development are miles behind too in my experience. What goes around comes around. Reminds me of the Soviet/East Bloc car manufacturers back in the 70s and 80s. "A new car for less than the price of a used car" Yeah, but it would only last about half as long! lol. It took German investment to turn Skoda from a laughing stock to a highly respected and profitable brand. I've no doubt that the Chinese will get there eventually, but for the foreseeable future, I'll be sticking with Western and Japanese gear.

[@radiosification]

@@McRocking oh yeah very true. They are getting better each year but still have a way to go until they reach the same level of quality and reliability of Western or Japanese brands.

[@moondog_radio]

Sorry... but the hand in the video is a bit unnecessary.

[@radiosification]

So I should just have a still screen for most of the video?

[@moondog_radio]

@@radiosification I believe so. Still screen, not ideal. But I don't think the hand helped. Don't mean to be overly critical. But that really stood out.

[@N2LRB]

Great video. But you need to keep your hand out of the video. It does not add any info and it's annoying.

[@radiosification]

Without my hand it would mostly just be a completely still picture. People would get too bored

[@backyardbasher]

@@radiosification use finger puppets next time lol