I stumbled through DMR codeplugs last december, despite my ADHD, I mostly figured it out, but.... your paper exercise is GLORIOUS!!! and even made it clearer than I saw it before!!! Well done!!!
I don't know how I can thank you enough! I've been trying to wrap my head around this for 3 days. Your entire series has really flattened this once steep learning curve. Thank you... WM4DE (Will)
You are absolutely correct. That wasn't covered in the previous video about the RX Group and did fall into that abyss. Kept thinking I had something wrong and in a sense I did. Adding the RX Group fixed it. Whew.
I am getting this mastered this winter. I made a lot of progress this week programming my Anytone 578. I have an 878 too, and will be creating a hotspot, or two because there are no Digital Repeaters close to me. First goal will be to get into the T0ADS Digital world.
Just a note on connecting to the radio at least on Windows 11. The new radio came with a programming cable that is the FTDI version. The software will not recognize a com port over 9 and mine was recognized as com 10. I could not get the software to connect to the computer until I changed to a lower com port. That took a day to figure out! The MM7DBT Codeplug editor will connect without changing the com port and they are linking to the "easier" software. Thanks, Scott N7FGP
Nice..... the way you organized your codeplug is a little different from my method, and interesting. I'm currently using Anytone 878s, so the feature set of the radios and structure of the CPS is a little different, but your video here both reinforces some points, and opens my eyes to some other avenues to explore in organization. Is the "RX Group" thing something peculiar to the Radioddity HT? I don't recall anything similar with my Anytone. Suggestions: I have a hotspot at the QTH, another "portable" for use in the car slaved to my phone, or to some open Wi-Fi somewhere, and a number of Digital repeaters. I have an Analog zone, and then one Zone for each repeater or hotspot I might bounce off of. All of the talkgroups and direct contacts I hang out with are in each of these zones. I always list Parrot at the bottom of each zone for easy access so I can verify functionality if each zone as I switch.
Another good one…like the metaphor! N5DU and I are planning a talk to a local club on hotspots featuring DMR, DSTAR and YSF. I’ll use a link to this video on organizing DMR code plugs! Thanks…
I want to thank you for showing how to use the Radioddity software to program the GD-88. I have been struggling with it and you showed me how to make it work. Thank you. I have another problem but I believe it might be radio/firmware related. Digital only works on B band. Analog works fine on A or B but digital only on B. At least I can use my radio now, thanks to you. 73. Steve, k7ofg.
I might be able to. RIght now everything is packed up to get on the road. So sometime down the road when I get things more settled. Fun times ahead, so stay tuned for how living on the road works for hams.
My only advice is to separate the receive group out to individual members. So for example here in Australia talkgroup 505 is the main calling, setup the receive group to only include talkgroup 505. By having multiple entries makes the channels an always on scanner and if there's conversations on multiple talkgroups you run the risk of losing your conversation to the other talkgroup. Some of the entry level radio's will pick a talkgroup at random if there's more than one, this creates all sorts of problems! YMMV
Remember the old joke about the old farmer that had 3 flashlights and 3 sons and they all worked. I have 2 DMR radios and both gather dust. there is nothing wrong with them. they are decent radios. the problem is the software. this makes D-star seem simple. DMR is cool and it does seem to be the future, but they need to find a way to make the software a little more user friendly. I do appreciate you trying. truly I do.
What's the easiest way to program or add analog repeaters then I guess a zone for dmr repeaters? I'm kinda lost with this radio , I just picked one up a few days ago and it's pretty intimidating. If ya know what I mean.
You'll mess with it a few times. Don't be afraid to program it, see how it feels. Reset it and start over. I have an analog zone setup in the video that stores all my local repeaters.
Still confusing to me. All the videos I've seen only talk about connecting to their hot spot. I, like many, do not have or use a hot spot. I have at least 6 dmr repeaters I can reach in my daily travels. Do I need to create my friends and talkgroups for every zone/tx rx channel. That seems like it's a huge amount of work. Then what happens when I leave one repeater area and get picked up by another of the repeaters? Or when we're at Hamcation and want to work only off the dmr repeaters in the Orlando area? HT's and mobile radios (878 & 578) are made for mobile/portable use, not sitting near a hot spot.
I finally got things working except I'm not receiving anything on my talk groups. I doubled checked my code plug and I have the talk groups in the "RX Group Lists" and I do have the "RX Group" set to digital. Is there anything else I can check?
Let me see if anybody else knows. In the mean time, we have a #digitalvoice room on the TOADs discord (link in desc) where we might be able to group-help
Hello Dave, I don't have any DMR repeaters around me to test with or setup. Try checking out the TOADs discord and ask a question in the #General chat and they will direct you on where to go from there. TOADs Discord: discord.gg/97tkMEc
I'm having two major issues that I'm hoping you can help me with. 1) The Channel selector knob on the top is not functioning at all. It just spins endlessly to no effect. 2) I've followed your steps here exactly (except using my own RadioID and inputing my hotspot instead of yours, of course), and went to test out the Parrot to make sure I did everything right and I can't get anything out of it at all. Any idea what the fix could be?
For #1, I'd reach out to radioddiy about a wattanty swap. For #2, parrot is a special case where it needs to be set as a private id instead of a group ID (or whatever is the opposite of normall thinking)
@@temporarilyoffline I fixed the parrot issue. It was already on Private, but still wasn't working. Turns out you can't have a complex password for zumspot passwords and Brandmesiter passwords. That was an easy fix. They recommend numbers or letters only, don't mix it up. I cant get a single talkgroup to come through on my HT still.. I've set up the htspot exactly as documentation and several youtube videos have described, I've programmed my radio exactly as you described and other youtubers have described, and I can't get anything out of my radio. Parrot works, talkgroups don't. This whole ordeal has been a mess. I'm about done with DMR and maybe even amateur radio altogether if I don't get this sorted. My local repeaters are dead with little activity and I was hoping DMR would be the solution but I'm hitting a wall at every step of the process.
@@motormccycleson6455 I would say that DMR via Internet Hotspot is probably one of the hardest things somebody can do in ham radio. Do you have any other radios - like an HF radio? the 10m Band is on fire right now and is open for technician class license holders (if that's all you have). You could be making some amazing distance contacts over voice or digital modes. I'd say if you have parrot working, you're over halfway there! You've gotten lots of the hard stuff sorted already! Especially getting parrot working - You've programmed the hotspot, connected it to your home network and the internet, gotten brandmeister setup, gotten it connected to your radio in the proper modes and have gotten pretty far in the code plug business! Don't stop yet! When you select a talk group on your radio and PTT, do you see your radio connecting to your hotspot dashboard? Join us over on TOADs discord (if you haven't already) and drop into #digitalvoice for some more 1:1 help. you're almost there. - Even I didn't know about complex passwords, good find!
I don't have an RT3s to compare it too, but it's pretty good. You have to adjust mic gain for your voice and where you hold it. Most DMR radios are overdriven by default.
One question that this video does not answer. What is a code plug? Watching this video I'm guessing it's a horrible name for how to organize your frequencies and talk groups for the radio.
@@temporarilyoffline Thanks. I have really stupid & ignorant question for you about the GD-88. Can the GD-88 be used as a conventional radio or is it a DRM only radio?
I stumbled through DMR codeplugs last december, despite my ADHD, I mostly figured it out, but.... your paper exercise is GLORIOUS!!! and even made it clearer than I saw it before!!! Well done!!!
Perfect. Glad it helped!
I don't know how I can thank you enough! I've been trying to wrap my head around this for 3 days. Your entire series has really flattened this once steep learning curve. Thank you... WM4DE (Will)
You're welcome Will! Thanks for the kind words, it's really appreciated.
Only 3 minutes in and you made DMR so much easier to understand. Thank you. KI5UIV
Glad it helped!
Thank you Steve, having programmed a few DMR radios, this made it all click for me. Very well done.
Most Excellent!
You are absolutely correct. That wasn't covered in the previous video about the RX Group and did fall into that abyss. Kept thinking I had something wrong and in a sense I did. Adding the RX Group fixed it. Whew.
Glad it helped!
I am getting this mastered this winter. I made a lot of progress this week programming my Anytone 578. I have an 878 too, and will be creating a hotspot, or two because there are no Digital Repeaters close to me. First goal will be to get into the T0ADS Digital world.
You know how to reach us if you need help. We got this!
Okay, I don’t even have a DMR radio but I watched this. I appreciate your method of explaining highly technical topics in an understandable way.
Thanks, it brings me great joy to hear this!
Just a note on connecting to the radio at least on Windows 11. The new radio came with a programming cable that is the FTDI version. The software will not recognize a com port over 9 and mine was recognized as com 10. I could not get the software to connect to the computer until I changed to a lower com port. That took a day to figure out! The MM7DBT Codeplug editor will connect without changing the com port and they are linking to the "easier" software.
Thanks, Scott N7FGP
Thanks for the info
Your filing system is a great way to explain how to program a DMR Code plug.
Thanks Ron! (Did you see I used Windows in the vid?)
@@temporarilyoffline Yes I did, an older version but still Windows!
Nice..... the way you organized your codeplug is a little different from my method, and interesting. I'm currently using Anytone 878s, so the feature set of the radios and structure of the CPS is a little different, but your video here both reinforces some points, and opens my eyes to some other avenues to explore in organization.
Is the "RX Group" thing something peculiar to the Radioddity HT? I don't recall anything similar with my Anytone.
Suggestions: I have a hotspot at the QTH, another "portable" for use in the car slaved to my phone, or to some open Wi-Fi somewhere, and a number of Digital repeaters. I have an Analog zone, and then one Zone for each repeater or hotspot I might bounce off of. All of the talkgroups and direct contacts I hang out with are in each of these zones. I always list Parrot at the bottom of each zone for easy access so I can verify functionality if each zone as I switch.
They are all pretty close. Thanks for the suggestions!
GREAT VIDEO, THANK YOU. Will you do an update focused on APRS? I’m having challenges between digital and analog APRS.
Yes, soon!
Didn't see Ape's call sign in there 😂
You weren't looking hard enough 😁
Ape is a digital hologram, he is prohibited by law from doing radio.
😂
Another good one…like the metaphor! N5DU and I are planning a talk to a local club on hotspots featuring DMR, DSTAR and YSF. I’ll use a link to this video on organizing DMR code plugs! Thanks…
Glad it helped and will help more. Thanks for sharing!
I want to thank you for showing how to use the Radioddity software to program the GD-88. I have been struggling with it and you showed me how to make it work. Thank you.
I have another problem but I believe it might be radio/firmware related. Digital only works on B band. Analog works fine on A or B but digital only on B.
At least I can use my radio now, thanks to you.
73. Steve, k7ofg.
You're welcome Steve! Drop into to TOADs discord (link in desc) and we have a room for troubleshooting #digital-radios
Can you make a video about the roaming option and all the instructions on how it works and how it is applied in practice?
I might be able to. RIght now everything is packed up to get on the road. So sometime down the road when I get things more settled. Fun times ahead, so stay tuned for how living on the road works for hams.
Beginning my DMR journey here
This is probably the best place to start.
My only advice is to separate the receive group out to individual members. So for example here in Australia talkgroup 505 is the main calling, setup the receive group to only include talkgroup 505. By having multiple entries makes the channels an always on scanner and if there's conversations on multiple talkgroups you run the risk of losing your conversation to the other talkgroup. Some of the entry level radio's will pick a talkgroup at random if there's more than one, this creates all sorts of problems! YMMV
@@ScottEvans-vk7hse thanks Scott!
Thanks for the video
You got it!
Remember the old joke about the old farmer that had 3 flashlights and 3 sons and they all worked. I have 2 DMR radios and both gather dust. there is nothing wrong with them. they are decent radios. the problem is the software. this makes D-star seem simple. DMR is cool and it does seem to be the future, but they need to find a way to make the software a little more user friendly. I do appreciate you trying. truly I do.
I agree. It's more difficult than it needs to be.
Nicely done. Thanks.
Thanks for watching!
As much as I tried I could not the index cards to fit in my GD88! Guess I need a bigger hammer 🙂
Slice them into smaller pieces?
@@temporarilyoffline I am going to get out the Popiel Slice o'matic!
@@CapeCodCNC but wait, there's more
@@temporarilyoffline I acted right away and got a second one, just had to pay separate processing fee that was 10% more than first one!
@@CapeCodCNC That's how they get ya!
Can you copy/paste info (think spreadsheet analogy) from another radios configure ? I spent a lot of time setting that up!
I'm not sure if you can copy-pasta, but you can import/export CSV
What's the easiest way to program or add analog repeaters then I guess a zone for dmr repeaters? I'm kinda lost with this radio , I just picked one up a few days ago and it's pretty intimidating. If ya know what I mean.
You'll mess with it a few times. Don't be afraid to program it, see how it feels. Reset it and start over. I have an analog zone setup in the video that stores all my local repeaters.
Still confusing to me. All the videos I've seen only talk about connecting to their hot spot. I, like many, do not have or use a hot spot. I have at least 6 dmr repeaters I can reach in my daily travels. Do I need to create my friends and talkgroups for every zone/tx rx channel. That seems like it's a huge amount of work. Then what happens when I leave one repeater area and get picked up by another of the repeaters? Or when we're at Hamcation and want to work only off the dmr repeaters in the Orlando area? HT's and mobile radios (878 & 578) are made for mobile/portable use, not sitting near a hot spot.
I have zero DMR repeaters in my area, but if you're game, we can do a Nuggets hangout and figure it out. Let me know.
Use MM7DBT Code plug you will like it .
Thanks Andreas, it's on the list to check out!
Are you able to help me some more? I followed your steps and they were great but it is still not working
Sure, follow the link for TOADs discord in the description and we'll help you out over there!
IS there a way to do a real factory reset instead restoring previous CP?
You can do a factory reset from the keypad of the radio as well as reloading the code plug
I finally got things working except I'm not receiving anything on my talk groups. I doubled checked my code plug and I have the talk groups in the "RX Group Lists" and I do have the "RX Group" set to digital. Is there anything else I can check?
Is Parrot working for you? Private Calls?
@@temporarilyoffline Yes they are.
@@jcf20010 Hmm. I don't really have any suggestions other than to start from scratch and see if it happens again?
@@temporarilyoffline Been there done that.
Let me see if anybody else knows. In the mean time, we have a #digitalvoice room on the TOADs discord (link in desc) where we might be able to group-help
Please help! I need help on hitting repeater I do not have a hot spot yet. I don’t know what I am doing wrong.
I have done everything you show step by step but can tx ti repeater but no response.
Hello Dave, I don't have any DMR repeaters around me to test with or setup. Try checking out the TOADs discord and ask a question in the #General chat and they will direct you on where to go from there. TOADs Discord: discord.gg/97tkMEc
I'm having two major issues that I'm hoping you can help me with.
1) The Channel selector knob on the top is not functioning at all. It just spins endlessly to no effect.
2) I've followed your steps here exactly (except using my own RadioID and inputing my hotspot instead of yours, of course), and went to test out the Parrot to make sure I did everything right and I can't get anything out of it at all. Any idea what the fix could be?
For #1, I'd reach out to radioddiy about a wattanty swap. For #2, parrot is a special case where it needs to be set as a private id instead of a group ID (or whatever is the opposite of normall thinking)
@@temporarilyoffline I fixed the parrot issue. It was already on Private, but still wasn't working. Turns out you can't have a complex password for zumspot passwords and Brandmesiter passwords. That was an easy fix. They recommend numbers or letters only, don't mix it up.
I cant get a single talkgroup to come through on my HT still.. I've set up the htspot exactly as documentation and several youtube videos have described, I've programmed my radio exactly as you described and other youtubers have described, and I can't get anything out of my radio. Parrot works, talkgroups don't.
This whole ordeal has been a mess. I'm about done with DMR and maybe even amateur radio altogether if I don't get this sorted. My local repeaters are dead with little activity and I was hoping DMR would be the solution but I'm hitting a wall at every step of the process.
@@motormccycleson6455 I would say that DMR via Internet Hotspot is probably one of the hardest things somebody can do in ham radio. Do you have any other radios - like an HF radio? the 10m Band is on fire right now and is open for technician class license holders (if that's all you have). You could be making some amazing distance contacts over voice or digital modes.
I'd say if you have parrot working, you're over halfway there! You've gotten lots of the hard stuff sorted already! Especially getting parrot working - You've programmed the hotspot, connected it to your home network and the internet, gotten brandmeister setup, gotten it connected to your radio in the proper modes and have gotten pretty far in the code plug business! Don't stop yet!
When you select a talk group on your radio and PTT, do you see your radio connecting to your hotspot dashboard?
Join us over on TOADs discord (if you haven't already) and drop into #digitalvoice for some more 1:1 help. you're almost there. - Even I didn't know about complex passwords, good find!
Hi, how does this rdio sound like ? Compared to others like rt3s ?
I don't have an RT3s to compare it too, but it's pretty good. You have to adjust mic gain for your voice and where you hold it. Most DMR radios are overdriven by default.
@@temporarilyoffline Thank you. Im gonna buy this. To me according to YT videos, it seemed like this has a great audio output. 73!!
@@pasanchandrasiri3498 this radio has a ton of features, I've been happy with mine!
Funny it's named friendzone
It was a subtle joke 😁
GMRS is not available for Digital yet hope for a Future they let us go digital
I agree!
Can u do it on an android phone
Not yet
One question that this video does not answer.
What is a code plug?
Watching this video I'm guessing it's a horrible name for how to organize your frequencies and talk groups for the radio.
You got it! I don't like it either.
@@temporarilyoffline
Thanks.
I have really stupid & ignorant question for you about the GD-88.
Can the GD-88 be used as a conventional radio or is it a DRM only radio?
@@jcf20010 it will do analog FM and DMR both.
@@temporarilyoffline Another question for you.
I don't have a hot spot so would I enter the repeater freq. where you enter a your hot spot freq.?
@jcf20010 yes, give it a shot. Don't be afraid to play with it and most importantly, have fun!