Radtel RT-4D is up and working.

[TNFrank]

Well, I had to dig out my Talkpod A36 Plus cable, the FTDI cables don't work with this radio, but I did get it connected to the CPS and programmed a few analogue channels into it. It hit the 3 repeaters on the White Tanks(about 16 miles as the crow flies)and I made a contact on the Del Web repeater, all be it my TX was weak. This I'd only a 5 watt radio and we have a pretty bad storm moving through so that might be part of it. My 10 watt AR-5RM gets out very clear so the extra power does seem to make a difference.

Next step is to add some digital channels to zone 2. I'll need to look them up to see which ones I'm going to want.

I've watched some videos that mention adding a Disconnect channel(4000 iirc)and a Parrot (9000?)then the other channels like a World Wide and some local channels.

I'll get it figured out. If adding the digital channels is about the same as the analogue ones then it shouldn't be too much trouble. Anyway, just wanted to share. 

[BoxCar]

Adding DMR channels is different from entering analogue. You need 5 things for a digital channel, your DMR ID; a talk group; zone; color code; and time slot. Groups such as Parrot should be also set as a PRIVATE call to avoid blasting the zone with your test message.

[TNFrank]

45 minutes ago, BoxCar said:

Adding DMR channels is different from entering analogue. You need 5 things for a digital channel, your DMR ID; a talk group; zone; color code; and time slot. Groups such as Parrot should be also set as a PRIVATE call to avoid blasting the zone with your test message.

DMR ID/check

I also need the frequency TX/RX of the Repeater I'll be using and I can get the Talkgroup/CC/TS from the Repeater info. Zone will be named "Digital" in my radio. 

I'm going to watch a couple videos to get more of a handle on things.

This one looks pretty good at explaining things.

 

[Lscott]

2 hours ago, TNFrank said:

DMR ID/check

I also need the frequency TX/RX of the Repeater I'll be using and I can get the Talkgroup/CC/TS from the Repeater info. Zone will be named "Digital" in my radio. 

I'm going to watch a couple videos to get more of a handle on things.

This one looks pretty good at explaining things.

 

The problem I have mostly is discovering what talk groups are supported. There is no central database for DMR repeaters that has this info. Usual you need to search on line for a web site for the repeater, if one even exists. Then, what info you do find is likely outdated, talk groups no longer supported, new ones added and which of the bunch of DMR networks it connects too for linking etc.

For some repeaters the setup is fairly simple, others it's a huge PIA. See attached file for an example.

The best practice I found, if your radio supports it, is grouping everything by repeater in a zone for just that repeater. Then one channel memory is programmed for the particular parameters required for one talk group. You can have a few to dozens of entries for just one repeater. See attached photos. This is for my NX-1300DUK5 radio.

https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/290-nx-1300duk5/?context=new

 

N8NOE DMR Repeater.pdf

[TNFrank]

Something good the guy in the video did was look up the repeater call sign to see if the info on repeaterbook was current or not. If you watched the video you'd see that the CC of 1 was wrong and the current CC was actually 4. 

I have 2 or 3 DMR repeaters that I can use locally and a few others that are out of my area but places I may travel to that I'll probably add. 

It really isn't much different from analog, just more steps to get to where you want to be. If you take each step in a logical order and not get ahead of yourself then is should work out ok. 

[Lscott]

23 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

t really isn't much different from analog, just more steps to get to where you want to be. If you take each step in a logical order and not get ahead of yourself then is should work out ok. 

That's about right.

It gets more complex if you want to start jumping between linked reperaters by "dialing" into them, A.K.A. Reflectors.

https://www.vkdmr.com/using-dmr-reflectors/

https://pnwdigital.net/c-bridge-network/

Getting confused yet?

 

[SteveShannon]

11 hours ago, TNFrank said:

I'll get it figured out. If adding the digital channels is about the same as the analogue ones then it shouldn't be too much trouble. Anyway, just wanted to share. 

Probably the most tedious thing about DMR is having to program a separate channel for every single talk group on every single repeater. So for instance if you want worldwide (91) and North America (93), statewide, your state chat, a local talk group, parrot (9990), and a disconnect (4000) that’s seven channels all with the same frequency, color code, and time slot (except maybe for the local talk group). If you want the same talk groups on 10 different repeaters you program 70 different channels.

RT Systems has sort of a solution to the tediousness of this in their DMR Calculator. It automatically generates the different channels. 
OpenGD77 has the best solution and one that’s so obvious and simple that you have to wonder what the hell was going through the minds of the people who designed DMR. You create “talk group lists” which you then simply link to your repeater channels. 

[TNFrank]

I added a DMR Repeater and some of the TalkGroups that it listed but for some reason, even though I put them in Contacts and RX and everything else when I go to the Digital Channel I just see the Repeater and don't have any option to go to a TalkGroup within the Repeater. I'm going to need to watch more videos because something just didn't go quite right. I can't even hit the repeater(that I can normally hit Analog) even though I have the right CC for it. This IS going to take a bit of work but I'm sure I'll figure it out and have an "AhhHaa" monument where it all clicks for me. 

[TNFrank]

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. 

[SteveShannon]

28 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

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. 

How do you know you’re not connecting?  Do you hear any digital traffic?

What talk group are you trying to join?

Did you create an account with Brandmeister? If so, open up a window to your dashboard and watch for your ID. You’ll probably have to filter on it because they get a butt load of traffic. It’s been a while since I’ve done it but I think you can monitor traffic on just the repeater you’re talking to as well.

What messages are being displayed by your radio. If mine cannot connect to a digital repeater I get a message that says something like “Repeater not found.”

 

[TNFrank]

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. 

[SteveShannon]

18 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

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. 

Can you get closer to the repeater?  With analog you can still understand a transmission even though some noise. Digital is sensitive to signal to noise. When it can’t understand the bit pattern it is completely useless even though you might still be able to hear the conversation in analog. 
However, 16 miles really isn’t too far. If your analog signal is pretty clear at that distance you should be able to connect to the digital side. 

[TNFrank]

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.

[TNFrank]

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. 

[SteveShannon]

6 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Probably the most tedious thing about DMR is having to program a separate channel for every single talk group on every single repeater. So for instance if you want worldwide (91) and North America (93), statewide, your state chat, a local talk group, parrot (9990), and a disconnect (4000) that’s seven channels all with the same frequency, color code, and time slot (except maybe for the local talk group). If you want the same talk groups on 10 different repeaters you program 70 different channels.

 

15 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

Another question, do I need to put the repeater in for each talkgroup or do I stack the talkgroups under one repeater entry? 

See above

But as my post continued RT Systems makes it less tedious and OpeGD77 removes the tedium completely. 

[TNFrank]

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

[SteveShannon]

I’ll look at it when I get home and have some time but a copy of your codeplug and a link to the repeater would be much easier to diagnose. 

[TNFrank]

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.

[TNFrank]

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.

[WRYS709]

1 minute ago, TNFrank said:

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.

TalkGroup 99

Color Code 1

[TNFrank]

Here's the CodePlug.

Analog.4rdmf

[SteveShannon]

45 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

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.

That’s right. And as you discovered there’s a list of simplex calling channels (frequencies). 
Sooner or later you’ll want a hotspot too. 

[TNFrank]

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.

[SteveShannon]

2 hours ago, TNFrank said:

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.

Okay, this might seem unintuitive, but on the Digital Channel information screen, where you have the DMR ID of the repeater: 310402, you need to have the Talk Group ID, so if you're trying to get into TG 3104 (AZ Statewide), that's the number there.  Try that and let us know if that works better.  

But that Failure to Connect still has me worried.  You might not be in range or maybe I am not seeing what's out of whack. 

The other thing is, put your radio into Promiscuous mode and just listen on the repeater channel, see if you can hear anything.  In full Promiscuous mode everything transmitted by the repeater will come through your radio, regardless of color code or time slot.  That's why I said that something sent to a Private TG can still be heard.

[TNFrank]

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.