digital connection BY DON ROTOLO,* N2IRZ

/…iÊ9i>ÀʜvÊ,
Digital Mobile Radio – Part I
s I write this, Dayton was just a few weeks
ago. One thing that struck me, aside from
the mud and humidity, was the huge pres-
ence of things related to Digital Mobile Radio
(DMR). Plenty of transceivers, including several
that were tiny software-defined radios (SDRs),
were on display from companies large and small.
Oh sure, there was literally everything else in the
amateur radio and electronics world also on
display, along with the usual miscellanea, but it
seemed (at least to me) that this was the year
of DMR.
Considering that, I figured the time was right to
explain how to get started in DMR. Those who
have been reading my rantings for the 21 years
I’ve been writing them know I am, uhh,
especially when it comes to getting started in any-
thing. At Dayton, I could not justify spending over
a $1,000 for a full-blown DMR radio, but I think it’s
time, and I think I’ve found a bargain.
Before we get into setting up and using my new
radio — which we’ll cover next time on these pages
— I think it best we go over some of the details of
DMR so you know what to expect. By the way, the
beginner radio I settled on is the Tytera MD-380
HT sold by the online seller Buy Two Way Radios
<www.buytwowayradios.com> as its DMR starter
kit. The company offers two versions, both $160
as of this writing, one each for UHF and VHF.
Which version you should get depends on the
DMR facilities in your area, but UHF is likely the
one you want. Before we get into the details, a brief
word about why you might want to get into DMR.
You may already know that most public safety
agencies — police, fire, and so on — use trunked
, radios that have “virtual” channels. They share the
same radio spectrum, but because of digital magic
they don’t hear each other unless they want to,
which most of the time they don’t. But get into a
particularly difficult situation, and with a few key
presses they can all talk to each other, dramati-
cally improving the emergency response. This is
a type of DMR, in which many users share a few
channels but don’t hear each other unless they
want to.
 DMR as used by amateur radio is very similar: There are
dozens of specialized channels, known as that
focus on a geographic area or language. Here in northern
Atlanta, my closest repeater links into talk groups for local
users, statewide Georgia, North America, and worldwide,
while nearby repeaters also have talk groups for Southeast
U.S., a few of the country-wide tactical groups, a “parrot”
(which repeats back what you said), and the NorCal Audio
Test which, not surprisingly, is for testing your audio.
The big advantage to DMR is the ability to speak with oth-
ers around town, around the region, or around the world
through your local DMR repeater. While the internet is used
for these links (unlike the TARPN packet network), making
them questionable for emergency communications use, for
casual ragchews and similar levels of importance, there’s a
lot of fun in there. Several language-specific channels exist,
which could be a comfort for expats who find themselves far
from home, or those wishing to keep their language skills
sharp. The bottom line is that it’s another way to communi-
cate with others, generally with only as much effort as need-
ed to get to your local repeater, despite its worldwide reach.
Plus it’s a relatively new mode: Who doesn’t enjoy that?
By the way, when I use the term Digital Mobile Radio, I am
technically speaking of the Amateur Radio Tier II implemen-
tation using the Mototrbo® infrastructure and promoted by
DMR-MARC (including that group’s partnership with
DMRPlus). There are several other flavors of Digital Mobile
Radio, but they tend to be proprietary and focused on their
bread-and-butter commercial users, and unlikely to ever gain
traction in the ham world.
One could argue that D-STAR or Yaesu’s System Fusion
might be considered DMR, but these are more focused on
the amateur radio market and not strictly in accordance with
the ETSI DMR implementation <www.dmrassociation.org>
and so won’t be considered at this time. In any case, all the
gory details are mostly irrelevant if all you want to do is work
the mode. That being said, D-STAR and System Fusion will
get their time on these pages in the coming months.
So back to your local repeater: There are far more analog
FM repeaters than DMR repeaters, but most areas have cov-
erage. Visit the DMR-MARC networked repeaters map page
<www.dmr-marc.net/repeaters.html> to see if there’s some-
thing near you. At the moment, the map says there are 822
repeaters in North America, and another 144 in the rest of
the world, mostly in Europe and Australia. As I zoom in on
Atlanta, there are 14 in the area, and one (KE4OKD) is near-
by on 441.950 MHz, which I will soon adopt as my local DMR
repeater.
If there is a repeater near you, the frequency on which it
operates will dictate the band (VHF or UHF) for your radio.
Of course. If there isn’t one nearby — Pittsburgh, Sacra-
mento, and New Orleans, for example, are not well repre-
sented — you might consider using a Hotspot like the
DV4mini. This USB-dongle transceiver <http://wirelessh-
old.com/modems.aspx> turns a computer into a hotspot for
several digital modes, or as a DMR or D-STAR radio (with a
headset and mic). As a hotspot, you can operate your HT
without an antenna and it’ll work just fine. The power output
is small so it’s useful as a radio only if you’re really close to
the repeater.
You could really take the plunge and set up a repeater —
it’s probably cheaper than moving to a new city — but I’d rec-
ommend some restraint here. If you must, DMR works just
fine on mobile, so maybe a road trip is in your future.
If you’re at the point where A) you want to get involved, B)
there’s a repeater near you (or you can get a DV4mini), it’s
time to register yourself with DMR-MARC and get a
Subscriber ID. Simply
visit the DMR-MARC website <www.dmr-marc.net> and click
on the link to “Register ID” at the upper right. Read the terms
and conditions (all quite reasonable) and click “User
Registration” at the bottom. Provide your callsign, verify the
info is accurate, and be sure the Radio Type selected is
“DMR.” Your ID will arrive by email within a day or so. If you
are so inclined, feel free to also click the Donate button —
after all, somebody has to pay for it.
With your Subscriber ID, it’s now time to go and get a radio.
I decided to spend the $160 on a brand new-with-warranty
radio, which comes with programming software and cable,
simply in the interest of time. It happens to be a commercial
radio that works in the ham bands, but I’m not aware of any
ham-specific DMR radios on sale at the moment (excluding
USB-type software defined radios like the DV4mini). To help
you pick a good radio that’s known to work, check the online
DMR forums, or ask DMR users in your area.
You can get most any Tier II DMR radio, new or used, and
get it to work. With a used radio, and the usual warnings and
caveats go with it: You don’t know if it works, if you can pro-
gram it (or get it programmed), if it will really tune up on ama-
teur frequencies, and so on. DMR radios aren’t as easy to
repair as your analog FM radio. Aside from the radio part,
there’s the “computer” part that’ll drive you crazy if you don’t
have what it takes to really diagnose it.
 Remember that, because of their commercial nature, DMR
radios are almost never able to be programmed from the front
panel. You’ll most certainly need the programming software
from the manufacturer, and likely a programming cable as
well. Some manufacturers offer the software for free.
Motorola Solutions sells a 3-year subscription for a few hun-
dred dollars, but many commercial radio dealers are friend-
ly to local hams, offering at least programming services and
possibly a small discount.
Make sure the radio you pick will work on the repeater(s)
you’ve found. No sense getting a 145-MHz radio if your local
repeater is on 440 MHz. Most repeaters are on UHF: 2 meters
is used only where 440 usage is restricted, and 902 MHz is
really rare.
When looking at features, here are some to consider:
• Number of channels: More is better, but you need one for
each frequency/talk group combination.
• Display or not: It can be helpful to have a display of at
least the channel number, if not some (programmable) text
reminding you what that channel is for.
• DTMF Keypad: When using repeaters, it can be handy to
be able to send tones, but not many repeaters support their
use.
• Analog: Some radios have an analog mode for use with
standard FM repeaters.
• Bluetooth: Some higher-end radios support a bluetooth
connection for mobile hands-free use.
There are also a few cautions you should be aware of when
selecting a DMR radio:
• Some DMR-capable radios do not have the DMR feature
enabled by default, and you have to pay for the upgrade. If
the price is really low, do your homework carefully.
• External power amplifiers generally won’t work with DMR
unless their transmit/receive switching is exceptionally fast.
So don’t buy a 1-watt HT thinking you can use your power
amp to make it into a base station.
• Not all portable radios have a detachable antenna, but
you probably want to have the flexibility to swap it out.
Now that you have your radio, it needs to be programmed.
As mentioned before, this needs to be done in advance, since
unlike most amateur equipment, it can’t be done via the front
panel. You start with the frequency of your local repeater.
Then consider the repeater’s “Color Code,” which can have
a value from 0 to 15. This is much like using a sub-audible
tone (CTCSS or PL) on an analog repeater. Get this and the
supported talk groups from the repeater operator.
Each talk group operates on one of two ; again,
get this info from the repeater operator so the talk group can
be programmed correctly. Repeat for any other repeaters in
your area you’re likely to work, limited only by the number of
channels available on your radio. Then consider adding one
or more simplex frequencies, which are 441.000, 446.500,
446.075 and 443.450 on UHF and 145.79 and 145.51 on
VHF. It is considered bad practice to use a repeater output
for simplex contacts.
Finally, with your list of everything needed to program, cre-
ate a “Code Plug” (programming configuration file) or have
one created and loaded for you. If you have a lot of channels
to program, it could take several hours to build this: Maybe
start with one or two talk groups on a single repeater and see
if you have it working correctly. When testing is a success,
then you can go hog-wild and program all 1,000 channels.
I did not cover the entire range of programming needs this
month, which I will cover in Part 2. What we did this month is
set the stage, define the essential information that we absolute-
ly need to have, to both decide if DMR is right for us and what
info we need from DMR-MARC and our local repeater op. Next
time, I’ll unbox the radio and set it up, then get into proper on-
air behavior. After all, you don’t want to be a Lid because of
ignorance. Until then, poke around online and absorb what the
world’s collective expertise on this topic tells us.
I’d like to acknowledge the contributions of John S.
Burningham, W2XAB, with whom I worked closely in his
WB8PUF days in the North East Digital Association (NEDA).
John wrote the
available online from several sources including DMR-MARC.
Writing is a lonely endeavor, with me sitting at a desk with a
keyboard, hoping that you will enjoy and find useful what I’ve
written. Unlike live presentations, we writers get only tiny
amounts of feedback, so mostly it is guesswork as to how
well I’m doing. I like to think that after more than 21 years of
doing this, I’ve perfected my craft, but really there’s always
room for improvement. Take a moment and write. I’d love to
hear from you, so drop me a line, and maybe tell me about
something you’d like to see on these pages.
zero bias
backstop ² to enhance his 17-meter SSB signals and allow
him to work GØSBW, also pedestrian mobile, in the UK! Bottom
line: There¶s plenty of radio fun to be had when you get your-
self and your station outside and away from home; there¶s good
DX to be worked, along with the opportunity to get creative with
getting your signal out, which doubles back to improving your
emergency preparedness capabilities.
We¶d like to say thanks and 73 to outgoing Emergency
Communications Editor Cory Sickles, WA3UVV, whose final
column appears in this issue. Cory had the good fortune to be
offered a job as General Manager for Yaesu USA¶s amateur
product line. He accepted, of course, and is stepping down
from his role as a columnist in order to prevent even the
appearance of a conflict of interest. We are pleased to wel-
come Walt Palmer, W4ALT, as Cory¶s successor as EmComm
Editor. Walt¶s inaugural column will appear, appropriately
enough, in next month¶s Emergency Communications
Special. Congrats and good luck to Cory! And I look forward
to working closely with Walt. ±

Getting Started in DMR
Digital Mobile Radio – Part II
)
n September’s issue of #1, I wrote about the
configuration of a DMR radio from a theoretical
perspective. This month, we will go through the
details of programming a Digital Mobile Radio
(DMR). Specifically, I bought a Tytera MD-380
DMR UHF HT with a bunch of accessories for
about $160, including shipping, from the online
seller Buy Two Way Radios <www.buytwowayra-
dios.com> as their DMR Starter Kit. As you can
see from 0HOTO!, it comes with everything you
might ever want or need.
After unpacking the box and checking every-
thing, I decided to read the user’s manual. How
charming, with phrases like “Clockwise to turn on
the radio volume knob, there will be a ‘KADA’
sound, message sound and the screen will show
up ‘Welcome’ ...” and “Call alert makes you can
CO#1MAGAZINE and ended up with a directory on my desktop
%MAIL.)2: CQ
AMATEUR
RADIOCOM named “Firmware 2.30 and new programming
0HOTO!7HATBRINGSINTHEMAIL4HE4YTERA-$
$-2STARTERKITHASEVERYTHINGYOULLNEED
digital connection
BY DON ROTOLO,* N2IRZ
suggest a specific radio users in the possible time
to call you back.” And not a single image of any of
the things appearing on the display.
As with any DMR, the MD-380 must be pro-
grammed, and the included software and USB
cable make this reasonably easy. Some things can
be programmed from the keyboard, but that is best
reserved for either tiny changes or when a com-
puter is unavailable. The user manual gets into
great detail about what you can program using the
keyboard, but much of it is incomprehensible gib-
berish. So, realistically, use the computer and USB
interface.
The supplied mini-disk has several dozen pro-
grams on it, but looking in the “DMR” subdirecto-
ry yielded a file named “MD-380 software.rar” (not
to be confused with “MD-380G.zip” which is for a
radio version with GPS). I downloaded 7ZIP
<www.7-zip.org/> to unpack the .rar archive file,
TOGETSTARTEDIN$IGITAL-OBILE2ADIO.OTONLYDOESITCOMEWITHTHEPROGRAMMINGSOFTWAREANDCABLE
BUTADESKCHARGERMOBILEADAPTERBATTERYANDANTENNA SPEAKER
MICANDCASE

WWWCQ AMATEUR RADIOCOM .OVEMBERs #1s 

siftware” [sic]. Another layer down, I found “MD-380
(Tytera).exe” and double-clicked it to install the programming
software.
Installation (using all the defaults) was quick and mostly
painless, except that it installed two identical icons to my
desktop, one of which happens to be the Chinese version.
Once I figured out which was English, I deleted the other.
The software itself had absolutely no explanation for any-
thing, but in all fairness it was not terribly difficult to figure out.
I admit going to YouTube and following one of the many tuto-
rials on setting up this radio. The bottom line is that it doesn’t
really matter much which DMR radio you have, the setup
process is going to be similar.
3ETUP
Absolutely the first thing you have to do is set your Subscriber
ID. This is a unique identifying number assigned by DMR-
MARC. You can’t use the system without one, and you must
never use someone else’s Subscriber ID. To get your own,
simply visit the DMR-MARC website <www.dmr-marc.net/>

&IGURE3ETTINGYOUR3UBSCRIBER)$h2ADIO)$vTOPRIGHT ISPOSSIBLYTHEMOSTIMPORTANTPARTOFSETTINGUPYOURRADIO

3EETHETEXTTOLEARNHOWYOUCANGETYOUROWN$-23UBSCRIBER)$FROM$-2 -!2#

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REPEATERHIGHLIGHTED

 s #1 s.OVEMBER 6ISIT/UR7EB3ITE

and click on the link to “Register ID” at
the upper right. Read the terms and con-
ditions (all quite reasonable) and click
“User Registration” at the bottom.
Provide your callsign, verify the info is
accurate, and ensure the Radio Type
selected is “DMR”. Your ID will arrive by
email within a day or so. If you are so
inclined, feel free to also click the
Donate button — after all, somebody
has to pay for it all.
The Subscriber ID for the MD-380
(named “Radio ID”) is set in the General
Setting window as seen in &IGURE. All
of the remaining setting defaults in this
window are just fine, although in the
future you might consider creating
passwords for PC and on-radio pro-
gramming, especially if you ever plan to
loan it out. In my case, I also decided to
give my radio a name, N2IRZ. While not
really required, a name might come in
handy if I misplace my radio, or for
someone who has more than one radio
to be able to tell them apart.
Now we set up our Talk Groups. A talk
group (TG) is how groups of users share
the repeater: You’ll only communicate
with users on the same talk group. While
there are hundreds of TGs defined,
most repeaters only support a few. Here
in Atlanta, my nearest repeater sup-
ports TGs for Local (TG 9), GA State
(TG 3113), Southeast USA (TG 3174),
North America (TG2), Worldwide (TG 1)
and a utility TG called “Parrot” (TG
9998). There’s a spreadsheet of TGs on
the DMR-MARC website <http://bit.ly/
2xs5JI1>. Look on the map <http://bit.
ly/2wmHUMI>, also shown in &IGURE,
to find a local repeater and which TGs
it supports.
The Digital Contacts window is where
you build a list of every talk group and
person you might ever wish to contact.
While this can easily number in the thou-
sands, for now let’s limit these to just
the TGs your local repeater supports,
all set as Group Call entries. Individuals
are listed (with their Subscriber IDs) as
Private Call entries. &IGURE  shows
what I started with, but after several
weeks, this grew well into the hundreds.
Really useful are Digital Receive
Groups. Although the specific Channel
you select (we’ll get into that next)
defines the TG on which you transmit,
the Digital RX Group defines what chan-
nels you can monitor for activity. I sug-
gest creating two groups for each
repeater, one for each Time Slot (which
we’ll discuss in a moment), so you can
listen to every possible TG in each time
slot. Later, you can prune these down
to what you really want to hear.
Now we get into the very most impor-
tant part, setting up all the Channels
(&IGURE). A channel defines what your
transmitter is going to do, with things like
&IGURE4HE$IGITAL#ONTACTSLIST7HENJUSTSTARTINGLIMITTHELISTTOJUSTAFEW frequencies, TGs, and time slots. This
TALKGROUPS9OULLADDTOTHELISTASYOUBECOMEMOREFAMILIAR!DDINGANINDI
is where the repeater map information
VIDUAL AS A 0RIVATE #ALL CONTACT IS A GREAT WAY TO GET IN TOUCH WITH A SPECIFIC found on the DMR-MARC site is critical:
PERSONASOPPOSEDTOCONTACTINGAWHOLETALKGROUP Just like any other repeater, you need

WWWCQ AMATEUR RADIOCOM .OVEMBERs #1s 

&IGURE4HE#HANNELS)NFORMATIONWINDOWINTHE-$ PROGRAMMINGSOFTWARE%ACHTALKGROUPONAREPEATERTHATYOU
WISHTOUSENEEDSITSOWNCHANNEL4HISCHANNELISFORTHE0ARROTTALKGROUPON7#"!

some basic information about it to allow

the radio to communicate with it.
Specifically, you need its transmit and
receive frequencies, color code, and
info on the TGs it supports.
&REQUENCIES Repeater frequencies
are traditionally specified by their trans-
mit frequency (your radio’s receive fre-
quency) and the “offset” (usually p5
MHz on 70 centimeters in the U.S.) for
its receiver (your transmit frequency).
#OLOR#ODE Much like a CTCSS (PL)
tone used for analog repeaters, this
code (a number from 0 to 15) helps
reduce mutual interference between
nearby repeaters. You will be unable to
access the repeater if the color code is
not set correctly.

&IGURE4HE:ONE)NFORMATIONPAGE
)SETUPAZONEFOREACHREPEATERSO)
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BOARDORASHORTCUTKEY

 s #1 s.OVEMBER 6ISIT/UR7EB3ITE

 3UPPORTED TALK GROUPS The DMR- channels to which you’d like quicker For now, you can ignore the Scan List,
MARC repeater map page (&IGURE ) access. I have a zone for each repeater, but I have mine set to scan every chan-
also lists the supported TGs and — very plus an analog zone (There are sever- nel on the local digital repeater. This can
important — which repeater Time Slot al 440-MHz FM repeaters nearby). be especially useful to identify where
each TG uses. Most repeaters use the Within a zone, each channel is select- the activity is before you adopt a
DMR-MARC recommendations for time ed with the MD-380’s channel selector repeater. Adding channels to a scan list
slot assignments, but you need to know knob, which has 16 positions. If you is similar to adding channels to a zone.
for certain (or, of course, it won’t work). need more channels, you’ll have to split
If the repeater has a web page, check them into more than one zone. On the 0ROGRAMMING
there as well. radio, changing zones is quick and Now that you have it all set up, it’s time
To get started, you should pick two or easy, either using the menu or by set- to program the radio. First, SAVE your
three TGs on the nearest repeater or ting a hotkey. “Code plug” (radio configuration file)
two and program each as a channel.
Eventually, you’ll want to create a chan-
nel for each TG on each repeater, but
let’s start small and get it working first.
Add a new channel (click the Add but-
ton), give it a name (I suggest the
repeater callsign and talk group) and set
the receive and transmit frequencies.
By default, new channels are Digital
(the MD-380 also supports Analog
repeaters) and 12.5-kHz bandwidth.
Next, set the Admit Criteria to “Color
Code” (as opposed to !LWAYS or #HANNEL
&REE). This setting defines when your
radio will be allowed to transmit, and
#OLOR #ODE is the most courteous set-
ting: It will only transmit if the repeater’s
color code is not being received.
Towards the right edge, in the Contact
Name field, select a default Talk Group
you want to use (0ARROT in the example),
the default Group (receive) List, along
with the repeater’s Color Code and the
correct repeater time slot for your
default Talk Group.
Finally, feel free to set the Time Out
Timer (TOT), which sets the maximum
transmit time, to something a little
longer than 60 (seconds). I suggest
keeping it under 180: Three minutes Young Ladies’ Radio League, Inc.
ought to be plenty.
The rest of the settings are just fine in Since 1939
their default settings, but just in case, For 75 years the Young Ladies’ Radio League,
make sure Privacy (encryption) is set to
Inc. (YLRL) has helped women find their voice
None, and Private Call Confirmed is not
checked (private calls are considered in Amateur Radio with members of all ages
rude on the amateur network). Later you and interests.
can also set the Scan List if you want The YLRL sponsors a number of certificates
this channel included when you’re scan- for both YLs and OMs. Members can earn
ning channels. There is no “save” com- special YL Certificates.
mand: Just switching windows saves YL-Harmonics is our bi-monthly publication highlighting what
your work. women are doing in Amateur Radio.
The first channel takes the most effort, YLRL gives out scholarships to YLs each year.
additional ones are much easier. First, For more information on the YLRL, the current dues amounts,
click Add to create a new channel. weekly YL Net locations or how to join please go to our website
Right-click an existing channel (from the
list at left) and select “copy.” Now select
at www.ylrl.org or contact the Publicity Chairwoman, Cheryl
the new channel, right-click and select Muhr, NØWBV at n0wbv@earthlink.net. All Officer information is
“paste.” Finally, change the details as also listed both on the website and in each edition of
necessary. the magazine and you may contact any Officer as
After you set up all the channels you well.
want (The MD-380 supports 1,000 With thanks to the OMs who encourage and
channels) you should arrange them into support us.
zones (&IGURE ), which is a group of Visit us at www.ylrl.org
WWWCQ
AMATEUR
RADIOCOM .OVEMBERs #1s 
 &IGURE4HE+53$.ETWORKCONTROLCENTERPAGE&ROMHEREYOUCANSEEACTIVITYTHROUGHOUTTHE$-2NETWORK
with a recognizable name in a location you’ll be able to find
later. Then, with the radio off (but fully charged!), connect the
USB cable to the computer and speaker-mic connector on
the radio. Be sure to press it in fully, as it likes to stop before
it’s fully inserted.
Switch the radio on and your computer should recognize it
in just a few seconds. (Before programming your first code
plug, I recommend reading the default code plug from the
new radio and saving it first.) From the Program menu, select
Write Data (or click the ‘program’ icon, or press Ctl-W) and
click OK. After several seconds, a window will indicate suc-
cess and the radio will reboot.
/N4HE!IR
I took to listening in scan mode for a day, to see which
repeaters and talkgroups had some activity. My next step
was to try the Parrot (TG9998), which simply repeats your
audio back to you. After trying a few times without success,
I could see my radio was receiving a signal (the LED was
green), but no audio. I then realized I had to unplug the USB
programming cable, or the internal speaker output was cut
off (oops!). Once I did that, I heard my own audio loud and
(mostly) clear — there is a definite sound to DMR, with some-
what lower fidelity than full-quieting FM.
Assuming you got the frequency and color code right, when
you press the PTT button, the radio will transmit a message
to the repeater “asking” if it is OK to proceed. The red Transmit
LED staying lit (or, for some repeaters, a short, somewhat
pleasant beep), lets you know the repeater is ready for you
and you may start speaking. If the red LED turns off and a
longer, somewhat unpleasant beep is heard, it means “sorry,
not now,” which could be because the channel is busy, you’re
My next step was to visit the K4USD Network Control Center
page <http://bit.ly/2eRkRn2> to monitor network activity,
including my own (&IGURE). Through the control center page,
I found that I was hitting one repeater with a decent signal, but
on another (which I thought would be better), I was almost too
weak to be heard. Not every repeater reports received signal
strength, but those around here do.
Finally, I was ready to talk. Abiding by the information on
the DMR-MARC site to use the fewest number of repeaters
to accomplish a task, I reprogrammed the radio to transmit
on the GA State talkgroup, keyed up the radio and announced
my callsign (much like using an analog FM repeater). After
a few calls, I was rewarded with a pleasant ragchew with a
fellow about a hundred miles from here.
And that’s all there is to it. Once I figured out the program-
ming — which in hindsight was fairly straightforward — it was
no different from any other repeater I’d ever used, aside from
the range, of course. My next challenge is to try to work some
DX on the Worldwide channel. As a calling channel, we’re
supposed to limit conversations to a minute or two, but once
you have the other fellow’s Subscriber ID, the network will
find him for you.
One last comment: I recommend saving your code plugs
by date. Don’t overwrite an older one, just create a new one
each time you make a change. Eventually you can delete
some old ones, but at a few hundred kB each, you can even
store them on a floppy disk.
Anyway, that’s all for this month. I hope this two-part series
has given you enough confidence to give Digital Mobile Radio
a try. It’s certainly inexpensive enough, and those of us
already here would really enjoy being able to welcome you
to the mode.
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