Why You Need a DMR Hotspot In Your Ham Shack - Raspberry Pi 3 + DVMEGA

[@dougdaniels]

Very informative, thank you. It's a shame that people can't accept digital radio for what it is. I'm a gray haired Ham and I love the original digital mode, CW, but that doesn't mean something new can't be entertaining. You can have both entertainment modes and emergency communications modes. It is a hobby after all. No wonder we can't get kids interested.

[@casendwayne8360]

InstaBlaster

[@gwr2243]

Thanks for the shout out Matt! Awesome video!

[@wd0hdr913]

Good tip :) Thanks

[@K0LWC]

No problem, Jim! Thanks for all your help getting my PiSpot and PiStar all setup!

[@kj4ddm]

I do the samme thing with my microSD card by attaching tape, except I use a PTouch label with my call sign on it. I have two cards that I have labeled - one with my callsign that I use at home in the hotspot and another labeled with my callsign/m for using in my truck for mobile ops on the same hotspot. Cheaper than buying a separate hotspot for each. Just need an extra SD card.

[@MikeRadmacher]

I would like to say „thank you“ for your great videos. You inspired me, so I bought a Anytone D878 UV which arrived today. I will try baby steps to get familiar with DMR. 6 or 7 years ago I sold my Yaesu equipment and basically quit this hobby. Maybe, I’m back :-) DO7MI

[@mattcero1]

What about firewall rules? Ports? Everyone is behind a firewall now and a video describing what ports and rules need to be configured in a firewall to allow pi-star to communicate behind it. Thanks mate.

[@Andrew-dg7qm]

My nearest DMR repeater is 19 miles away with mountains in the way. Will a hotspot work for me if it only has a half mile range?

[@K1EDH]

I am having trouble trying to connect my phone to hotspot, anyway we can get together (phone) and you can walk me through it?

[@elio9207]

Hi good video. One question. ! Does DMR digital radio work when internet shuts down on earth. If i buy couple of DMR radio can i Encrypt those sort of speak privacy. And when internet shuts down in the world. It will still work. Thats my bigg question for preppers.?!

[@oldladyme]

Thank you for your video I have the jumbo hotspot can I get cable and put antenna outside in the air like 20 feet will it help I remember your range test? any help appreciated thanks...

[@jasonlikesokinawa]

Sub added, keep the DMR videos coming. I love your work

[@W5AKC]

One problem I have seen with static tgs on hotspot and digi-monitor…if someone is talking on a static group and you want to connect to a different group it will not let you while they are talking unless you turn off digi-monitor. So be careful which ones you make static.

[@K1EDH]

Especially WW 91

[@jacquesredmond]

With all the Raspberry Pi sold out or insanely expensive, is there a way to create an MMDVM using a Windows or Linux laptop? I have 5 computers lying around going to waste. It just seems like everything needs a Raspberry to function. I don't get the obsession with Raspberry when we should be able to use any computer to do the same thing. :)

[@gerhardmoeller774]

Very nice, informative vid. Looking to establish my own DMR hot spot. Thanks!

[@jackieboy4468]

So if I don’t have an FCC license and I get this does this mean that I don’t have to have a license because this is my own repeater?

[@fluxcapacitor05]

question is confusing. you need a ham license if that's what you're asking. general public cannot use dmr.

[@edrudolph1]

Great video. Is this something you built or is it come preassembled? Does it need a power source or does it run on batteries?

[@K0LWC]

Ed Rudolph Some come pre-assembled (OpenSpot) whereas the Raspberry Pi 3 is something you put together. It’s not difficult, though.

[@jimedahl]

Good video. 73 and Go Badgers!

[@K0LWC]

#OnWisconsin

[@CroPrepper]

Attaching such a hotspot to a x510 base antenna would surely rock. But I doubt that 10mW would ever reach the antenna. Why do they limit this to 10mW

[@paulplack490]

Because it's enough to do the job. If 100,000 hams with hotspots all set them up to cover 10 square miles, they're going to overlap and QRM each other if they're side-area coverage. Big coverage is what repeaters are for, and they're coordinated to avoid interference.

[@livebyreason]

Curious, does anyone know what the approximate data rates are for DMR/hotspot operation?

[@Carlos18731]

Interested in getting a hot spot for my Anytone. I'm wondering if there is a hotspot that will also do IRLP? I don't have a IRLP enabled repeater within range, but I do want to talk to an old friend in New Mexico, but he is not into DMR. Looking to get into his local repeater IRLP node.

[@NiklasAdam]

Nifty piece of hardware...However, I still struggle to see the difference between it and and a cordless phone... Maybe I have misunderstood DMR altogether... 73 de SM0JWX

[@mickcapsouto2270]

I'd say it's a lot easier to get a large group of people joining in on discussions with the same Ham interest as you with a DMR radio. With a phone, you would have to call everyone and attach them individually. On Ham frequencies, they are already there and you've all earned the sole right to talk on it.

[@Shooter-1924]

Q: Can hams in two far apart areas setup a hotspot at each location and connect to each other via digital or DMR directly or do you need to actually link through a terrestrial DMR network? Looking to setup a point to point DMR link.

[@K0LWC]

Yes, two hams could each be on a hotspot. The Brandmeister network is the bridge between the two hotspots that each would connect to on a single talkgroup.

[@K1EDH]

If you talking like a private group, you put in theirs and they put yours in and you both make that a private call in your CPS

[@Gil8473]

Should I leave my DVMEGA powered on all the time?

[@K0LWC]

Yes. There is a small percentage of time when you power cycle that it can corrupt your SD card. Leaving it powered on as much as possible. You won't harm it.

[@JosephDZaks]

Yes.

[@lidiajunqueira8060]

hi. May i use this hotspot between 2 mototurbo dmr radio like a vhf repeater. ir for substitute a mototurbo repeater.? thanks

[@arthurdent8091]

Hi there. I just purchased and HD-1. I've scoured the manuals, the internet, etc and yes I did the LONG PRESS of the EXIT button but I cannot get the rig to change PL or CDC, CH NAME, COLOR CODE, DMR MODE, DMR SLOT or several other settings. PLEASE tell me what the HECK I'm doing wrong! Thanks.

[@K0LWC]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the HD-1!

[@linaskerbelis5636]

Can you install bigger antenna to have 2 mile radius?

[@K0LWC]

Yes you could, but at some point power will be a limiting factor. Line of sight is everything given that it’s UHF.

[@kevinklatt2476]

How do you ad a static through the pi-star?

[@K0LWC]

You do it on your settings page on your Brandmeister profile via the Brandmeister website.

[@JasonFellingham]

Excellent video, Matt!

[@N9IBZED]

What if you don't live near a DMR repeater but you want to be able to use the mode from an ht in your town and you need the power of a radio like a TM D710 or TM V71 in order to do so is there a way to do that with either with a hotspot/radio combo or just with a 50 or 100 watt radio alone

[@ya837]

Yo can use a FtM100 with YSF2DMR through a Jumbospot Chinese Cheap Hotspot. The best DMR out there.

[@KeiranR]

Can you use it as a scanner for dmr ..also can it be used to make a low power repeater ?

[@K0LWC]

No, I don’t think it can be turned into a scanner, you can find DMR boards that are full duplex and function like a repeater.

[@KeiranR]

@@K0LWC thanks mate .. id like to pipe it al thru gnu radio or something.

[@kg7yts187]

Curious, how I should I mount a base antenna to get 1.5 mile coverage? Want to get one made for dmr and dstar so me and my neighborhood hams can get into dmr?

[@K0LWC]

KG7YTS As high as you can with a good high-gain antenna. You can get a base antenna hooked to these, I’ve known people to do it. I used an HT antenna at 45’ indoors and it performed nicely.

[@RESlusher]

I've seen a couple videos on various DMR hotspots and I'm wondering something. With everything these days going through our WiFi would there be any advantage to hard-wiring the hotspot to an ethernet port on my router? God forbid if I disrupt Her Majesty when she's watch Pretty Little Liars for the 100th time. :)

[@mortsdans]

Yes, wired is better than wireless in every way. Faster speeds, better security, and a separate channel for each device.

[@keithrichmond5045]

Is something like this required for D-star? I have a Kenwood TH-D74A.

[@USAFJUNKIE]

No. You can use a D-STAR capable repeater. I also believe you can use D-STAR on simplex if you know someone else who has a D-STAR radio... I don't have D-STAR radios, but I'm pretty sure about the simplex part. I know you can do that with Fusion radios, so I'd be shocked if you couldn't on D-STAR.

[@rpgiuliani]

DStar is fantastic. You can use DStar via repeaters and or the many hotspots on the market. DVMega on a raspberry pi like he is showing. I have the same as he is showing but I use it for DStar. DStar simplex is no problem. As far as the SS card slot, I used my Dremel tool and simply made the slot in the clear case bigger. He should have mentioned that the unit does all the DV flavors. DStar DMR C4FM FUSION P25

[@sethjenna2561]

What's the practicality of these if SHTF ? Won't dmr be rendered useless if there's no internet?

[@K0LWC]

DMR hotspots rely on the Internet, but the mode can still function like a normal repeater, just digital. One advantage is you can have two simultaneous conversations on one repeater. Hotspots would be rendered largely useless. They’re good for when s*** hasn’t hit the fan and you want to rag-chew, or learn about linking and digital protocols.

[@sethjenna2561]

@@K0LWC do people do other modes through them like SSTV ?

[@1911aces]

Does anyone sell this complete?

[@billreid2066]

Any idea how much data one of these uses on your internet? An example a 10 minute conversation

[@K0LWC]

Very, very low bandwidth. Less than 33 kB/s.

[@billreid2066]

@@K0LWC thanks

[@BeaglerBassFishingOutdoors]

Can i run this on a mac?

[@K0LWC]

Hotspot are their own little computer, but yes, you can access the settings via any web browser.

[@mjm9863]

MacOS is based on FreeBSD, so yeah, you probably could compile and get mmdvmhost to run on it. When they are talking about “Pi-Star”, they are referring to just Rasberry Pi’s running a bastardized sandboxed and stripped version of Raspbian that is used to run mmdvmhost and has a web interface for configuration. Mmdvmhost is the actual program that does the work. “Pi-Star” is just an environment, that is based on Raspbian, which itself is based on Debian GNU-Linux, which itself is based on (clone) of UNIX.

[@Hamdalorian]

Do the DVmegas not have an OLED display?

[@K0LWC]

Scott Burg They do not.

[@mjm9863]

Add a Nextion if you want a screen. Very simple. You can use a USB TTL to drive it. The “niftynesss” of it dissipates quickly though. You’ll find yourself looking at your HT’s screen, or using your smart phone, more than looking at the mmdvm screen. After the “niftyness”, it turns into just pretty background lights that do little except be a conversation piece.

[@Johnyrocket70]

There's a digital repeater that's machine gunning the analog repeater in my area. It makes the repeater unusable

[@500VulcanRider]

Did you have to program the Raspberry Pi yourself or did you get the code from somewhere else?

[@DaveWrightKB9MNM]

Sam, there is an image of Pi-Star that you download and it has all the stuff you'll need. No programming necessary.

[@JosephDZaks]

Great job. Thank you.

[@K0LWC]

Thanks for watching!

[@ElCalin]

I am having reports from digital hams that they can NOT see any of my personal information displayed on their digital radios (call sign, Name, City, Country, etc) Just blank screens from me, I checked my Brand Meister profile, and everything is there, also Pi-star page can someone please help me to solve this problem, thanks. K9ABO

[@K0LWC]

This sounds like a DMR-MARC issue, not Brandmeister. Make sure you’ve submitted your call sign to the DMR-MARC database and use that numerical ID on your radio (programmed).

[@ElCalin]

@@K0LWC I thank you so so much, I will do that and report back to you with the details. 73

[@juanfgonzalez2039]

Can you use a tablet? Not a laptop for dmr

[@K0LWC]

Yes.

[@juanfgonzalez2039]

I'm new on dmr and computers I have tyt radio I want to use it on the road

[@MAHONEY1940]

Great video.

[@K0LWC]

Thanks for watching Denny!

[@kg5pte]

They don’t work out of the box with cbridge dmr only the branmeister version of dmr #syntheticradio

[@adamjhuber]

Does the hotspot ID itself per Part 97 requirements?

[@K0LWC]

Adam It does not have self identification as it’s not required per Part 97. It’s simply a pass-through simplex node, particularly a very low power one. Having said that, DMR transmissions need to always be verbally identified with callsign because your DMR ID number that is transmitted does not qualify as identification.

[@adamjhuber]

K0LWC if the hotspot was just a receiver, then no ID is needed. But it is transmitting to your HT on Ham frequencies so yes the hotspot needs to identify. You identifying through your HT would not satisfy this requirement. Just like repeaters need to identify themselves, so does this hotspot or any remote base.

[@jimmeeGray]

Adam If you have your own answer to the question why bother to ask then, A.H

[@adamjhuber]

jimmy gray two different Adam's. I think you are the A.H here.

[@jimmeeGray]

@@adamjhuber how do you spell the plural of a word? By adding an apostrophe before the S. You're not just THE a-hole, you're an ILLITERATE A-HOLE .

[@SteelWolf13]

link to hardware generates a "internal server error." Not your fault.

[@jscord711]

anybody ever use an external, high gain antenna to the hotspot?

[@K0LWC]

Yes, I have used a Diamond SRH320A. It makes a difference, but not massive. 1-1.2 miles line of sight from a high gain antenna.

[@TimonSuricata]

Anyone know a good cheapish dmr hotspot that can work outside of the ham freq band, for commercial use on a privately licenced frequency, thanks!

[@K0LWC]

TimonSuricata I’m not familiar with one, what frequency are you looking for specifically?

[@TimonSuricata]

something that could cover between 460-470mhz for commercial uses, a duplex dmr hotspot that would be sweet, don't think they exist though most only go up to 450, would have to hax one up

[@maikranze]

I'm glad you guys enjoy this, but I do not NEED a DMR hotspot and I will never have one. Why? I just don't want it. I am not interested in using hot spots or any sort of internet connection for ham radio. I would get out of the hobby before I resorted to operating like that.

[@dimitrissapountzakis6285]

Awesome videos man. Really enjoying the channel's content. 73..de sv1obt

[@K0LWC]

Thanks for watching, de K0LWC!

[@f.allenrisler5303]

Well done! 73, K5FAR

[@artadams1]

You can operate in DMR WITHOUT a hot spot, D3000 chip, MMDVM modem or repeater. I operate on DMR everyday without a hotspot, d3000 chip, mmdvm mode or repeater. Google DVSwitch all software based encoding/decoding you can use DVSwitch mobile on an android device as your radio. DVSwitch allows me to operate in DMR, D-Star, YSF (Fusion), NXDM, P25. If you port forward from your local network, you can use the 4G/3G signal as your internet source and DVSwitch mobile as your radio world wide. 73s KI5BXN

[@K0LWC]

iPhone all day, so it's not an option for me.

[@1OFGODSOWN]

OK I want a hot spot but my budget is only about $150 max what would you suggest that is fully operational out of the box?

[@K0LWC]

RFOpenSpot

[@pappalazarou3940]

Its as if they took the best parts of Echolink, then made it 1,000 times more complicated. Then instead of having one chat room per repeater, they gave us 15,000 chat rooms, plus 5,000 more for d-star, plus 5,000 more for Yaesu....then split Yaesu's system again into Fusion......then added in 10,000 private chat rooms, so Fred can only hear Jim & Billy Bob.... So we end up with 30,000 chat rooms, on assorted formats, all internet based..........and users complain the bands are dead....... Can't imagine why....

[@K0LWC]

I find DMR much more active than analog. Putting hundreds of users on one node gets to be unusable. Also, while different protocols is annoying, many systems today bridge them together so D-star can talk to DMR and YSF etc. That’s how it is in Colorado, at least.

[@KE8ODY-WV-Ares-Ham-Dad-3O4]

I wish dmr reached further

[@K0LWC]

DMR is like any other kind of RF - minus the error correction. DMR has the same coverage as an analog system, with maybe a smidge better coverage on the very fringe. As with anything RF - power output + antenna + AGL + frequency = coverage. I suppose it could in theory cover anywhere since you can take a hotspot with you anywhere. :)

[@SteveWrightNZ]

You dont really answer the question 'why?'. I too wonder why I'd have all that electronics just to listen to something an android app will do.

[@K0LWC]

Steve Wright That’s an easy one to answer. Learning/tinkering with codeplugs, understanding the firmware and how it routes digital voice. That same logic can be applied to anything ham related. My iPhone can do anything communications-wise that my ham gear can do... but I don’t learn and build anything to do it.

[@mikemcdonald5147]

he does mention using lower power on your ht which saves you battery life, instead of trying to hit the local repeater which may be miles away you have a pispot right there in your home and don't need high power to hit it. He also mentions if you don't have a dmr repeater in your area.

[@jimmeeGray]

@@K0LWC what kind of cellular compatible ham gear do you have? Where can i buy this gear from?

[@jimmeeGray]

@@K0LWC you can actually use a cellphone on 40 metres? Wow

[@sethjenna2561]

For the sake of wasting money.

[@FriendBears]

Well after 3 + Yrs I couldn’t get the hotspot to work so I gave my $320.00 investment away. 73

[@Austinsairplanes]

What's the point of spending hundreds of dollars on a radio to talk on the internet? Echo link does this from your phone for free. In fact there have to be dozens of services online that don't require a ham license to use and they are free. Using a ham radio to talk on the internet seems backwards to me.

[@K0LWC]

Does it still use RF to get to the hotspot? Of course. It’s radio. Do I use my HT to access a repeater that has a Brandmeister network connection. Of course. It’s radio.

[@GaryUtz]

Don’t waste your money on a hotspot. buy an old super cheap Android tablet and install droid star. Its free and it does dmr, fusion, dstar, m17, p25 and more...

[@mjm9863]

…-and have horrible audio quality. DroidStar even pops up a big warning box, at least for D-Star, that the AQ is low. It’s easy to tell when someone is using DroidStar. Sorry, but if you want to use digital modes, that’s fine, but get an actual radio for each mode you want to use and do it natively. I don’t get it. It’s like playing make-believe you are using P25 on a Motorola, D-Star on a Kenwood/Icom, Fusion on a Yaesu, etc.

[@JFrederico]

Send me one like a gift KKKKK. 73s from PP8KWA

[@TormentedHealer]

KOLWC, buy a microphone. FFS.

[@K0LWC]

Got it.