TNFrank

So it would be a decent budget DMR then?

Here's an excellent video I found showing how to set up a DMR radio. I was looking at the Retevis RT3S. It's 2M/70cm(so I can probably do MURS and GMRS too) and it's supposed to be 10 watts. The price isn't too Bad either.

All that being said the absolute high was 3.3 watts on digital mode. I'm looking at 3 other radios between $100 and $150 that claim 10 watts. even if they only output half of that it'll be better than the 3.3 watts I'm getting from this radio.

I just did a power output test on the radio. The DMR Repeater I have programmed was giving .5W to 2.5W jumping around and not consistent. I think that's the main issue, not enough "azz" to hit the nearby repeaters that my analog radios(even the little UV-5r) can easily hit from my backyard. It's getting returned and I'll use the funds along with the money from the DM-1701 to buy a better radio. Also, WINE works pretty good on my Linux install. Like I've mentioned before, I run all the other CPS programs along with CHIRP NEXT in WINE without issues.

I downloaded a codeplug from Miklor for the RT-4D and compared it to my codeplug. I made some adjustments to my codeplug and I still can't reach the repeater. When I keyed the HT next to my desktop computer I heard something like it WAS sending out a signal but I just don't think these little radios are powerful enough to make the 16 miles to the repeater in digital. In Analog yes, they reach it. I guess I need to do a power test on the radio and compare analog to digital and that would also confirm that a signal was getting out in digital mode.

Ok, I'll give that a try. It does seem in the CPS that the repeater ID should go in that box but I'll try the talkgroup ID and see if it works. Did everything else look ok other than that.

I downloaded 2 lists of simplex channels. They have different time slots listed but I also read that some radios will allow both time slots on simplex. Guess I need to look into that.

Here's the CodePlug. Analog.4rdmf

Not to totally change the subject but I understand I can also do digital simplex with a DMR radio. I even saw a channel list for it. I guess when funds allow I could get another radio and use my 2nd ID for it and talk digital simplex with them until I get the other stuff figured out.

Here's a link to the Repeater. https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/details.php?state_id=04&ID=8513 I'll get the codeplug at halftime.

Here's a video I made of the CPS settings. If anyone sees anything out of place or anything that should be different please let me know. DMR1.mkv

Another question, do I need to put the repeater in for each talkgroup or do I stack the talkgroups under one repeater entry? I'm pretty sure I'll have to put the repeater in twice for each time slot.

My analog signal is nice. I wish I had a DMR repeater closer but the White Tanks and South Mountain are where most of them are located and both are 16 miles away. I might have to break out the 9db Yagi and see if that'll help.

The radio tells me it's not connecting. "Failed To Connect To Repeater", LOL. I tried a few at first then I backed off and just did a single one, figured I might be confusing the radio. I put the Arizona StateWide 3104 talkgroup in, added it to the RX list and everything but it still won't connect. I just wonder if this little 5 watt radio just doesn't have the stones to TX 16 miles. All of my other radios hit the White Tanks repeaters just fine, could it just be that Digital won't go as far as Analog will??? I've added a few more Analog channels to the radio, seems to work just fine in Analog. I may have to make a video of me adding a Digital Channel to show what I'm doing so maybe someone could point out where I'm going wrong unless, like I said, this radio just can make the 16 miles in Digital mode.

I don't know why I can't connect to a DMR Repeater, I have everything in the program that I need, Repeater ID, CC, TimeSlot and I'm only putting 1 TalkGroup in so as not to complicate things. I know I can hit the Repeaters on Analog, why can't I hit them on Digital? I think I'm missing something but I don't know what. I've followed instructions from a few different videos on how to do this with no luck.