Monday, April 26, 2021

Net Report 26-APR-2021

Stations Checked In: 18
Duration: 46 minutes

Net newcomers: WN3VXP

Call SignName
N8YUIRandy
KD8KBHPhilip
W8EOEd
WQ8AJames
KD8GTXMichael F
VE3SBDavid
N6WYDavid J
KE5XDDavid
WA3TUURichard E
N8RMADustin A
KE8FJWBrad
N4ALKAllan L
WB8HSBruce
N8VOXAnthony
KE8RDIJohn
N8RABRandall
WN3VXPRichard
KD8VJDAllan G

Thursday, April 22, 2021

How to tune your MMDVM-based DVAP

In the recent years, personal DVAP's (digital voice access points) have become wildly popular, and for good reason. They are cheap and allow access to a plethora of digital voice modes, right from the comfort of your home. No DMR / D-Star / Fusion repeater in your area? With a personal DVAP, that's no problem.

One of the first things you should do when receiving or building your own personal DVAP, is make sure it's calibrated. There are slight differences that appear in the MMDVM radio chipset that can make it almost unusable - luckily for us a simple calibration program and offset setting can rectify this issue.

It is recommended this calibration be done with DMR, as of the three major DV modes, it's the most sensitive. If you use DMR to find your DVAP offset, it likely will work on all major DV modes - at least that is what the current thinking is aligned too.

Monday, April 19, 2021

Net Report 19-APR-2021

Stations Checked In: 27 (new record!)
Duration: 1 hour 3 minutes

Net newcomers: KE8QLA, VA3DMZ, K1VG, KE8AXC, KB8QAS, W8BTL

CallsignName
KE8QLANevin J
N8YADBenjamin R
KC8WVZJohn
N4ALKAllan L
N8TJGTodd J
VA3DMZScott
WA6WVSergio
WA3TUURichard E
N8YUIRandy
N8RABRandall B
WB8HSBruce
K1VGJeffrey J
WQ8AJames
N8VOXAnthony M
N6WYDavid J
KB8GFFSteve
W8EOEd
KE8AXCJohn G
VE3SBDavid
KB8QASJAMES A
WA8RSADavid
KE5XDDAVID M
W8BTLBrian T
KD8VJDAllan G
N8HEEJeff
KD8GTXMichael F
N8RMADustin A

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Picking a frequency (or pair) for your DMR hotspot

One of the first things you'll want to consider when setting up your new hotspot is what frequency (or for duplex, which pair) to use. Many of these boards come from China with a defaulted option that may or may not work with your regional band plan. Below are some frequencies you can choose from (in the US), dependent on a few factors. 

First, you'll want to make sure these are not in use already from a close neighbor. Second, you'll want to pick a frequency that is relatively free of noise within your home. The frequencies below have been established within the ARRL band plan and are acceptable to use for your personal hotspot. 

These frequencies and pairs are outside the satellite range and common UHF repeater inputs / outputs, avoiding the influx of hotspot users from ruining the fun of other amateurs.

Monday, April 12, 2021

Net Report 12-APR-2021

Stations Checked In: 21
Duration: 56 minutes

Net newcomers: N8ASD, N8RAB


CallsignName
KE8DETJesse D
KD8NPVJeffrey R
N8VOXAnthony M
KD8VJDAllan G
KE8FJWBrad
N8ASDLARRY T
N8RABRandall B
N8DMHDrake M
VE3SBDavid
WA8RSADavid
N8RMADustin A
KD8GTXMichael F
KE8RDIJohn D
WQ8AJames
KE5XDDAVID M
KA9FONMilton
N8YADBenjamin R
N8HEEJeff
WB8HSBruce
N4ALKAllan L
N8YUIRandy

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

The Best DMR Radio? Anytone AT-D878UV Bluetooth GPS

Josh Nass KI6NAZ over at Ham Radio Crash Course has a great review of the Anytone D878UV.

He asks, is this the best DMR radio?


You can see more over on his channel, HRCC.

Monday, April 5, 2021

Net Report 5-APR-2021

Thank you to all who participated this evening - we set both a duration record AND a check-in record. It's truly an honor to run this net and I appreciate each and every check in. Here's to another year of DMR camaraderie in Michigan.


Call SignName
N8RMADustin A
KA9FONMilton
N8DMHDrake M
N6WYDavid J
KE8NSUTony
KE8DETJesse D
KE5XDDAVID M
WA3TUURichard E
KD8NPVJeffrey R
KD8VJDAllan G
N8VOXAnthony M
WA6WVSergio
N2OWRYAN
KE8FJWBrad
KE8RDIJohn D
WQ8AJames
N8YADBenjamin R
WS8UMATT
KB8GFFSteve
N8YUIRandy
K8PDPaul
WA8RSADavid
N4ALKAllan L
W8MAPMatthew A
N8HEEJeff
WB8HSBruce

Statistics (2nd year)

  • Total of 1485 unique check-ins
  • Top 10 stations checking in:
    • N8YUI 93
    • N4ALK 84
    • KD8KBH 80
    • N8RMA 78
    • KD8GTX 56
    • KE8FJW 56
    • N8HEE 53
    • WA8RSA 45
    • N8HLY 38
    • KD8VJD 37
  • Check-ins from 22 unique states, including:
    • Michigan
    • New Jersey
    • West Virginia
    • Florida
    • Ohio
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Arizona
    • Georgia
    • Minnesota
    • Texas
    • Colorado
    • Wisconsin
    • New Mexico
    • California
    • Tennessee
    • Nebraska
    • Nevada
    • Virginia
    • North Carolina
    • Arkansas
    • Oklahoma
  • From our home state of Michigan, we’ve had check-ins from 35 out of the 83 counties
  • Average number of check-ins: 14 stations
  • Record number of checks-ins: 24 stations (July 22nd 2019)
  • Average net duration: 32 minutes
  • Longest net duration: 57 minutes (March 15th 2021)


Sunday, April 4, 2021

Join us for the 2nd year of net operations!

This is just a reminder that our next MichiganONE DMR Net marks 2 years of net operations. This has been a tremendous effort from admins and participants alike. We have a special event planned, so we hope you attend.

Nets like this are important as they allow us to promote DMR within the state of Michigan. This allows repeater admins to secure sites (which is increasing hard to do) which in turn expands the reach of DMR within the state.

Be sure to check in - we'll see you there!