SD Trip June 2018 – 5

DMR – the FUTURE

That statement will get peoples opinions going! OK, so maybe Digital Communication is the future?

With a hotspot in the car (and DMR!) I was able to maintain contact with my ham friends all over the world as I travelled through 9 (?) states. Absolutely amazing! I tried the local FM repeaters and between hard to find a working one and no activity, that was about useless. My DMR just kept working.

I got into D-Star in 2007 and found it simply fascinating with call routing and all the flexible features. Since we all tied up a repeater with typically a 2m and 70cm module it was not a super friendly open environment. The D-Star (self-proclaimed) police would talk about the not so proficient guys all hours of the day. Maybe a little-bit like TG3100 has become today. Then we started learning about hot-spots to bypass the local repeater. Great learning, but still…

So here we are 10+ years later and with 3+ digital modes and solid internet service in a harmonious digital world! Maybe not so? We do have a great digital high-speed coverage along the major roadways, but not a seamless digital world. We are like islands in in the ocean with DMR Island, D-Star Island, C4FM Island etc. There are some bridges, but they are hard to find. Maybe one day will it be like making a cell-phone call?

From a mobile standpoint, my DMR setup was awesome! From a internet standpoint I had redundant service with Verizon as primary and AT&T as secondary. For 1600 miles the primary service maintained flawlessly and although with a few minor delays, maintained high speed service. A switch to secondary was never detected. Combine this with the SharkRF OpenSpot and DMR connection was maintained on the entire route. Simply pick your favorite TG and enjoy!

Talk Groups – that’s another topic to come……