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I think it has something to do with setting up a repeater. One ID is for the radios you would use, the other is for the repeater. At least that is what I was told was the situation at my job. We have two ID's. One is for the repeater, the other covers all the HT's that talk on it.

Apologies if this is a little off-topic but it is a "DMR question." What, exactly is DMR? I recognize that it is digital radio. I use a DMR radio at work daily and only now, since getting into radio, am I beginning to understand that I don't really know what it is. Like I said, I get that's it digital, as opposed to analog. I took my UV-5R to work one day and it was interesting hearing what it sounded like on my work DMR radio, and how I could see the Boafeng RX when I keyed up on the work radio but couldn't hear anything. I guess since my employer has the DMR license, I don't need it to use the radio? Is it basically just digital GMRS? Meaning you can put encryption on it to "secure" comms? I downloaded the motorola software and piddled around with it. I find it very similar to CHIRP, but I keep reading about something called a "codeplug" that is needed to program DMR radios? And apparently there are "talk groups" and "time slots" on repeaters. I kind of have a grasp of it. Like I said, I was able to download the motorola settings and kind of backwards engineer how to program one. Also, with HAM and GMRS there is the constant station identification going on...none of that is needed in DMR land? Because why? Just curious, as I continue to learn. Thanks!

It wouldn't.. Your email said it was due to an old FCC rule, which has nothing to do with royally fees to Motorola.

its apparant that a lot of used radio adds are dropping regardless of manufacture.. Still lots of adds for Baofeng....

I don’t think that’s why. I have multiple radios but all use the same ID. There’s a secondary number that must be used for multiple hotspots to keep them unique.

why woiuld that effect used commercial stuff??

that could be the issue.. Most Hytera stuff can be networked and apparently Ebay is enforcing some FCC ban that is several years old. Stange though that you see a huge reduction in Ebay adds for most repurposed Commerical radio gear.

I still don't know why I got 2 I.D. numbers. Maybe for a second radio of something?'

Press release on Friday: "Federal judge holds Chinese telecom in contempt over failure to pay royalties to US rival. The partially state-owned company Hytera was ordered to pay royalties to U.S. rival Motorola over trade secrets and copyright violations.". They seem to owe Motorola a boatload of money. Don't know if it has anything to do with it though... https://www.courthousenews.com/federal-judge-holds-chinese-telecom-in-contempt-over-failure-to-pay-royalties-to-u-s-rival/

Probably more to do with Motorola suing Hytera and winning. Part of that was no one could sell or resell certain Hytera radios that violated IP laws where Hytera took source code from Motorola and used it in their radios. The findings were that neither Hytera nor their dealers could repair, modify, program or service in any way those radios. Moto may have decided to do a smack down on eBay for some reason. Someone mentioned that the number of commercial radio's in general dropped off. Was that Motorola stuff, Hytera and Baofeng (same company or at least factory) or just in general? I can't believe that the FCC after putting out a notice that they what to streamline things and back away from silly regulations that they would have given eBay a directive. But I don't know that for certain.

That was my first radio. It's a decent radio to get started with. If you decide to upgrade eventually to a better DMR radio, watch YouTube videos, do your research. There are several good radios that, in my opinion, are equal in quality. They all have a slightly different features that will apply better to your situation.

Turns out they are on the naughty/national security risk list.. Source: https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist

I cant remember where I saw it, but do a little research. There was something about Hytera equipment only where there was an issue.

Thanks for all the info guys. I've got the DM-1701 on the way. It'll be fun learning how to program it. Getting my age you've got to always be learning something to say a bit sharp.

OpenGD77 definitely makes DMR easier to program and you can’t beat the price (free). Other benefits of OpenGD77 include the built in support for for voice prompts which was important for me as I programmed the radio for a blind and partially deaf friend. I bought the Tytera MD UV380. It was about $80, which was pretty low for a decent DMR radio. There’s a version of OpenGD 77 just for it called Open UV380. I’m not suggesting that the TYT MD UV380 (or 390 if you want waterproof) is better than the DM-1701 because I don’t know if it is but it’s definitely a decent choice.

Yes, it will be good "out of the box" and available to you to upgrade the firmware to OpenGD77 when you are more comfortable with that process. In my experience, I could not get the DM-1701 to transmit on GMRS, but @BoxCar responded that they can be "opened." Perhaps he will reply with more information. My RD-5R and DM-5R both easily work on GMRS and MURS (analog, of course!)

PROBABLY uncertified (aka unlocked or 'dual use') type radios. But that's just an educated guess. Does the email you received have any other actual details?

We have DMR Repeaters both West of my and South of me that I can hit. The TYT-390 is out of my budget. The DM-1701 will be close to what I'm looking to spend. I'm going to order that one and see how it works out. I really don't want to mess with Firmware having bricked 2 Tidradio H8's in the past. So will the stock Firmware in the DM-1701 be good enough?

Another option is the TYT - MD-390 with OpenGD77 already installed for $119 with free shipping from Los Angeles, but this might be out of your price range: https://letsgetreadyinc.com/opengd390plus [NOTE: I do not get a commission; I am only a satisfied customer of this company]

Yes. Do you have access to a DMR repeater from your home or will you use a hotspot (which acts like a "mini-repeater" and connects to the internet through WiFi)?

So the DM-1701 would be a decent way to go then? I was able to cancel the order for the RT-4D so now I need to find a good, inexpensive DMR radio to start off with.

Ok, you have moved this discussion to this thread and I will answer all of your questions here: I have not read L.Scott's attachment paper about DMR and I suspect that it is chocked full of helpful information. I will try to read it later. My experience with DMR is specifically Ham Radio and Brandmeister. There is a whole world of DMR use in the Business Bands that pre-date all this, but that is not my experience. Brandmeister is the protocol that took a primarily business radio format and converted it into a Ham Radio friendly style. I discovered the Baofeng UV-5R in 2016 on Amazon and given the price point I quickly started to build a small collection: 5 watts, then tri-band, then 8 watts and then I started buying accessories, primarily higher capacity rechargeable batteries. Remember accessories can add up in cost, so this became a factor when I decided to jump into DMR in 2018. I discovered that Radioddity took the electronics of their GD-77 model and reformulated them to fit in a UV-5R case and sold it as the RD-5R. As the then cheapest DMR HT available at that time, I purchased one to experiment with; in the event it bored me and I put it up on the shelf. The other importance of that model, other than price, was that my collection of UV-5R accessories, primarily my high capacity batteries, fit on and worked with the RD-5R. The initial problem with DMR is the learning curve to write your own "code plug" which tells the radio all of the necessary parameters are needed. Chirp and most analog radios are programmed like a "flat" database (think of a spreadsheet, where each column tells the analog radio what channel number, channel name, frequency, offset and tones are needed for each channel). DMR is programmed like a "relational" database which creates separate groups of related information and the software, as directed by the codeplug, tells each channel how to utilize the important factors needed to communicate with a specific TalkGroup. Once you understand the underlying definitions, DMR gets easier and easier to use. Hence, getting a codeplug from a ham radio group or "Elmer" in your area is a great way to start and modify it from there for your needs. The problem with the cheaper, starter DMR radios, is that they are missing more advanced features and more complicated to program. The OpenGD77 project developed a new firmware for many of these "cheapies" so that they acquire the more advanced features of radios hundreds of dollars more expensive and ease up the required codeplug, since a codeplug for one OpenGD77 radio will work in all of your OpenGD77 radios. The problem with my historical experience is that Radioddity stopped manufacturing the RD-5R so Baofeng stepped in and came out with their version, the DM-5R Model 2, but now that one is out of production too. Earlier this year I purchased the Baofeng DM-1701, the now cheapest of their DMR HTs available, to see how easy it was to install OpenGD 77. It was about $50 from AliExpress and OpenGD77 installed very easily and my existing codeplug worked immediately. Not being interested in using that radio over my RD-5R and DM-5R, I gave it away to a local new Ham who made a donation to our analog and DMR Repeater Group. There is much "excitement" about the DM-32 just released by Baofeng, but since it is not OpenGD77 compatible, I have no interest in it as an "inexpensive" DMR radio. That all being said, you have made your choice and I have no experience with that radio. It will of course work for you with the limitations of "cheapie" features and more complicated programming. But both disadvantages can be overcome and you will enjoy DMR. Good luck!

No, but i am seeing a huge reduction in commercial radio gear on Ebay searches.. Not sure whats going on...

Do you know what the basis is for the FCC ban?

Ok, now that I've got my DMR I.D. numbers(yes, I got 2 of them, not sure why??) why did I get issued 2 I.D. numbers? Both are for DMR and P25 but one also includes CCS7(???) whatever that is. I guess I've got a LOT of YouTube videos to watch. Also, other than not being able to run OpenGD77 Firmware, why is the Radtel RT-4D a bad DMR radio? It was the only one within my budget and I just want to do basic DMR stuff so will it work ok?