DMR Guide

For those of you who are interested in DMR amateur radio, here’s the latest edition of the Amateur Radio Guide to Digital Mobile Radio.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/dmr-guide/

Field Day 2019!

  • Field Day is this Weekend!
    • You won’t want to miss the fun:
    • If you’d like to help with Field Day setup this Saturday, start time is at 08:00 CDT at Brian Bachmann Park.
    • Radio operations start at 13:00 CDT.
    • You can let us know when you can be there to make contacts for the event using one of several stations.  This poll uses an online polling service called Doodle.  Just click on this link https://doodle.com/poll/fzxp9mgq7af6ap7y and enter your name or call sign in the “Enter your name” field.  After that, choose the times you will be there to help operate our radio positions.
    • VE Testing at 15:00 CDT.
    • Dinner at 18:00 CDT
      • Smoked brisket and beans
      • Side dishes and desserts, pot luck; bring something to share!
      • Tickets are $10 and available at the door.
    • Prize drawings after dinner.
    • We always need plenty of help disassembling and stowing Field Day equipment.  Stop by Brian Bachmann Park at 13:00 this Sunday and lend a hand.  The more the better.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/field-day-2019/

Location for next meeting:

Heart of Texas Red Cross  4244 Boonville RD, Bryan, TX

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/location-for-next-meeting/

April, 2019 Radio-in-the-Park

If you weren’t able to attend our recent Radio-in-the-Park event, we missed you! Lots of fun and good attendance. Several brought HF radios and I had a DMR mobile radio there. There were two hidden transmitters on two meters that provided a modest challenge to those interest in a “fox hunt.” We saw some unique direction-finding equipment.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/april-2019-radio-in-the-park/

Radio In The Park is this Sat plus a Fox Hunt

RITP is a “go” for this Sat the 27th starting at 10am. See prior post below for more info. Also we have decided to add in a fox hunt as well around 12-1230 so bring your DF gear for that. Hope to see you out there.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/radio-in-the-park-is-this-sat-plus-a-fox-hunt/

Radio In The Park Rescheduled

Looks like weather is still going to be a bit nasty for Saturday April 13th so it is best to reschedule the RITP event. Was holding out to see if the foul weather was going to be bumped up or back but its still holding on to being a problem on Sat. So we’ll try again on Sat April 27th starting at 10am or so.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/radio-in-the-park-rescheduled/

Meeting location

Please note the location of this month’s meeting: The Salvation Army, Bryan/College Station, 2506 Cavitt AVE, Bryan, TX 77801

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/meeting-location/

Radio In The Park – April 13th Tanglewood Park

The club will be having its Spring time Radio In The Park event April 13th (Sat). Start time is at approx 10:00am and event runs until approx 2-3pm or when everyone is ready to pack it in. Bring your portable radio gear & antennas and come out and operate and have some fun doing so. Power (120v ac) will be made available. Bring your own food & drink if desired. You may wish to bring a chair. Everyone is are invited to come out, members, non members, guests, families and those just curious about amateur radio and want to learn more or see communications in action and/or portable radio setups.

We tend to setup on the south east end of park closest to East 29th but table availability may vary.

See map in event calendar section on right side of webpage for location of park (if working).

If weather is not favorable for this outdoor event then we’ll try for Sat the 27th instead..

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/radio-in-the-park-april-13th-tanglewood-park/

Digital Mobile Radio references

After a productive club meeting on Saturday, we learned a lot from Andrew Byorth, KG5JDJ, about digital radio “hot spots.”  These small Linux computers (Raspberry Pi) and their radio HATs can act as your gateway to Internet-routed amateur radio such as Digital Mobile Radio (DMR or MotoTrbo), Yaesu Fusion, D-Star and NXDN.  For more information about DMR and amateur radio hot spots, here are a few Web links for you.

Amateur Radio Guide to Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) by John S. Burningham, W2XAB is a nice pamphlet that explains some of the concepts of DMR. 

In addition to your FCC license, you will need a DMR-Marc ID number, which you can get by registering on the radioid.net page.

Rob Robinette has a great web page about amateur radio digital modes and hot spots

Digital Hotspots for Amateur Radio is a presentation from the Richardson Amateur Radio Club and has a lot of information including quite a few more Web links regarding this topic.

Some notes from Andrew:

For those that might be interested in a plug and play hotspot please contact K4WZV. His email is good on QRZ.com. He has a couple different hot spots that he will set up with the customers configuration so when it arrives they are ready to go. The prices vary from around $110 to $189.

The raspberry pi’s can be sourced on amazon, ebay, etc. I always look for the best price. As for the MMDVM boards, you can search for mmdvm hs_hat or zumspot and find sources. I have bought a few on ebay with good luck. The ZUMspot is a little higher end and will cost more, the Chinese copies can be purchased for around 20 dollars. I have had good results with both. Nextion screens can found found easily on ebay. Make sure that the model number starts with a NX#. If is starts with a TJC avoid it.

  • Needed for full build:
  • RPI of your choice, pi-zero, pi 3 B or B+
  • MMDVM, zumspot, mmdvm hs_hat aka.
  • power supply, recommend 2.5 amp
  • OLED screen or Nextion screen if desired.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/digital-mobile-radio-references/

Reminder of meeting/test session location change for this Sat

This Saturday’s monthly meeting and test session will be at the CS Fire Station 6. This is the one located at 610 University Dr East at Tarrow St, next to Golden Corral. Test session starts at 8am and meeting at 9:30.  We will also have a presentation on dmr/dv hotspots by Andrew KG5JDJ. Club fees are also due. If you have not renewed please stop by and pay them. If you can’t attend print the form off of the website and mail in. We are also planning at being able for you to join/renew your ARRL membership through the club. By doing so the club gets a kickback. So it is encouraged to go thru us, it is appreciated. Forms for this will be avail at the meetings.
See you there.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/reminder-of-meeting-test-session-location-change-for-this-sat/