Official Colorado HAM and cheese thread

For Shame

 

Am I right in assuming that Echolink is the most popular digital mode here in the front range?

The TM-D710GA is at the top of my wish list right now for this reason.

 

Echolink isn't a digital mode in the way you think. It's an analog mode on the air and your voice is digitized for the Internet. This is also true of IRLP. You use FM on your radio. Digital modes means you're using a digital modulation on the air. That's DMR, Yaesu Fusion, D-STAR. Which is most popular is hard to really say but probably DMR at this point is. There's a few D-STAR repeaters but not a ton. There are several dual mode Yaesu repeaters that are capable of doing Fusion but most of the time I think they revert to FM.

 

Thanks for clarifying. These proprietary modes are scrambling my brain a bit.

 

Digital ham radio is pretty much a Charlie Foxtrot with all the modes. D-STAR is fine and hams started using DMR because Motorola made it easy to link repeaters into very wide area groups. If it was just that it would be one thing but Fusion just muddled things. We'd be better served by extending DMR to work for amateur radio better than another protocol.

BTW, any FM radio can do Echolink. All you need is a way to generate tones, typically a DTMF mic practically speaking, to control the node. Kenwood makes it easy to turn their radios into Echolink Sysop controllers for an Echolink repeater and as a user they store the parameters to set up Echolink for you rather than punching buttons on a mic keypad.

 

@Wrecked have you seen this thread?

 

One of you D710 guys want to try messaging to NH sometime ?

 

I would like to try this and may have some time this weekend

 

I know....life....and other things have kept my time in demand....i should have said my truck hasn't left pavement.

 

I've got a TM-V71A. I think we have things ironed out! Let me know if you or anyone else wants to give it a go

 

Are you talking about an Echolink QSO?

 

We have 2 DMR repeaters in the Mt Washington Valley and at least 3 analog VHF/UHF Our club owns one of the DMR radio and two repeaters on Mt. Washington our VHF in North Conway is echolinked. Our UHF radio in Conway is presently off line but will be on soon with Fusion. So if we as a small club in the north country can pull this off you gotta figure somewhere else there has to be something for everybody.

 

APRS messaging

 

I can do that right now, just need your call sign.

 

The call is KC1JXQ. But it'll have to be another time. I'm in for the night . I'm down for setting some time to do it though

 

@m603holden - got it. BTW, have you set an SSID?

 

-9

 

@DaveInDenver I'll be on the road both in the morning and in the afternoon. If you want to try at some point tomorrow just tag me or message me.


I drop my 3-3 paths when not sending a long message so I don't congest the system . But I'll add it when you're ready to go

 

Can do.

FWIW, just sent a message so if you log into APRSIS it'll be in the queue.

 

Figure I'll throw this out there to anyone who wants to build their own TRRS/APRS cable for a baofeng UV5R or similar radio to connect to a smart phone. I ordered these with the plan to build one but I got impatient waiting for the manufacturer (2 week lead time) and just ordered a cable from baofeng on Amazon. You'll need to hack up a mic with the 3.5 /2.5 mm connection for the baofeng radio side and a standard 3.5mm cable for phone side.

https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/qy523INb

I have 2 available...keeping the third just in case I decide I want to make one someday.

Free if you pick it up...you pay shipping if you want it sent.