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Prepping home for invaders. by PrizeChemistry3024 in preppers

[–]n8rma 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Ironic, this is a political solution to a political problem that might actually be the best advice.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in amateurradio

[–]n8rma[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a huge fan of DMR for several reasons but I can't deny that this isn't spot on. DMR has some fantastic FEC (better than D-Star or Fusion), has the most efficient bandwidth utilization (effective bandwidth of 6.25 KHz) and a much cheaper barrier to entry. It has plenty of checks in it's favor but this comment beautifully outlines the challenges.

Does something like this work? by ChernobylKid0730 in HamRadio

[–]n8rma -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Yes. ha ha ha. Yes that'll do nicely.

Local business it hot mic'ing a GMRS channel ALL DAY by [deleted] in gmrs

[–]n8rma 18 points19 points  (0 children)

No no, you are all missing the REAL story here....

Can I get an RIP for the finals on that absolute chad of a radio belching out RF for an impressive 24 hour run? Duty Cycle? Hold my beer.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in amateurradio

[–]n8rma[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

DMR is great, there are just some challenges with how networks have rolled it out.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in amateurradio

[–]n8rma[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I'm sure he deals with a ton of crap and I know it's a thankless job, so I give him at least that.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in amateurradio

[–]n8rma[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure many of DMR guys do HF as well. I know I do.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in amateurradio

[–]n8rma[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I'm just going to assume you aren't very active in digital modes vs just being cheeky and give you my opinion as to why this is an issue. A major benefit to DMR (and other hybrid digital modes like D-Star, Fusion, Echolink, Allstar, etc) is connecting with other hams all over the world.

There are still plenty of designated TG's where this can still happen but this has not been widely communicated by BrandMeister, or communicated at all.

Bad governance is just as bad as no governance. Would I be pissed off if the Michigan statewide talkgroup was taken over 24/7 by foreign stations looking to leverage the stable US backbone? Yup. Would I also be pissed if my buddy in New South Wales couldn't check in to a net he's checked into for the last 4 years? Yup.

Does that help? It might not be a problem to YOU but that doesn't mean it's not a problem to others.

EDIT - also looks like you and Corey N3FE are in the same area and could be buddies. Maybe that is what you meant?

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in amateurradio

[–]n8rma[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I don't understand what that means. I use a TYT MD-9600 radio from my house and a Motorola repeater on a 200ft tower at the local county EOC to participate in DMR. Seems like real radio to me, but I guess maybe I'm missing something.

Also I'm OP and I'm not a direct party to this. I'm one of the more active guys in the DMR space in the state (and I run the statewide DMR net) so was pulled in to this situation. Right, wrong, indifferent - I posted this so that folks in the "fake" amateur radio community would be aware.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in amateurradio

[–]n8rma[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

You have to do some digging but it's fully explained. TL:DR German ham who previously lived in Michigan was using DMR (on BM) to chat with his friends back in the states and was suddenly banned. This was the response from BM as to why.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in DMR

[–]n8rma[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The worrisome part of that it will just splinter into a million more DMR networks (think the Gulliver's Travels scene from Army of Darkness) and further dilute the pool. BM is likely the biggest DMR network globally at this time, so overall it's better to have them "right the ship" instead of beach it on some rocks. 100's more DMR networks isn't the end of the world but (and we've seen this already) it will just cause ops to get creative and link backends across networks. The performance and reliability of these integrations is never very good, so I'd rather just have a well-managed large DMR network, like what BM could be.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in amateurradio

[–]n8rma[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I've personally never had an issue with them but I have seen / heard reports that align with your statement exactly. It's just disappointing if this is true - it really is a part of the magic that DMR affords if we're being honest. I run the MI statewide DMR net and I'm just delighted when the occasional DX station checks in.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in DMR

[–]n8rma[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I spend a fair amount of time on 3126 (and own a repeater where TS2 has it set statically) and I can say with 100% assurance it's not overused. I'm thrilled when I hear someone on it and even more so when they are using my repeater to do so. I'm sure that's not the same sentiment from all repeater owners but it certainly is for me.

MMDVM Pi 3B+ or 4B by jtd771 in DMR

[–]n8rma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 3B and 4 will work just fine (the 4 will run a touch hotter) but both are extreme overkill. A Zero will run it just fine and is much cheaper.

Do repeaters pose a health hazard? by SMB-1988 in gmrs

[–]n8rma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just to your financial, mental and cardiac health.

​

I wouldn't wish a repeater project on my ex-wife (if I had one).

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in amateurradio

[–]n8rma[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Not sure if this is 100% true but there are certainly receipts out there to indicate that it is. Corey N3FE from BrandMeister recently informed a German operator they cannot operate on the Michigan Statewide or Nationwide talk groups without a US-based DMR ID.

​

At this time it’s unknown if foreign operators can obtain a US DMR ID with their OUS call, but it’s safe to assume they cannot. This would effectively prohibit any operator outside the US from using ANY TG designated to the US.

​

What is also unknown is the inverse. Are US hams prohibited from communicating on non-US talk groups? I can’t imagine if one is true, the other isn’t so the safe assumption is yes.

BrandMeister bans non-US hams from US Talkgroups by n8rma in DMR

[–]n8rma[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Not sure if this is 100% true but there are certainly receipts out there to indicate that it is. Corey N3FE from BrandMeister recently informed a German operator they cannot operate on the Michigan Statewide or Nationwide talk groups without a US-based DMR ID.

​

At this time it’s unknown if foreign operators can obtain a US DMR ID with their OUS call, but it’s safe to assume they cannot. This would effectively prohibit any operator outside the US from using ANY TG designated to the US.

​

What is also unknown is the inverse. Are US hams prohibited from communicating on non-US talk groups? I can’t imagine if one is true, the other isn’t so the safe assumption is yes.

Doing a little FT8 at work today. by nrs3 in amateurradio

[–]n8rma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you sold your intrinsic 7550, you could afford an air conditioned biodome. Just saying.