Talkgroups, time slots, color codes, your DMR ID and the codeplug.
All the digital voice and internet-linking systems, and which to start with.
DMR came from commercial land mobile radio, which is why the handhelds are cheap and rugged. It divides a channel into two time slots, so one repeater carries two conversations at once.
Amateur DMR is organized around talkgroups on networks such as Brandmeister rather than around individual repeaters, so a local repeater can put you into a worldwide conversation.
The learning curve is the code plug — the configuration file that tells the radio about every channel, talkgroup and repeater. Most people start from someone else’s and edit it.
At a Glance
- Category
- Digital voice
- Bandwidth
- 12.5 kHz carrying two time slots
- What you need
- A DMR handheld or mobile, and a code plug to program it
- Where to listen
- DMR repeaters and hotspots, organized into talkgroups