I'm slowly looking for my more long-term #hamradio -- I'd like something moderately portable, programmable with a mac (or iPhone). Ideally it would have DMR support too.
I'll definitely be attending/joining my local radio club to chat to folks there about their hardware.
@nz0p ideally yes. With DMR and the ability to do SSB/USB.
With programming via Mac or iOS. If that’s not possible, I can probably manage.
DMR + SSB is almost certainly a no go.
DMR is almost exclusively on HTs and Mobile UHF/VHFs radios.
For Radios with SSB/USB youll generally going to want to look for "all mode". Those will most be larger mobile (car installed) and HF radios
The cross over between the two is going to be very limited, if not non-existent.
Whats your budget? In my opinion a good DMR HT is probably $300 or so (Anytone D878UVII+) or an OpenGD77 compatible HT ($100) with a lot of flashing to make work
@nz0p that’s good info. I’d rather have something DMR and APRS capable than SSB.
Emergency services around here use DMR and it’d be cool to try and listen in.
Budget is probably 300-500.
How’s the programming experience with the anytone?
@ryan
If youre looking for an easy code plug experience, dont expect it from DMR, its not straight forward.
But between the Retevis RT3S and the Anytone, i found the anytone much more straight forward to program and use. The RT3S was a buggy POS with stock firmware.
If you end up buying a Anytone, Id be happy to send you my codeplug to use as reference. I found it much easier to digest some else codeplug to see how all the piece go together
@nz0p I’d appreciate that! I took the plunge and purchased the Anytone.
Their education and support resources look pretty extensive.
Do you run know of any resources about setting up a basic VHF/UHF antenna on a mast? The main nets near me are at the edge of my range and there are tons of buildings around. I’m thinking a mast might help me out.
@ryan
Whats your email? I can send you my codeplug i use as long as you promise to change to your callsign and dmrID before transmitting
PS do you have a DMR ID with radioid.net? If not, you need one
Antennas are easy, youd be surprised what you can do with a cheap magmount antenna.
If youre near the edge of your signal range, you need height, better antenna, and/or more power. HTs are not great with if you are out of range
@nz0p of course. I’ll change those first thing.
And I’ll get an id for myself.
My email is [email protected]
@ryan
I like the Ed Fong DBJ-1 jpole antenna, its cheap, works well and supports his students
I also like Signal stick antennas for HTs, they are long and not particularly useful for mobile but they are cheap and their magmount works well. They support HamStudy.org
Look into getting a Raspberry Pi (even a Pi Zero tho they are slowwww), an MMDVM, and some PiStar software for a cheap DMR hotspot and get access to all of DMR from home
@nz0p Thanks again for your advice. I have a Raspberry Pi 3B+ running pi-star connected to Brandmeister. And a shiny Anytone 878 to hit it with. Still a lot to learn on that front!
I haven't found the local puddles of traffic so without the hotspot, I'd probably not be talking with anyone.
Little successes like this keep me going!
ryan
Derek